Data center cooling and HVAC design
Air and liquid cooling, containment, redundancy and efficiency for mission-critical facilities. 30 guides.
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- ASHRAE TC 9.9 thermal guidelines for data centers
Learn what the ASHRAE TC 9.9 recommended and allowable envelopes mean, how equipment classes A1 to A4 and H1 differ, how humidity and altitude are treated, and how to use the guidelines to save cooling energy safely.
- Airflow management: blanking panels, cable cutouts and leakage
Explains the airflow problems found in most data centers, the low-cost fixes that solve them, and how to measure the results before raising setpoints.
- Battery and UPS room HVAC
Learn how to size cooling for UPS equipment, keep batteries at the temperature that protects their life, and ventilate for hydrogen and lithium-ion off-gas risks.
- CFD modeling for data centers
Explains how CFD modeling predicts airflow and temperatures in data centers, how to use it for design, failure analysis and capacity planning, and how to make sure the model reflects reality.
- CRAC vs CRAH units
Learn how computer room air conditioners and computer room air handlers differ, how each fits with heat rejection and free cooling options, and how to choose between them for a given facility size and density.
- Chilled water plant design for data centers
Explains how a data center chilled water plant differs from a comfort cooling plant, and the design choices that set its efficiency and reliability.
- Commissioning data center cooling systems
A walkthrough of the commissioning process for data center cooling, including what happens at each level, which tests matter most and how to avoid common gaps.
- Continuous cooling and thermal ride-through
Learn why IT rooms can overheat in the seconds and minutes after a power failure, and the design strategies that keep cooling continuous until the plant recovers.
- Coolant distribution units (CDUs) and liquid cooling loops
Explains how coolant distribution units connect IT liquid cooling to the facility water system, and what to consider when selecting, installing and commissioning them.
- Cooling high-density racks and AI workloads
A practical guide to the cooling options for high-density and AI racks, from air with containment to liquid cooling, and the facility decisions owners need to make early.
- Data center cooling controls and DCIM integration
Explains the control strategies used in data center cooling, the role of building automation and DCIM systems, and how to integrate them reliably and securely.
- Data center cooling design: an overview
A map of the main decisions in data center cooling design, including environmental targets, air and liquid cooling options, heat rejection, redundancy and efficiency metrics, with links to deeper guides on each topic.
- Data center cooling redundancy: N+1, 2N and Uptime tiers
A plain explanation of cooling redundancy terms, how they map to Uptime Institute tiers, and the design details that determine whether redundancy actually works.
- Data center heat reuse and district heating
Explains where data center waste heat comes from, how it can be upgraded and delivered to buildings or district systems, and what makes heat reuse projects succeed or stall.
- Data center site selection and climate
Learn which climate and site factors affect data centre cooling energy, water use and resilience, and how to evaluate a Canadian site from an HVAC perspective.
- Direct-to-chip liquid cooling
An overview of cold plate liquid cooling for processors and accelerators, covering how the loops are arranged, which temperatures to design for, and the practical issues of bringing liquid to the rack.
- Edge and modular data center cooling
Covers how small, distributed and prefabricated data centers are cooled, the challenges of unattended and harsh-climate sites, and how to choose and verify cooling for them.
- Evaporative and adiabatic cooling for data centers
Covers the evaporative cooling technologies used in data centers, how they save energy, what they cost in water and maintenance, and how they behave in Canadian weather.
- Fire suppression interactions with data center HVAC
Learn how fire suppression and cooling systems must be coordinated in a data centre so that suppression works, cooling is not lost unnecessarily and the integrated sequence is proven by testing.
- Free cooling and economizers for data centers in Canada
Explains the main economizer options for data centers, how Canadian climates affect each one, and the design details that decide whether free cooling actually delivers.
- Hot aisle and cold aisle containment
Learn why separating hot and cold air is the foundation of efficient data center cooling, how hot aisle and cold aisle containment compare, and the design, fire protection and control details that make containment work.
- Humidity control and static electricity in data centers
Explains how much humidity control a data center really needs, how electrostatic discharge and corrosion risks are managed, and how to avoid wasting energy on humidifiers and dehumidifiers.
- Immersion cooling: single-phase and two-phase
Explains how servers are cooled by submerging them in dielectric fluid, the differences between single-phase and two-phase systems, and what a building needs to support them.
- In-row and rear-door heat exchanger cooling
Learn how close-coupled cooling with in-row units and rear-door heat exchangers removes heat near the rack, and how to decide which one suits your room.
- Load bank testing for cooling validation
Explains how temporary heat loads are used to prove data center cooling capacity, controls and failure response before IT equipment is installed.
- Power usage effectiveness (PUE) and how to improve it
Learn how power usage effectiveness is defined and measured, what it does and does not tell you, and which improvements make the biggest difference.
- Raised floor vs slab cooling
Weighs the advantages and drawbacks of raised access floors and slab floors for data center cooling, and explains which cooling strategies fit each.
- Retrofitting legacy data centers for higher density
A step-by-step approach to upgrading an older data center for denser equipment, from assessment and quick wins to liquid cooling retrofits carried out while the facility stays live.
- Server room and telecom closet cooling
Learn how to estimate the heat load in a small server room or network closet, choose a cooling system that runs year-round, and avoid the failures that cause most overheating calls.
- Water usage effectiveness (WUE) and water-free cooling
Explains the water usage effectiveness metric, where data center water goes, and how designs can reduce or eliminate water consumption without giving up efficiency.