RECAP | ROUNDTABLE | Understanding Supply Air Control

Enthusiasm for supply air control was very high at a May 21st Inside Track roundtable. During the roundtable, a number of participants shared their experiences, with at least half subscribing to the idea that supply air control was an essential technology to efficiently operating loads greater than 5 kW/rack. Even more participants agreed that supply air control becomes necessary at higher densities.

It was left to Terry Altom, Uptime Institute senior consultant, to remind the participants that implementing a supply air control strategy can be challenging, especially in older facilities. He shared a number of anecdotes that led to a discussion of lessons learned, including the importance of rigorous airflow management, Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle, blanking panels. Others shared their experiences, with one colocation provider calling adoption of supply air control to be similar to a rebuild.

Other participants on the call agreed that implementing supply air control is easier in new facilities, with most sharing plans to increase its use. In one case though, budgeting for supply air control and other modernization is delayed while IT management thinks through the pros and cons of migrating to the cloud.

In addition to focusing on the proper implementation of supply air control, one participant noted that he had been able to raise data center temperatures by 10 F in an environment that lacked Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle, with a significant energy-efficiency benefit. He noted that higher temperatures would have been possible with better airflow management. Other benefits include increased capacity and greater ability to manage higher densities.

One roundtable participant approached the discussion from a different perspective, as his company was just planning a supply air control transition. His technology specific questions led to further off-line discussions between Uptime Institute Network members.