Schneider Electric has announced two new white papers that examine practices in traditional uncontained data centres and colocation environments.

The first paper, ‘Implementing Hot and Cold Air Containment in Existing Data Centres’, investigates the constraints, reviews all available containment methods, and provides recommendations for determining the best containment approach.

This paper is essential for existing data centres looking to eliminate hot spots and provide energy savings over traditional uncontained data centre designs. It finds that the best containment solution for an existing facility will depend on the constraints of the facility. For data centres with existing row-based cooling units, row-cooled hot aisle containment is preferred. Cold aisle containment is preferred for the facilities with raised floor as a supply air plenum, while ducted hot aisle containment is preferred for facilities with a drop celling as the hot air return plenum.

The second paper, ‘Power and Cooling Guidelines for Deploying IT in Colocation Data Centres’, explains some of the causes of stranded power, cooling, and space capacity in colocation data centres. It also explains how high-density rack power distribution, air containment, and other practices improve
availability and efficiency.

This paper is important for colocation environments examining power and cooing constraints. It is also useful for some prospective colocation data centre tenants. It looks at how an effective acceptable use policy can reduce downtime due to thermal shutdown and human error, reduce stranded capacity, and extend the life of the initial leased space, avoiding the cost of oversized reserved space.