Vertical tray structure for rack in data center
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsHonggang Sheng, Sangsun Kim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for cooling electronic equipment in a data center. Ambient air is vertically circulated from a workspace across a plurality of rack-mounted electronic devices. The electronic devices are located in a plurality of trays such that each tray has a major plane that is substantially parallel to a side plane of the rack. The circulated air is cooled with a heat exchanger that is connected to a vertical end of the rack via a sealed interface. Multiple racks can be arrayed in a distributed cooling arrangement, which increases reliability and scalability of the data center.
Claims18
A data center cooling system, comprising:
- a plurality of racks, each rack comprising:
- an air circulation fan positioned to vertically circulate ambient air from a workspace across a plurality of rack-mounted electronic devices located in a plurality of trays in the rack;
- a respective heat exchanger, mounted to an end of the rack, and in fluid communication with the plurality of rack-mounted electronic devices through an airflow path that is positioned between the rack and the heat exchanger and is thermally sealed to the workspace, to receive and cool heated air from the rack;
- and
- a hot air plenum, local to the rack, for capturing the air heated by the plurality of rack-mounted the electronic devices, wherein the hot air plenum is thermally isolated from the workspace;
- and
- cooling equipment for cooling the captured air.
A method of cooling electronic equipment in a data center, comprising:
- vertically circulating ambient air from a workspace across a plurality of rack-mounted electronic devices to heat the ambient air, the plurality of rack-mounted electronic devices located in a plurality of trays in a rack of a plurality of racks in the data center;
- cooling the heated air that is circulated from the rack with a respective heat exchanger, wherein the heat exchanger is mounted to an end of the rack and in fluid communication with the plurality of rack-mounted electronic devices through an airflow path that is positioned between the rack and the heat exchanger and is thermally sealed to the workspace, the cooling comprising:
- capturing the air heated by the electronic devices in a hot air plenum local to the rack, wherein the hot air plenum is thermally isolated from the workspace;
- and
- cooling the captured air using cooling equipment;
- and
- re-circulating the cooled air to the workspace.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.