The solution comprises a series of automatic damper grilles installed at ground level that can be independently controlled to direct cooling air when and where it is most needed within a rack. It overcomes the key challenge and cost of wasted energy while ensuring critical IT technology is not compromised.
V-Blocks are very high power servers, usually in high-density racks, typically run over short periods but generating huge amounts of heat when in use. They need cooling, therefore, but not all of the time, as Matt Fuller, Technical Director of 8 Solutions explains: “V-Blocks generate anything up to 14kW of heat and ‘traditional’ cooling solutions are not very efficient or effective.
“Pumping cool air constantly is an option, but also one that is expensive and potentially drawing essential cooling away from other vital equipment.”
The solution, Matt says, is in more innovative thinking: “The grilles are very quick and easy to install, operating off a very low voltage power socket, and work in conjunction with intelligent sensors,” he continues.
“The sensors detect increases in heat and open the appropriate louvre or louvres to direct the cooling to particular ‘zones’ within the rack where it is needed most. The louvres can all work independently of one another so no energy is wasted.”
8 Solutions now delivers airflow management and technical cleaning services to over 600 data centres in the UK and is on target to have grown the business by 100% in the past three years.
It has also expanded its international reach – 8 Solutions’ UK-based technicians have now been deployed in sites in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Oman, Canada, Falkland Islands.
