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US 8,411,439 B1Granted
Cooling diversity in data centers
AssigneeExaflop LLC
InventorsAndrew B. Carlson, Jimmy Clidaras, William Hamburgen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A data center cooling system is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of computer racks arranged in a plurality of substantially parallel rows, cooling units associated with the computer racks and arranged in substantially parallel rows to cool air warmed by the cooling racks, and cooling fluid supply and return conduits that are divided by isolation valves into a plurality of cooling sub-loops, wherein adjacent cooling units in a common row are supplied from different sub-loops, and individual sub-loops serve cooling units in multiple rows, so as to provide water-side diversity across the cooling system.
Claims33
A data center cooling system, comprising:
- a plurality of computer racks arranged in a plurality of substantially parallel rows, with a particular row separated from another row by a human-occupiable aisle from which the computer racks in the particular row can be serviced;
- cooling units closely coupled to the computer racks and arranged in substantially parallel rows to cool air warmed by the computer racks, with a particular row of cooling units serving multiple rows of racks;
- and
- cooling fluid supply and return conduits that are divided by isolation valves into a plurality of cooling sub-loops,
- wherein a particular sub-loop in the plurality of cooling sub-loops provides cooling fluid for more than one row of cooling units, and a particular row of cooling units receives cooling fluid from more than one sub-loop of the plurality of sub-loops, and air from a particular computer rack in a row of the plurality of substantially parallel rows is cooled with cooling fluid provided from more than one sub-loop of the plurality of cooling sub-loops,
- the cooling fluid supply and return conduits are arranged in a plurality of substantially parallel rows and each cooling unit in a row is served by one and only one sub-loop, and
- the rows of the cooling fluid supply and return conduits are substantially orthogonal to the rows of the cooling units and human-occupiable aisle, and fluid from one cooling fluid supply conduit serves multiple rows of cooling units.
4 more elements
A data center cooling system, comprising:
- a plurality of computer racks arranged in a plurality of substantially parallel rows, with a particular row separated from another row by a human-occupiable aisle from which the computer racks in the particular row can be serviced;
- cooling units closely coupled to the computer racks and arranged in substantially parallel rows to cool air warmed by the computer racks, with a particular row of cooling units serving multiple rows of racks, each of the multiple rows of racks bordering a corresponding human-occupiable aisle;
- and
- cooling fluid supply and return conduits that are divided by isolation valves into a plurality of cooling sub-loops, wherein
- a particular sub-loop in the plurality of cooling sub-loops is arranged to provide cooling fluid for more than one row of cooling units independently of the other cooling sub-loops in the plurality of sub-loops, and a particular row of cooling units is arranged to receive cooling fluid from more than one sub-loop of the plurality of sub-loops independently of the other rows of cooling units, and a particular computer rack in a row of the plurality of substantially parallel rows is positioned to be cooled with cooling fluid provided from more than one sub-loop of the plurality of cooling sub-loops,
- a first sub-loop of the plurality of cooling sub-loops arranged to serve a first set of cooling units within adjacent rows of cooling units of the plurality of rows of cooling units and a second sub-loop of the plurality of cooling sub-loops arranged to serve a second set of cooling units within the adjacent rows of cooling units of the plurality of rows of cooling units, the second set of cooling units not connected to be served by the first sub-loop, and
- the first set of cooling units are connected to the first sub-loop for substantially continuous receipt of cooling fluid when the second sub-loop is removed from service.
4 more elements
A method of providing data center cooling, the method comprising:
- locating cooling units for cooling computers in a data center in substantially parallel rows, at least a portion of the rows comprising cooling units arranged between and closely coupled with corresponding rows of racks supporting at least a portion of the computers, with a particular row of racks adjacent to and accessible from a human-occupiable aisle, and a particular row of cooling units connected to serve multiple rows of racks;
- positioning cooling fluid supply and return conduits proximate to the cooling units in a plurality of fluidically isolatable segments;
- arranging the cooling units above a data center floor and the conduits below the data center floor substantially parallel to the rows of cooling units and the human-occupiable aisle;
- serving a first group of cooling units within adjacent rows of cooling units of the plurality of rows of cooling units with a first segment;
- serving a second group of cooling units within the adjacent rows of cooling units of the plurality of rows of cooling units with a second segment, wherein the second group of cooling units are not served by the first segment;
- and
- continuously providing cooling fluid to the first group of cooling units through the first segment upon removal of the second segment from service,
- wherein a particular segment in the plurality of fluidically isolated segments provides cooling fluid for more than one row of cooling units independently of the other segments in the plurality of segments, and a particular row of cooling units receives cooling fluid from more than one segment in the plurality of fluidically isolated segments independently of the other rows of cooling units.
5 more elements
A method of providing data center cooling, the method comprising:
- locating cooling units for cooling computers in a data center in substantially parallel rows, at least a portion of the rows comprising cooling units arranged between and closely coupled with corresponding rows of racks supporting at least a portion of the computers, with a particular row of racks adjacent to and accessible from a human-occupiable aisle, and a particular row of cooling units serving multiple rows of racks, each of the multiple rows of racks bordering a corresponding human-occupiable aisle;
- positioning cooling fluid supply and return conduits proximate to the cooling units in a plurality of fluidically isolatable segments;
- arranging the cooling units above a data center floor and the conduits below the data center floor at a substantially orthogonal angle to the rows of cooling units and the human-occupiable aisle,
- serving a first group of cooling units within adjacent rows of cooling units of the plurality of rows of cooling units with a first segment;
- serving a second group of cooling units within the adjacent rows of cooling units of the plurality of rows of cooling units with a second segment and not with the first segment;
- and
- arranging the first group of cooling units to receive cooling fluid in a substantially continuous flow upon removal of the second segment from service,
- wherein a particular segment in the plurality of fluidically isolated segments provides cooling fluid for more than one row of cooling units independently of the other segments in the plurality of segments, and a particular row of cooling units receives cooling fluid from more than one segment in the plurality of fluidically isolated segments independently of the other rows of cooling units.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.