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Cooling the Server Room?
kolchak asks: "As the Australian summer heats up, we are looking at a cooling solution for our computer room. We have 4 racks (almost all full) with around 40 machines, switches, routers, 2 UPSs and 2 monitors. Unfortunately, its located in the middle of the office with no windows available for ventilation. We can vent the exhaust into the ceiling space which in turn is vented outside. Also, since the room is so small, we need to install any cooling device outside the room (a store room backs on which will house the cooling unit and potentially pipe hot / cold air through the wall). All the units we've seen so far need to be in the room, we just don't have the space. Anyone come across and solved this? Any ideas on good cooling units we can install easily and cheaply?"
Here's a wild idea...Go hire some engineers.
Apparently there are whole companies who specialize in heating and cooling.
That will probably work out better than asking a bunch of geeks for a hack without knowing any of the details...
I suggest keeping your units a good distance away from the wall and floors so that the air you move will move freely and dissapate as much as heat as possible, keep backs of racks and cabinets off to help air move, should also help. Using a cardboard or tin plate on front ot you airconditioner, cut out holes to match the diameter of a clothes dryer vent pipe/tube (two or three, I think they are about 5-6 inches diameter), then lead the air wher you need it.
I eat my grapes at room temperature, cuz the cold ones hurt my teeth
...you don't place your servers and build the server room around them. You build the server room first, then you place your servers. ...
so, for future reference, you put the cart before the horse.
First, it has to be said that when you built your server room you should have planned that before the equipment ever went in. Hindsight.
I'll pat myself on the back here. In my 911 PSAP and dispatch center we have a room that houses the phone system, servers and radios. I have to imagine that this room generates far more heat than what you're dealing with because of the transmitters. There was no environmental control, not even vents. Systems would die or reboot without warning all year round but the problem got worse in the summer.
Nobody knew what to do. Like your situation, this room is in the middle of the building. Every amateur carpenter, electrician, HVAC tech in the police department looked at it and scratched their heads.
Then I came into the picture. Rather than wasting time thinking about the problem or asking Slashdot, I picked up the phone and called the local HVAC shop. In minutes I had not one but two qualified technicians with over 30 years of combined experience at my disposal. Two hours later I had a quote. Three weeks later the temperature and humidity in the room are constant and within tolerance. And we haven't had a single equipment failure since.
The system they installed uses the building water supply to cool air in a machine down the hall. The cool air is vented into the room and exhaust is vented up through the roof. That vent work is amazing, none of us non HVAC techs would have guessed it to be possible.
Do yourself a huge favor and call in a pro.
. Quit playing Monopoly with Bill. Switch to one of many non-Microsoft products today.
Water running above your servers real stupid idea. Water pipes can break and joints can leak. Why do you think Halon is used for fire control in computer rooms.