Avoidable Mistakes that Compromise Cooling Performance in Data Centers and Network Rooms

LEGACY CONTENT: This content is older yet still valid and provides valuable insights. However, it may contain data and/or messaging written under different technological or market circumstances. ------ Avoidable mistakes that are routinely made when installing cooling systems and racks in data centers or network rooms compromise availability and increase costs. These unintentional flaws create hot-spots, decrease fault tolerance, decrease efficiency, and reduce cooling capacity. Although facilities operators are often held accountable for cooling problems, many problems are actually caused by improper deployment of IT equipment outside of their control. This paper examines these typical mistakes, explains their principles, quantifies their impacts, and describes simple remedies.