Keeping a Data Center Cool on the Cheap

jedimaud writes "You've heard of bubble wrap, and the boy in the bubble -- now, here's a datacenter in a bubble. I work for a government agency that, like most, is trying to cut back some costs, and one of those costs is a REAL datacenter. So, we decided to wrap the whole thing in plastic (including two 1.5 ton ACs). The room hovers about 83 degrees, however, the racks in the bubble (ok, more like a termite tent) stay about 10 degree cooler. Here's some pics to check it out."

Comments

Really a good idea?

[novalogic]

If that A/C unit freezes up/dies/etc, getting wraped in that bubble will cause those machines to overheat rather quickly...

Might be a good idea to hookup a tempature controlled moter to pull the plastic down if the A/C dies, if you know how, and have a good junk pile, you can do that cheap enough....

Re:Build the datacenter in alaska

[Solder Fumes]

Heck, why not? Run some massive fiber along the big pipeline. Only disadvantage is that you're out on the edge of the Internet, you're not safely embedded in the middle with nice redundant capabilities.

It's misleading

[SamMichaels]

1.5 ton sounds expensive, big and awe-inspiring. It's not. Most people have cheap 1 ton a/c units in their living room walls (12,000 btu). My 12,000 (1 ton) unit is barely able to cool 3 computers. Good luck with a datacenter.

Re:Wonder if...

[shawb]

I think in this case the AC only has to work on pumping the excess heat from the servers out, and not cooling the whole room. Doesn't matter how warm the room gets outside of the bubbles.