Data Center Manager Question:

For years, IT managers have deployed their servers and IT equipment in hot and cold aisles. In such a scenario, the front side of two rows of equipment racks face each other and draw cool air into each rack's equipment intake. As such, the back side of two rows each expel hot air into the hot aisle. While this is an efficient concept, it may not go far enough for higher power loads. A solution to make the data center even more efficient is to deploy either hot or cold aisle containment. In cold aisle containment, the cold aisles are augmented to effectively "trap" cold air into the cold aisle. This allows the data center operator to increase air handling set points and more efficiently cool the intakes of the servers. On the other hand, hot aisle containment is a strategy to isolate the hot air exhaust found in the hot aisle. In both cases, the intent is to restrict mixing of significantly different air temperatures. Both solutions can be effective to lower PUE.