If your facility has a server room or data center, you need to use certain best practices to take care of it. Why? Because server room cooling processes are critical for maintaining the servers those rooms contain. Let’s discuss server room temperature requirements and the best practices you should apply to your server room’s AC unit.
What’s the Ideal Temperature for Your Data Center or Server Room?
Data centers don’t have one exact temperature that keeps all the equipment perfectly cool. Instead, there are ranges of safe temperatures. Recommended temperature ranges often span from 68 to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. However, most equipment in data centers operates well in temperatures as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit and as high as 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
A few factors determine your server equipment’s ideal data center temperature, including:
- Room size
- Number of servers in the room
- Amount of other equipment in the room
- Types of equipment in operation
If your data center contains a lot of equipment, it’s best to keep its temperature on the cooler side. Rooms full of servers often overheat quickly if they aren’t cool enough to offset the heat the servers generate. If you have fewer servers in your room, you may err toward higher temperatures, but keep an eye on your equipment to ensure it doesn’t overheat.
Does Humidity Factor Into Server Room Temperatures?
Yes. Humidity levels are another significant component of your data center’s ideal temperature range. Too much humidity creates moisture in the air around your servers, which could damage them. When you determine your room’s temperature, take the humidity levels into account to find the right balance of cool air and low humidity.
What Cooling Options Work Well for Data Centers?
You may be tempted to install just one traditional air conditioner in your server room, but servers get hot quickly. One AC unit won’t hold off the large amounts of heat that servers generate. You need a combination of solutions to keep your servers cool for long periods of time. Liquid cooling systems send chilled water or coolant through coils on or around your server racks to cool them down while they operate. Air-conditioned server racks also pump cold air in and around the servers to prevent them and the room from overheating. You can also use raised floors that have holes in the aisles to send cold air up toward the servers. Consider all these options before you finalize your cooling plan.
Connect with us to take advantage of our HVAC services for server rooms and data centers.
Best Practices for Maintaining Your Data Center’s Ideal Temperature
Because servers and their related equipment produce so much heat, your data center could reach dangerously high temperatures and humidity levels if you don’t use best practices. Here are a few important best practices to maintain your data center:
- Choose the right cooling system: You have a few options for cooling your data center. You could use a traditional air conditioner, but AC units often don’t provide enough cold air on their own to cool your servers effectively. You could combine traditional AC units with other options, such as the chilled water cooling systems, air-conditioned server racks, and raised floors described above.
- Monitor your server room: Keep track of all the data center air conditioning units you install. Monitor their performance levels and keep tabs on the areas of the room that may experience the most extreme temperatures and humidity. If you use air-conditioned server racks, monitor each one to ensure it generates the right amount of cool air for its server.
- Install exhaust vents: Exhaust vents use natural airflows to remove the hot air from your data center as your cooling system sends cold air into it. They’re a cost-effective solution for keeping your server room cool. Place these vents throughout the room so they remove the hot air evenly and don’t allow it to pool in certain areas.
- Use digital thermometers: Install digital thermometers throughout your data center. These tools show you how different areas of your room heat up and cool down with your cooling methods. Once you understand these patterns, adjust your cooling methods and systems accordingly.
- Keep server cabinets spaced apart: Don’t put your server cabinets close together—they overheat easily in that setup. Instead, space them evenly apart and sort them into cold aisles and hot aisles, depending on how they heat up.
These best practices help you maintain cool server rooms and high-efficiency server operations. Take your time developing your data center’s cooling solution and research all possibilities. The more you look at your options, the better your solution will be.
Does REACT Industries Offer HVAC Services for Server Rooms?
Yes, we do. We understand the ins and outs of server room HVAC, and we use our vast knowledge to make your data center a cooler place. When we work on your data center’s cooling solution, we determine whether you have unnecessary heat sources in the room and help you remove them. We can also help you find the right AC units to complement your rack mount and raised floor cooling methods if you have them. Overall, we dedicate ourselves to developing the best cooling solutions for your data center’s needs.
Improve Your Server Room’s Cooling Methods With Us
Reach out to us today if you’re ready to implement a new cooling solution for your data center. We’re ready to solve all your cooling problems.