All data center managers should have a plan in place for data center cooling. The cooling method that will be best for your data center depends on several factors, which is why we recommend speaking with professional data center maintenance providers. Having too much hot air within your center can result in overheating or malfunctioning equipment. To prevent this, you can explore a range of cost-effective and reliable cooling methods while keeping the following in mind.

Manage Cables Properly

Keeping pathways, walkways, and airways as organized and open as possible maximizes data center cooling effectiveness. You can keep your cables sorted and out of the way with cable ties. Using a structured system is best, as it ensures wires are routed together. Tangled cords restrict airflow. Point-to-point connections can cause a mess, so consider preventative organization methods. Other ways of keeping cables sorted include color-coordinating cables, ensuring cable length is correct, and getting rid of unnecessary cables lurking around.

Plan for Growth

One thing to keep at the forefront of your mind when planning a cooling strategy is the size of the space and racks within the space. Ask yourself how much data can be processed and kept in your data center. Knowing these specifics, and keeping in mind the possibility for growth, increases your chances of cooling success. You don’t want to underestimate your cooling needs and end up with overheated equipment. Alternatively, not factoring in potential growth results in cramped and inefficient data center layouts.

Consider Barriers

A final thing to think about while planning your data center cooling strategy is whether or not you will include barriers of some kind in your layout. Many data center managers develop either a hot or cold aisle containment system using curtains or some other barrier material so that different aisles can maintain their individual temperatures. This is so that the warm and cool air in the data center do not mix, rendering the cooling systems useless.

There are numerous other elements at play while creating a cooling plan including return temperature and data center energy management used while cooling your center. According to Ciena.com, up to 40% of data center operational costs come from the energy used to power and cool equipment. If you’re curious about other cooling best practices, or any other data center services, contact LDP Associates.