5 Things You Need to Know About Cooling Your Server Room

Temperature control is one of the toughest aspects of server room management. Protecting your data and your expensive server room equipment is an ongoing battle thanks to the huge amount of heat the equipment puts out. If you don’t have a sound plan in place for cooling your server room, your equipment will eventually overheat, causing it to crash and potentially losing your most important data.

The good news is there are some steps you can take to cool your server room effectively without spending an arm and a leg. Here are some key pieces of information and simple tricks that will help you cool your server rooms economically:

1. Smaller isn’t better-Office space is precious, and for a growing company, trying to save space is always an issue. But the truth is, making your server room as small as possible is a risky proposition. Small server rooms tend to trap heat in a tiny space, making it difficult to keep the equipment at a cool temperature. A larger room can dissipate heat more easily, sometimes without even requiring the use of additional cooling equipment.
2. Layout matters-No matter the size of your server room, layout plays an important role in how effectively it will cool. If you place your servers too close together, air won’t be able to pass through and the equipment may get too hot. Or if you put too many servers in one room, the equipment will generate too much heat, making server room cooling a serious challenge. Simply put, how you lay out the equipment in your server room matters.
3. Strategically placed fans may not be enough-Oscillating fans can play an important role in keeping the air flowing in your server room and cooling down sensitive equipment. It’s important that you place fans near areas where heat is released from the equipment and aim the hot air away from the equipment’s intake. Likewise, you can place fans near the doors of your server room to help pump cooler air in.  However, fans alone may not be enough to cool your server room, depending on the amount of heat the equipment emits.
4. Portable air conditioners are effective and affordable-Portable air conditioners and spot coolers provide the most effective means of pumping cold air into server rooms. Available in a wide range of sizes and capacities, portable air conditioners can be setup nearly anywhere in a server room, making it easy to cool down specific pieces of equipment that are prone to overheating.
5. Simple changes can make all the difference-Small, subtle changes can make a world of difference when trying to cool your server room. For example, simply leaving the door open to your server room can help heat escape while also bringing in cooler air. Another trick is to remove a ceiling tile in your server room so the warm air will rise and go back into the central HVAC system.

With these simple tips, keeping your server room cool will be a breeze!