Data Center Essentials: Mechanical & Cooling

In the next section of the Data Center Essentials courses, we cover the mechanical cooling systems that support data centers and prevent them from overheating. As the data center power and density has increased every year, the need to remove the heat generated has become a more important factor for the design and operation of the facility. Because the cooling systems are a major consideration when aiming for efficiency, we will cover many of the diverse solutions that have been successfully implemented to save energy and water.

We will start with the common terminology, standards, guides and operating conditions for data centers before moving on to more complex components, operations, and controls. And whether you are walking through a data center every day or only once in a while it is important to understand how the cooling and mechanical systems are operating to keep the internet up and running. During these five lectures we will cover:Concepts, definitions, operating conditions - the typical mechanical terms, cooling operations, and redundancy levelsAir cooling solutions - air cooling and operating parameters for typical and atypical data centersComputational Fluid Dynamics - what it is, how these tools are used, and what to look for when analyzing a data center flow modelWater cooling solutions - water cooling components, circulation, and typical arrangements for modularity and redundancyWater system operations - operating the data center cooling systems efficiently and effectively, including water cooled servers and immersion cooling.