Apparatus and method for facilitating air cooling of an electronics rack

A data center comprising:

• at least one electronics rack, each electronics rack comprising an air inlet side and an air outlet side, the air inlet and air outlet sides respectively enabling ingress and egress of air through the electronics rack;
• an apparatus for facilitating cooling of the at least one electronics rack, the apparatus comprising:
• at least one tile assembly disposed external to the at least one electronics rack adjacent to the air inlet side thereof, each tile assembly comprising a perforated tile and at least one air-moving device associated with the perforated tile for moving air through the perforated tile, wherein the at least one air-moving device is controllable;
• at least one temperature sensor for sensing air temperature external to or within the at least one electronics rack;
• and
• a controller coupled to the at least one tile assembly and to the at least one temperature sensor for controlling the at least one air-moving device to adjust airflow through the at least one tile assembly based on temperature sensed by the at least one temperature senor, wherein the controller adjusts airflow through the at least tile assembly to facilitate air cooling of the at least one electronics rack.

A method of facilitating air cooling of an electronics rack, the method comprising:

• disposing at least one tile assembly external to the electronics rack, each tile assembly comprising a perforated tile and at least one air-moving device associated with the perforated tile for moving air through the perforated tile, wherein at least one air-moving device comprises a controllable attribute;
• sensing air temperature external to or within the electronics rack;
• and
• controlling airflow through the at least one tile assembly by automatically adjusting the controllable attribute of the at least one air-moving device based on air temperature sensed external to or within the electronics rack, wherein adjusting airflow through the at least one tile assembly based on the sensed air temperature facilitates air cooling of the electronics rack.