Benefit of Cold Aisle Containment During Cooling Failure

Abstract

During a cooling equipment failure, temperatures within a data center can rise to the threshold limits of IT equipment very quickly. Data center operators want to know: how much ride-through time do I have? Does cold aisle containment increase or decrease the ride-through time? This study presents thermal transient data for tests conducted at a data center lab. The results reveal an interesting phenomenon that puts cold aisle containment at an advantage over the standard open hot aisle/cold aisle configuration.