Server platforms Toolkit

HP chills out datacentres

Stephen Shankland, CNET News.com CNET News.com

Published: 05 Mar 2003 13:26 GMT

Hewlett-Packard is taking a simulation technology out of its labs and using it to help companies cool off equipment-packed datacentres, easing the growing adoption of centralised computing.

The tech giant launched on Tuesday a service that analyses the air flow in a datacentre -- a facility filled with server, storage and networking systems -- to find the best arrangement of computing and air-conditioning gear inside. The service, which uses a complex modelling technology from HP Labs, can cut the energy spent cooling datacentres by as much as 25 percent, according to HP.

Keeping datacentres cool is important because overheated computers can lose data or crash. To see just what sort of disaster can result, read our true-story of a server-room meltdown.

New technologies, such as server consolidation, are leading banks and other companies to centralise computing operations and to use blade servers and other systems that cram in hot processors ever more densely. Until now, a typical response from datacentre operators to technology changes such as these has been brute force -- bringing in bigger air conditioners, for example.

"Most information technology people are not trained in thermodynamics," said Illuminata analyst David Freund.

Current datacentres -- specialised chambers dominated by hulking computer cabinets, uncomfortably chilly air and the roar of hundreds of computer fans -- typically have raised floors, under which cool air flows and power lines and networking cables are laid. Cool air is directed upward to computers, though some of it escapes through holes for cables. Intake ducts at the top of the room draw off the heated air and send it to a cooling system.

The first version of HP's service is a one-time analysis of a company's datacentre to give a prescription for the best way to arrange the computing equipment, the flow of cool air into the facility and the flow of hot air out, said Brian Donabedian, an HP site planner and environmental specialist.

HP's service uses a technique called computational fluid dynamics to simulate how air flows through a complicated arrangement of ducts, computers and deflectors. The company began showing off the technology behind the analysis service in 2001.

Within two years or so, HP will begin offering a more sophisticated second-generation cooling service tied to its Utility Data Center product, said Donabedian. UDC distributes computing jobs across groups of servers and storage systems and can respond to changing workload demands automatically.

HP robot helps data keep its cool
In this second, "dynamic smart cooling," phase, the UDC control software will be able to move computing work away from hotter areas of a datacentre or adjust air conditioning systems to deal with hot spots, Donabedian said. It will combine stationary temperature sensors with others mounted on an HP robot patrolling the datacentre.

With the cooling analysis service, HP hopes to boost its attempt to increase revenue from its profitable services group. In the wake of IBM's success in selling services, many computing companies are seeking to earn extra money by offering to help customers install and run complicated computing equipment.

The service will appeal only to some large customers initially, Donabedian said. "It is fairly complex, time-consuming and could run into some money," he said.