Figure 13 description

The image is a technical diagram illustrating the hot/cold aisle containment strategy used in data centres to optimize airflow and cooling efficiency.

Key elements in the diagram include:

• A raised floor, which provides space for cabling and air flow.
• Above the raised floor, two groups of server rows, presented edge on, each extending from the front to the back of the image. Each group consists of two rows of server racks, where the back of the servers face each other. The aisle between the two server rows in a group is referred to in the image as the hot aisle.
• This configuration thus forms five alternating aisles:
  • A left and right outer aisle, where the outer front face of each server group is exposed.
  • A left and right inner aisle, which is the middle aisle in each server row group where the server backs face each other. These aisles were previously designated as hot aisles.
  • A central aisle, where the inner front face of each server group is exposed, so that the front server row from one group faces the front of the other. This aisle is designated as a cold aisle in the image.
• Three rows of perforated tiles, which allow air exchange to take place. There is one row running along the outer face of each server row group, and another running along the central aisle, previously designated as the cold aisle. There are no perforated tiles in the hot aisles.
• Two precision air conditioning units, each positioned at the back of one of the inner aisles (e.g. the hot aisles).
• Two cable management systems, each running below the raised floor, along one of the hot aisles, and linking with the air conditioning unit at the back of those aisles.

There are 2 types of air flows depicted:

• A hot air flow. This flow
  • begins at the back of each server within a server row group
  • enters the inner row (e.g. hot aisle) between the two server rows in a group
  • proceeds towards the back of the image along this inner row and
  • terminates into the precision air conditioning unit at the end of the aisle.
• A cold air flow. This flow
  • begins at the bottom of the precision air conditioning unit at the end of each inner aisle (e.g. hot aisle)
  • proceeds underneath the raised floor
  • then proceeds upward through the raised floor's perforated tiles and
  • enters the front of the servers in the two outer aisles and the central aisle (e.g. the cold aisle), as since there are no perforated tiles in the hot aisles to permit the cold air flow from exiting there.