Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of OnsiteSupport
OnsiteSupport

asked on

Server Room Cooling system

I have a rack enclosure with 4 dell rack mount servers in a 12x8 room and am looking at spot coolers.  I'm wondering your opinions about products like APC Network Air 1000.  It has to be compact.  My budget is $500-1000.

Thanks in advance for your comments.
Avatar of scuzzo
scuzzo

Why not just use a portable a/c?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16896808039
Here is about 20,000 BTU of cooling for less than $1000. I use one of these in my room and it works well.
Whatever you do, with a room that size you must have external exhaust ventilation or the units will work harder, causing more heat in the room.

You should be able to find values for your various servers using this tool from Dell:
http://www.dell.com/html/us/products/rack_advisor_new/index.html?~lt=popup

Convert your power usage to BTUs (british thermal units) so you can see how much heat the servers will generate...

Amps(Volts) = Watts
Watts(Hours) = Watt-hours
Watt Hours(3.413) = BTUs

For example...
Here's how to calculate BTUs generated by a Dell PowerConnect 2724 switch:

From the Dell site above we see this switch uses 40 Watts.
40(1) = 40 Watt-hours *
40(3.413) = 136.52 BTUs/hour generated by that one device.

Once you have the BTUs/hour for the equipment which is living in that room, buy a cooling unit with a higher BTU rating. I suspect you'll find yourself well below the 20,000 BTU unit listed by the guy above me.

Good luck,
T

(*The reason why Hours got a 1 is we're trying to figure how much heat is generated per hour.)
In re-reading your question I see you were asking about those units in particular, and you may already have figured your BTUs.

Unfortunately I have no experience with those units, but I have had both portable and larger A/C systems...keep in mind: Sooner or later every one of these units die.

Your best bet is to check out APC's SmartUPS series and add a thermal sensor. I think the sensors themselves are fairly cheap. That room is so small you'll cook your processors in a very short time.
 
Avatar of OnsiteSupport

ASKER

Talgren-
I believe you're saying a Wattage calculation of say 1500 Watts (total for my rack enclosure) will require 1500*3.413 BTUs of air conditioning?

Thanks for the Dell tool.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of George Lau
George Lau
Flag of United States of America image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial