Data Center Cooling Issues and How Thermal Services Solve Them
Overheating data center equipment isn’t just inconvenient; it can pose a major threat to your facility. At best, your systems will shut down once the temperature gets too high to prevent further damage. At worst your facility is forced not costly downtime and equipment replacements. Without this safety measure, overheating can cause hardware failure, data loss, and prolonged downtime. The best way to avoid overheating is to invest in strong data center cooling solutions. However, just like your other equipment, these systems can have problems of their own. That’s why data center cooling equipment needs preventive maintenance and monitoring to ensure it’s always working optimally. To ensure that your data center cooling never fails you when you need it most, you also need to be aware of its most common problems and how thermal services can prevent them.
Increasing Heat Density
According to Berkeley’s 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report, data centers are using 4.4% of all energy in the United States. This is largely due to new technologies like AI becoming more accessible. As a result, not only do data centers need to find ways of delivering power to these high-performance systems, but they also need to combat the excess heat that is produced in doing so. Often times, the amount of heat produced by technologies like AI overwhelm traditional air-cooling systems in data centers. That’s why so many facilities are adopting liquid cooling or hybrid models to maintain their perfect environment.
But how do you know when it’s time to make the upgrade? Regular thermal management services will be able to tell you. Factory-trained technicians will perform preventive maintenance on your data center cooling systems, which includes making sure every piece of equipment is functioning properly. These experts ensure your cooling technologies are always working like they should be, as well as suggest and install new systems if they determine the current one can’t meet your facility’s growing needs.
Poor Airflow Management
Regardless of whether your facility uses the latest technology, every piece of equipment produces some amount of heat. And in smaller rooms or densely packed locations, adequate data center cooling can be a challenge as the excess heat has nowhere to go in the cramped space. But even more importantly, poor airflow can create hotspots in any location, no matter the size. This can lead to a rise in energy bills as your data center cooling systems struggle to keep up. And as time goes on, your systems will eventually overheat and force your facility into unplanned downtime.
These issues can be prevented with expert thermal management services. For example, preventive maintenance doesn’t always reveal a problem that requires a new data center cooling system. Sometimes, all that’s needed to improve airflow and cooling is a proper cleanliness check. Air filters, blower belts, and all other components of a data center cooling system will be inspected and cleaned to ensure the equipment runs to the best of its ability. Then, if the cooling technologies still can’t keep up with the growing heat, expert technicians will evaluate if a new system is needed or if there is a way to optimize current airflow further.
Decrease in Energy Efficiency
A strong data center cooling system is absolutely necessary to prevent overheating. However, due to the rise in high-density data centers and equipment, cooling technologies are using more energy than ever before to maintain these environments. Thermal management services help improve the energy efficiency of data center cooling systems by ensuring every piece of equipment is upgraded and can work together. This includes a routine replacement of components like air filters, blower belts, or variable speed drives to improve how cooling technologies run. The better they can cool your data center, the more energy they will save, and the less money you will have to spend on energy bills.
Lack of Real-Time Monitoring
If problems with your data center’s cooling technologies aren’t caught early on, you risk unplanned downtime and stressful reactive maintenance. That’s why it’s important to have strong remote monitoring solutions in place. Thermal remote monitoring provides continuous, real-time data about your data center cooling systems so you can spot early signs of failure. This allows you to perform preventive maintenance instead of responding only when a problem grows too big. Not only does this grant you peace of mind, but it is also a cost-effective strategy as solving issues early on allows for more budgeting than responding to emergencies.
Ready to Upgrade Your Data Center Cooling System?
As your facility adopts the latest technology to stay up to date, it can be difficult to know when to upgrade your cooling system. Not to mention understanding the differences between air, liquid, and hybrid options can feel like an overwhelming task. Finding your perfect data center cooling solution doesn’t have to be a complicated experience. Sign up for our monthly newsletter to stay up to date on the latest data center cooling systems so you can be prepared when it’s time to upgrade your facility.