Technologies of cooling in DPCs

Data centers turned into the central nervous system of modern corporation. They execute the huge volume of work. For example, the DPC of Google company daily processes about one billion transactions of search, and it requires huge volumes of energy. Daily energy consumption of this world's largest search system is 260 million watts. Approximately the same volume of energy is spent by 200 thousand individual apartment houses.

Electric power cost (energy, but not physical devices and network connections) is the biggest item of expenditure of any data processing center. To a half of this amount it is spent for a power supply of the huge air conditioning systems cooling temperature in DPC to the level of 16-23 degrees Celsius which is considered as optimal for normal functioning of computing devices at humidity in 40-55 percent.

To cut down power consumptions, the advanced companies test new methods of cooling. The economy reached at the same time can be very considerable, besides such projects can provide to the company reputation of the environmentalist. In the majority of modern data processing centers for cooling the atmospheric air which is in addition cooled in DPC premises is used. The companies aim at that the maximum temperature of an atmospheric air did not exceed 25 Celsius degrees because cooling of air by only one degree leads to the 4 percent growth of power expenses.

2020: Green DPCs are able to afford only IT giant so far

The British magazine Nature provided in the summer of 2020 data that annual requirement of DPCs makes about 200 Tvt*ch — the value is comparable to national energy consumption of some countries. Energy which is received by the data-centers is not always got from net sources. More than 70% of the electric power for needs of the data-centers receive China taking the second place on the size of the market of DPC from the thermal power stations using coal. Every year the number of the technology companies, whose business relies on DPC, increases^[1].

The problem became so serious that set expression "the green data-centers" appeared. If ten years ago difficulties with cooling solved therein, then now DPCs already project, combining features of technology and a condition of preserving of the environment. Symbiosis of digital technologies and environmental protection develops in two directions. One of them means construction of the data-centers using the processed salvage and also environmentally friendly structural materials. The second means creation of the energy efficient engineering systems.

The choice of the construction site of DPC demonstrates intentions of the company. The main emphasis at design of Verne Global was placed on a condition that its energy consumption will be provided with geothermal power. Therefore constructed the data-center near a geyser. In Frankfurt in the project of the Citigroup data-center an opportunity to use a rain water as coolant is put.

The main energy consumption of the data-centers comes down to two components: To IT loading and cooling systems. Freon conditioners and the chiller-fankoyly are forced out by systems with direct or indirect freecooling. The Data-centers Amazon Google, Facebook use direct technology of free cooling of server. It means that fresh air before giving on cooling is previously purified. Indirect freecooling means the closed cooling cycle.

Microsoft pays attention to researches in different areas. The company experiments, including, and with cooling systems. Conducts search of an alternative to freecooling. One of such attempts can consider placement of waterproof DPC in the ocean. The inaccessibility server in case of failure of its elements cancels advantages of ambient cooling.

Microsoft and other IT giant promise to reduce a carbon trace. In particular, Microsoft announced step-by-step mitigation of consequences of emissions of carbon dioxide. By 2030 the company is going to reach the carbon and neutral status. Ideally the European data-centers by 2030 should become carbon and neutral too. One of the Danish companies designed and started heat transmission system from DPC in city heating systems. Heat developed by the data-center is used for 70%. The authorities of Denmark are going to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. The technology of a heat transfer partially delays on itself accomplishment of this quota. In Finland, England and other countries arrive also: excesses of heat of some data-centers are used for heating of houses. The IBM Data-center in Switzerland gives a part of the excessive heat for heating of the neighboring pool. Such examples are enough, their quantity will grow.

Use of solar and wind energy is relevant for the data-centers. The DPC of the Internet company in Illinois providing capacities for the servers at the expense of the wind generator can be an example.

Practice shows that development of the green data-centers — a matter of time. So far completely transition to environmentally friendly energy is possible only for DPC of giant companies. They bear today ecological responsibility to a large extent. Changes in policy of power efficiency are inevitable. The risks connected with changes frighten many. But with a big concern it is necessary to treat the competition where the significant role will be played by costs for the electric power and observance of ecological standards

2017

The bunker of the U.S. Air Force taken out of service near Demoyn (State of Iowa) capable to bear nuclear attack; the thrown calcareous pit in the remote Region of State of Pennsylvania; three buildings about 28 thousand sq.m everyone which are under construction near a polar circle - so different, at first sight, objects already became or soon will become the most modern centers of processing ^[2].

Great interest is attracted by essentially new projects of cooling. For example, in Frankfurt for additional cooling of a data processing center on its roof planted plants (but even this DPC did not refuse air conditioning systems). In the new data center of Google located in the Finnish city of Hamina for cooling old granite tunnels through which water was pumped on pulp and paper mill nonexistent nowadays are used. Now this water cools a data processing center, and then returns to the Gulf of Finland. And Facebook in the aspiration to strengthen reputation of the ecologically responsible company published construction plans of a server farm near Arctic Circle where the equipment will be cooled in the natural way.

Computing and network technologies do not draw such attention as up-to-date design of some DPCs, but also they can make the significant contribution to economy of energy. For example, Cisco data processing center in the city Allen (State of Texas) uses the convergent infrastructure transferring data and traffic of storage on a single network. The number of switches, adapters and cables is as a result reduced and considerably energy consumption decreases: the less cables, the natural air flows flow round the equipment more freely, reducing the need for fans. Facilitate a problem of cooling and a blade servers, these compact analogs of rack server devices. Even more virtualization of servers reduces the needs for energy, allowing to process the same information volume the smaller number of physical servers. As a result air conditioning in this DPC joins only when air temperature in premises exceeds 25 Celsius degrees. For power supply of office spaces solar batteries are used. All this allows Cisco company to cut down expenses on cooling of a data processing center on 600 thousand US dollars a year.

According to some forecasts, by 2020 emissions of greenhouse gases in data processing centers will make 4 percent from universal level. Now the national and international organizations use policy of "gingerbread" for fight against emissions, but if the companies do not take drastic measures for reduction of emissions, "gingerbread" can quickly be replaced by "whip". Without waiting for it, the advanced companies solve a problem by different methods, including ecologically competent design of buildings and use of more reasonable computing and network technologies.

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• Cooling systems

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