I agree that the size is less important than the amount of equipment. Also don't forget that other items, ups's, network gear, phone switches etc., will also contribute to the ambient temp in a server room. We use the manufacturers estimates regarding heat etc. for each piece of equipment to help us provide the appropriate amount of HVAC for an area. Don't rely on the HVAC guy, or the office manager to make the right decisions, they don't usually understand how often and fast the air in the server room needs to change.
Years ago an IBM tech told me that when cooling an office, a typical pc with monitor generated the same "heat" as approximately 1.5 human beings. We used this as a guideline for building out office space, especially planning on it's AC needs.
Of course, we still have folks who run little heaters in the summer AND winter. Whenever I get a chance I remove the little fire-hazards but folks keep bringing them in. For one particularly difficult person I've even stooped to hitting the breaker on her cubicle every now and again to point out the danger of her little ceramic friend.
Anyway, when it comes to the server room, I have always tried to spec redundant AC systems, separate from the building system, though in tough economic times we've had to "make do" with less cooling than might be desirable, supplemented by the building AC if/when possible. We shoot for 66-68 degrees F in the room, with good air-circulation. Often venting out warm air from the top of the room into an adjacent space, or the ceiling plenum. The ugly truth is that it sometimes reaches into the upper 70's - alas we make do.
Relative humidity is less of an issue around here - greater Boston area - except for the summer months and then only a double handful of days is it really an issue. But the AC seems to dry out the air enough.
For our 7x24 production systems we co-locate and they have the HVAC worries. Last summer it was pretty hot in the Boston Area and when working in the co-lo we would be wearing jackets and long pants it was (relatively) so frosty. Even as the temperature on the roof of the building reached over 110 degrees, the insides stayed relatively cool (approximately 68-74 degrees).
The irony is that the co-lo is housed in an old dairy building (anyone care to guess where it is) and when I was in college in the late '70's my room mate at the time worked in the same building loading ice-cream and frozen novelties onto delivery trucks. He used to wear one of those snorkel coats all summer and have a perpetual cold to boot.
Anyway, methinks I've wandered off-off-topic.
I agree with what is said before, simple thermometers will help you find hot/cold spots, we use the dual thermometers, the inexpensive indoor/outdoor ones with the probe attached to the little cooper wire. Set it up high in the room and move the probe around to where you want to measure. We also use supplemental air circulations (fans) and we are really good about cleaning the filters on the fans that are in the server room.
When possible use the porous style rack doors. Make sure that nothing obscures the fans on the tops of the cabinets and make sure that your cables are all confined to the races or areas provided for them in the cabinets. Taking the time to clean them up and get them out of the way from blocking air movement will pay off in spades later.
One parting thought re: the filters - DON'T CLEAN THEM IN THE SERVER ROOM - DOOOHH! Take them somewhere else where the dust won't get recycled. Believe it or not I've actually also had to talk with someone who used water to clean a set of filters one day. They didn't get that they weren't really dry, even though they seemed to be dry. So we ran without them while they air dried for awhile.
I guess when you've been doing this awhile you get to see all kinds of weird stuff.
Geof
At 01:27 PM 7/7/2003 -0400, you wrote:
Don't worry. I'm sizing the A/C based on current needs + future growth. I just mentioned the room size for conversation sake. The A/C unit we have is already too small for our immediate needs. Some say it was too small and all wrong from the beginning because it doesn't circulate cold air well enough. I have to use fans to get the cold air to the other side of the room. Our next system will be much better.
Troy
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Karen D. Oland Sent: Monday, July 07, 2003 12:34 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] OT: Server room Environment
Room size is almost irrelevant in a server room -- the equipment is the big factor, not the size of the room (actually, the small room can make things worse, esp if there is no circulation to another room or exhaust vents to dispose of hot air). Definitely don't size a room (window) a/c based on the room size. At least double it, as room a/c's generally are for bedroom/living room use (or not much cooking) and humans plus a tv/radio don't put out as much heat as a bank of computers. Our server room is in a basement area, which should be about 55-60 degrees in winter. With only a few servers and assorted equipment, we end up running a/c most of the winter (basements are well insulated by earth) and haven't had to run heat in years (the humans complain when it gets down to 65).
Karen
> -----Original Message----- > From: Troy Hilton > > BTW, our server room > is only 13x20. Small but functional.
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