Upsite’s Airflow Management Approach Lowers Data Center Energy Use

Holistic methodology optimizes cooling, reduces energy costs, increases IT equipment reliability

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., and SAN JOSE, Calif. — Upsite Technologies Inc., a provider of data center airflow management solutions, announced that computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling has demonstrated the energy savings outlined by its 4 R’s of Airflow Management™ methodology. The company utilized Future Facilities North America, a supplier of engineering simulation software for data center design and operational planning, to demonstrate the findings through the use of its 6SigmaDCX CFD simulation tool.

Upsite’s 4 R’s of Airflow Management provides a guide for implementing changes to optimize cooling and achieve the greatest benefits of airflow management, including a lower power usage effectiveness (PUE) score, reduced energy costs, and increased IT equipment reliability. The 4 R’s methodology details the improvements and best practices made to a data center’s racks, raised floor, rows, and room that will provide these benefits and optimize the cooling infrastructure. 6SigmaDCX was used to model a 4,000-square-foot data center and provide engineering simulation to assess the impact of the changes made to these four areas: rack, raised floor, row, and room. The simulation provided information about how problem areas (e.g., hot spots) could be rectified and how capacity and operating cost benefits could be realized after making improvements to each of the 4 R’s. The execution of the steps resulted in:

• Reduction in the maximum IT inlet temperature of 8.4°F.

• Cooling supply temperature increase of 10°.

• Cooling unit fan speeds reduced by 35 percent and one cooling unit turned off.

• Partial PUE (pPUE) reduced from 1.54 to 1.34.

• Over $60,000 in projected annual savings for a 4,000-square-foot data center.

• 15 month return on investment (ROI).

“Given the many solutions available to improve data center airflow, the process of creating an effective airflow management plan can seem overwhelming,” said Lars Strong, senior engineer and company science officer of Upsite Technologies. “Our 4 R’s of Airflow Management approach provides a clear strategy to optimize cooling and lower PUE. With the impressive results now demonstrated by CFD modeling, I anticipate that more owners and operators will be utilizing our 4 R’s methodology to accomplish this quickly, efficiently, and with a faster ROI.”

For more information about Upsite Technologies, visit www.upsite.com.

For more information about Future Facilities, visit www.futurefacilities.com.

Publication date: 6/24/2016

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