GB2569181A

GB2569181A - Modular skirt, support structure, and container for IT equipment

Info

Publication number: GB2569181A
Application number: GB1720547.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Beresford Alan
Original assignee: Ecocooling Ltd
Current assignee: Ecocooling Ltd
Priority date: 2017-12-08
Filing date: 2017-12-08
Publication date: 2019-06-12
Also published as: GB2575619A; GB201806196D0; GB201720547D0

Abstract

A shipping container configured to house IT equipment comprises an air-mixing chamber 3 with a first air inlet 1, the chamber connected to a IT system space housing IT equipment 5 via a fan (4) arranged to force air from the chamber 3 to the space 5. A support structure 20 (fig 4) for supporting one or more IT devices 6 is to act as exhaust ducting from the equipment and an air inlet for air passage 25. The support structure is arranged so that a fan of the IT device is directed vertically downwards. A modular skirt for an IT device is configured to surround a portion of the IT device and to extend radially outwardly from the IT device. The skirt is preferably arranged between an array of IT devices to stop air bypassing the devices and support structure ducting. The Air passage has at one end a variable-resistance element 11 between it and the air-mixing chamber 3, and preferably at another end an outlet 7. Air can flow through the IT equipment in the system space 5, through the supports and skirts to the passageway, and back into the air-mixing chamber, and/or the outlet. (figures 6 to 8 show fresh air, attemperation or recirculation modes respectively.) (figures 9 and 10 show how IT equipment may be arrayed)

Description

The invention relates to a modular skirt for an IT device, a support structure for supporting one or more IT devices, and a shipping container configured to house IT equipment. In particular, the invention relates to a cooling system for cooling IT equipment in a system space such as a data centre.

Background

There is a need for cost-effective, low-energy cooling of buildings and facilities such as system spaces in the Information Technology (IT) sector such as data centres, server rooms and other spaces housing IT equipment. Such IT equipment or apparatus, which may include computing, telecommunications and other types of equipment, generates heat during normal operation and needs to be appropriately cooled, conventionally by air cooling.

It is important to control the temperature, dew point and relative humidity of air delivered to system spaces containing IT equipment, in order to minimise equipment failures. Temperature-related failures occur both when operating temperatures are too low and when temperatures are too high, with higher temperatures leading to significantly increased failure rates of server hardware. The humidity of the system space also affects equipment failure rates, as electro-static discharges can be generated by electronic equipment if the air is too dry, and corrosion, or conductive anodic filament growth, can occur on electronic equipment where humidity is too high.

System spaces for housing IT equipment are conventionally designed to meet predetermined standards for cooling, such as the ASH RAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers) standards, which set out standard-compliant temperature, dew point and humidity ranges and recommended temperature and relative humidity ranges for system spaces housing IT equipment.

The choice of cooling system can have a dramatic effect on the electrical consumption and the total carbon emissions of a system space due to their different electrical demands. It is desirable to use ventilation systems which draw in ambient air for controlling the temperature within system spaces, as ambient-air ventilation requires far less energy than refrigeration-based air-conditioning. Since the ambient temperature is low for much of the time in temperate countries such as in the UK, ventilation systems drawing in ambient air may be capable of delivering air below the maximum allowable standard-compliant temperature for much of the year. It needs to be borne in mind, however, that low temperatures can also be a problem for ambient-air-ventilation systems, as many system spaces should not be maintained at too low a temperature.

In order to minimise operating costs, many lower-grade IT installations such as Bitcoin miners, which typically use lower-performance IT equipment that is tolerant of a wider range of conditions than higher-performance IT equipment, use very simple fresh-air cooling of system spaces containing their IT equipment. The servers (IT equipment) are typically installed on industrial racking and natural ventilation is used to cool the equipment. In other words, a supply of external air is provided to the system space to cool the IT apparatus. This is only suitable for equipment which can accommodate wide variations in temperature and air which has not been filtered. The servers used in such systems typically each have an internal fan which provides a positive air flow over the components which require cooling. In most basic installations the air enters the building through open doors. Such a system is illustrated at Figure 1, in which servers 2’ are mounted in racks 4’, housed in a system space 6’ such as a building. Ambient fresh air enters the system space through doors 8’ and is exhausted from the system space through roof vents 10’, optionally driven by exhaust fans. Each server comprises a fan for drawing in air to cool that server. The air warmed by passing through each server is returned into the system space.

This sector, using lower-performance IT equipment, is growing in capacity and there is a demand for ever-larger system spaces housing larger volumes/quantities of IT apparatus. For example, larger installations housing IT apparatus cumulatively requiring over 10MW of cooling are now operational. A number of problems must be solved to provide costeffective cooling to such system spaces. One such problem is that when a system space contains a smaller quantity of IT apparatus, as shown in Figure 1, adequate cooling for all of the IT apparatus may be provided simply by allowing air to flow through the doors of the system space. However, if a system space (which might be a building such as a warehouse or industrial unit) contains a larger volume of IT apparatus, then servers (IT apparatus) in the centre of the building cannot draw in cool fresh air because they are positioned in the warm air exhausted by surrounding IT apparatus. Servers in the centre of the system space can therefore be prone to overheating as both the server density within a system space and the cooling requirement of the system space increase.

This is illustrated at Figure 2, which shows a larger system space than Figure 1, cooled in the same way. (The same reference numerals as in Figure 1 have been used.) The servers 2’ near the centre of the system space are surrounded by servers that are venting warmed air 12’ into the system space. The servers near the centre of the system space, at A, therefore cannot draw in air that is sufficiently cool to provide the required cooling effect. These servers may therefore be expected to be unreliable or to fail.

Mechanical fans can be provided at the air inlets and/or the air exhausts to and from the system space. This can increase airflow and improve cooling but, in the case of very large installations, this approach still cannot provide adequate cooling.

A more sophisticated approach to providing cooling air to IT apparatus throughout a large system space is to use a “cold aisle”. This is a conventional way to provide cooling to a system space housing high-performance IT apparatus, and involves arranging the system space so that cooling air is provided to a cold aisle of the system space. Air in the cold aisle is then directed to, or drawn by, individual IT apparatus to cool that IT apparatus, before being exhausted, preferably into a “hot aisle” separate from the cold aisle. The use of hot and cold aisles keeps cold input air separate from warm exhaust air, improving the efficiency of cooling. A drawback of this arrangement, however, is that it may require a lot of space, and can therefore be difficult to provide in confined spaces.

Attempts have been made in the past to house racks of IT equipment in temporary structures such as shipping containers. However, the size and shape of conventional shipping containers, and the requirement for continuous cooling of IT equipment, has made this difficult.

Standard shipping containers are approximately 2.4m wide, while standard racking (shelving) typically used to support banks of IT equipment is 1.2m wide. The long and narrow shape of such containers therefore means that it is difficult to fit an acceptable number of racks, while leaving sufficient space for users to access the IT equipment from both sides for maintenance.

The shape of the containers also means that airflow through the container is often compromised. Where ventilation is provided by opening doors on an end of the container, for example, the IT equipment closest to the doors may receive the coldest air, while the racks further away from the open doors receive hotter air exhausted from the intervening racks. The shape and size of the containers also mean that space is restricted, and the arrangement of the container into hot and cold aisles is difficult and space-inefficient.

All of these issues mean that prior attempts to provide banks of IT equipment, or data centres, inside shipping containers, have been space-inefficient, poorly cooled, and unable to achieve the desired high power density.

Summary of the Invention

The invention provides a modular skirt for an IT device, a support structure for supporting one or more IT devices, and a shipping container configured to house IT equipment air, as defined in the appended independent claims, to which reference should now be made. Preferred or advantageous features of the invention are set out in dependent subclaims.

In a first aspect, the invention may provide a modular skirt for an IT device, the skirt configured to surround a portion of the IT device and to extend radially outwardly from the IT device.

The modular skirt of the present invention may advantageously allow an IT device to be supported on its end on a support structure, such as a rack or shelf.

IT devices such as computer servers, GPUs, ASICs, and bitcoin miners, typically comprise output fans arranged to eject exhaust air that has been heated as it flows through the IT device to provide cooling. In order to keep these exhaust fans unobstructed, IT devices are typically supported on racks in a “horizontal” orientation, so that the outlet fan is on a vertical end-wall of the device. In this arrangement the outlet fan exhausts air in a horizontal direction.

The modular skirt may advantageously allow an IT device to be supported on its end, so that its exhaust fan, or its inlet fan (which is typically on the opposite wall from the exhaust fan) is arranged vertically. In this configuration, air would be drawn in and exhausted in a vertical direction. In the past, this arrangement has been avoided, as it would be undesirable for either the inlet fan or the exhaust fan to be blocked by the rack on which the IT device sits.

Preferably the modular skirt is additionally configured to extend beyond an end of the IT device. This may advantageously allow the skirt to support the IT device on its end, while elevating the end of the IT device above the level of a surface on which it sits. This may improve air flow out of the exhaust fan, or into the input fan.

Preferably the skirt is configured to sit on a surface, and to support the IT device above the surface, or within an opening in the surface. This may advantageously allow the IT device to be supported upright on the surface.

Supporting IT devices in an upright arrangement, so that exhaust fans are arranged to exhaust hot air vertically, may allow for an improved density of IT devices in a system space. In addition, this arrangement may be adapted to create effective hot and cold aisles above and below the IT equipment in a way that is more space-efficient than conventional horizontal racking.

The skirt may be configured to abut, or mate with one or more other modular skirts, such that the outwardly projecting portions of the skirts are connectable to form a continuous skirt, each skirt preferably being continuous, and containing no openings. Thus, a plurality of IT devices may be arranged in close proximity, so that their skirts form one continuous layer. This continuous layer may advantageously separate hot and cold aisles in the system space.

Particularly preferably the skirts may form an effective roof, or floor, of a plenum chamber for air handling.

The modular nature of the skirts may advantageously allow flexibility in the number of IT devices housed in the system space.

Preferably the skirt is configured to fit around a GPU, or a bitcoin miner, or an ASIC device.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a support structure for supporting one or more IT devices, in which the support structure is configured to support the IT device so that a fan of the IT device is directed vertically downwards.

The inlet fan or the exhaust fan may be directed vertically downwards.

Preferably the support structure comprises a foraminous, or perforated, surface configured to support a plurality of IT devices. The foraminous surface may be formed from mesh material, for example a metallic mesh material. The holes in the foraminous surface are preferably sufficiently large and/or sufficiently dense, to allow air to flow freely through the surface.

The foraminous surface may be arranged to be a flat, horizontal surface.

The support structure is preferably configured to support a plurality of GPUs, or bitcoin miners, or ASICs.

The support structure may comprise one or more walls configured to form a chamber, or passage, below the foraminous surface. The one or more walls are preferably solid, nonperforated walls. Air may flow into the chamber, or passage, through the foraminous surface of the support structure.

The chamber, or passage, may have one or more outlets through which air may flow out of the passage.

According to a preferred embodiment, the support structure is configured to support one or more modular skirts according to the first aspect of the invention, or to support a plurality of GPUs or bitcoin miners or ASICs supported by modular skirts according to the first aspect of the invention.

When IT devices with modular skirts are supported on the support structure, the inlet or outlet fans of the IT devices will be arranged to face the foraminous surface of the support structure.

When the exhaust fans are arranged to face the foraminous surface, the exhaust fans may cause air to flow out of the IT devices, through the foraminous surface of the support structure, and into the passage.

Alternatively, when the inlet fans of the IT devices are arranged to face the foraminous surface, the inlet fan may cause air to flow out of the passage, through the foraminous surface of the support structure, and into the IT device. Hot air may then be exhausted vertically above the IT devices.

In this arrangement, the modular skirts of the IT devices advantageously form an effective roof of the passage, so that air can only flow from the passage to the space above the skirts, and vice versa, through the IT devices. This may effectively create a cold aisle on one side of the skirts and a hot aisle on the other side.

The support structure and the modular skirts may advantageously allow the IT devices to be individually removed from the support structure for maintenance, simply by lifting an IT device off the support structure. This may overcome the previous need for user access to both sides of IT devices housed on horizontal racks.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a shipping container configured to house IT equipment, the shipping container comprising one or more support structures according to the second aspect of the invention.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a shipping container configured to house IT equipment, comprising:

an air-mixing chamber arranged inside the container;

a first air inlet arranged to provide a first stream of air to the air-mixing chamber;

a system space inside the container;

a fan arranged to draw a flow of air from the air-mixing chamber into the system space;

a support structure for supporting one or more IT devices, arranged in the system space;

a passageway, comprising an air inlet formed by the support structure; and a variable-resistance element arranged between the passageway and the air-mixing chamber, so that a flow of air may be drawn from the system space, through the passageway, into the air-mixing chamber;

in which the support structure is configured so that air exhausted from IT equipment supported on the support structure flows into the passageway.

The shipping container is preferably a metal shipping container of standard dimensions.

Preferably the first air inlet is arranged to draw ambient air into the air-mixing chamber.

Preferably the container comprises a droplet separator over the first air inlet, to prevent snow, rain or mist from entering the air-mixing chamber through the first air inlet.

The container may comprise an air filter arranged across the first air inlet, so that air flowing through the first air inlet must flow through the air filter.

The container may additionally comprise a second variable-resistance element arranged across an outlet from the passageway to the exterior of the container.

The passageway may be arranged on the base of the container.

The shipping container may comprise two support structures arranged lengthways along the container, preferably along the edges of the container.

The support structures are preferably separated by a central aisle. This may advantageously allow a user to easily access the IT equipment for maintenance.

In a preferred embodiment, the support structure is a support structure according to the second aspect of the invention.

Preferably the shipping container comprises one or more IT devices supported on the support structure(s). The IT devices may be configured to exhaust hot air, in use, into the passageway.

The system may be modified to reverse the direction of the air flow in the system. For example, by positioning the fan to draw air into the passage, and positioning the variableresistance element to control air flow from the system space to the air-mixing chamber, it would be possible for cold air to be provided through the passage below the IT equipment, and exhausted from the system space.

The one or more IT devices may preferably comprise one or more GPUs, or bitcoin miners, or ASICs.

The shipping container is preferably configured to be operable in a ventilation mode, or “fresh air” mode. In ventilation mode, the variable-resistance element may be closed, so that no air is drawn through the variable-resistance element. The fan will therefore draw air from only the first air stream of air, so that only ambient air is provided to the system space.

The shipping container is preferably configured to be operable in an attemperation mode, or “air-mixing” mode. In attemperation mode, the variable-resistance element may be partially closed, or partially open, so that some heated air is drawn through the variable resistance element, and some air is drawn through the first air inlet, to be mixed in the airmixing chamber before flowing to the system space. The relative proportions of air drawn in each stream may be controlled by controlling the position of the variable-resistance element. Attemperation mode may advantageously be usable in sufficiently cold or mild weather conditions where the ambient air is not standard-compliant for the system space.

The container may optionally comprise an additional air-cooling system.

Features described in relation to one aspect of the invention may be equally applicable to other aspects of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams of first and second prior art system spaces;

Figure 3 is a schematic cross-section taken lengthways through a shipping container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of a shipping container containing a plurality of ASIC bitcoin miners, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of a shipping container containing a plurality of graphic processing units (GPUs), according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 6 is a schematic cross-section of the shipping container of Figure 3, operating in a ventilation mode;

Figure 7 is a schematic cross-section of the shipping container of Figure 3, operating in an attemperation mode;

Figure 8 is a schematic cross-section of the shipping container of Figure 3, operating in a recirculation mode;

Figure 9 is a schematic plan view of the shipping container of Figure 4;

Figure 10 is a schematic plan view of the shipping container of Figure 5;

Figure 11 is a schematic side view of three IT devices attached to modular skirts according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In the description above, the prior art systems illustrated in figures 1 to 3 have been discussed.

Figure 4 illustrates a first preferred embodiment of the invention, which has the following elements:

- Inlet air

- Water droplet separator

- Hot/cold air mixing chamber

- Supply fan

- Warm air supply chamber (system space)

- Down flow computer equipment

- Exhaust

- Hot air to exhaust

- Hot air to recirculation and mixing

11- Flow control dampers

- Air filter

- support structure

- passage

- perforated surface of support structure

The diagram shows the cooling of computer equipment in a modified shipping container, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

An air filter 12 is arranged across air inlets formed in an end of the shipping container, so that ambient air may be drawn into the container for ventilation through the air filter. The system comprises a droplet separator 2 to protect the air filter 12 from snow, rain or mist.

A supply fan 4 creates a negative pressure difference in the mixing chamber, which draws ambient air 1 into the air-mixing chamber 3. Air from the air-mixing chamber is supplied to a system space 5 housing computer equipment 6 by a supply fan 4.

The computer equipment, or IT equipment, 6 is supported on support structures 20, so that the IT equipment is arranged upright, with its exhaust fans facing downwards towards the support structures.

The computer equipment 6 is installed in a downflow configuration. In this configuration, the fan 4 supplies cool air to the system space 5 at a desired temperature for delivery to the IT equipment 6. The inlet and outlet fans (not shown) integrated into the IT equipment draws the air downwards through the IT equipment and exhausts warmed air out of the bottom of the IT equipment, through a perforated upper surface 50 of the support structure, into a passage 25 below the IT equipment. This passage forms a hot aisle.

From the passage 25, heated air may be recirculated to the air-mixing chamber 3 for mixing with ambient air from outside the container.

The purpose of the apparatus is to provide filtered air at a controllable temperature to the shipping container, and so cool heat-generating IT equipment.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the container comprises two passages formed on the container floor along opposite walls. An aisle is arranged along the centre of the container between the passages, to allow user access.

Figure 6 shows the shipping container operating in a ventilation mode, or “fresh air” mode. In ventilation mode, the variable-resistance element 11 is closed, so that no air is drawn from the passage, through the variable-resistance element, into the air-mixing chamber.

The fan will therefore draw only ambient air from the first air inlet, so that only ambient air is provided to the system space. The air is drawn through the IT equipment to cool the IT equipment, and flows into the passage before being exhausted through the exhaust 7.

Figure 7 shows the shipping container operating in an attemperation mode, or “air-mixing” mode. In attemperation mode, the variable-resistance element is partially closed, so that some heated air is drawn through the variable-resistance element 11 into the air-mixing chamber, and some air is drawn through the first air inlet, to be mixed in the air-mixing chamber before flowing to the system space. The relative proportions of air drawn in each stream are controllable by controlling the position of the variable-resistance element.

Figure 8 shows the shipping container operating in full recirculation mode. In this mode, the variable-resistance element 11 is fully open, providing a low-resistance pathway for heated air to flow from the passage into the air-mixing chamber 3. As the resistance of the open damper is less than that of the air filter 12, the fan 4 will draw recirculated air from the passage, through the air mixing chamber, and back into the system space for delivery to the IT equipment.

Figures 9 and 10 show plan views of two possible embodiments of the shipping container. The support structures in the shipping container may advantageously support a variety of types of IT equipment. In two particularly preferred embodiments, the container may contain a plurality of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) mounted on the support structures, or a plurality of graphic processing units (GPUs) mounted on the support structures. ASICs and GPUs both require a lot of cooling power.

The upright, downflow configuration of the shipping container is particularly suitable for ASICs and GPUs, as due to their size and shape this configuration, which is not possible with conventional computing racks, provides a higher power density than other arrangements.

The downflow configuration allows greater numbers of computer equipment to be installed compared to conventional installations such as computer racks.

This layout also allows simple changes between different computer equipment of varying sizes and air flow rates.

Figure 11 shows a cross section of three ASICs 200, each arranged in a modular skirt 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The skirts each surround an ASIC, and extend radially outwards from the central axis of the ASIC. The skirts are shaped so that they project below the bottom of the ASICs, so that when they are arranged on the perforated surface 50 of a support structure, the ASIC is raised off the perforated surface. This prevents the exhaust fans of the ASICs from being obstructed by the perforated surface.

The edges of the modular skirts are advantageously shaped to abut one another, and to link together to form a continuous layer of skirt. This may advantageously prevent air flow through the perforated surface except through the ASICs themselves.

While illustrated with ASICs, the modular skirts may instead be shaped to surround other items of IT equipment.

Claims

1. A modular skirt for an IT device, the skirt configured to surround a portion of the IT device and to extend radially outwardly from the IT device.

2. A modular skirt according to claim 1, in which the skirt is additionally configured to extend beyond an end of the IT device.

3. A modular skirt according to claim 2, in which the skirt is configured to sit on a surface, and to support the IT device above the surface, or within an opening in the surface.

4. A modular skirt according to claim 1, 2 or 3, in which the skirt is configured to abut, or mate with one or more other modular skirts, such that the outwardly projecting portions of the skirts are connectable to form a continuous skirt, each skirt preferably being continuous, and containing no openings.

5. A modular skirt according to any of claims 1 to 4, in which the skirt is configured to fit around a GPU, or a bitcoin miner, or an ASIC device.

6. A support structure for supporting one or more IT devices, in which the support structure is configured to support the IT device so that a fan of the IT device is directed vertically downwards.

7. A support structure according to claim 6, in which the support structure comprises a foraminous surface configured to support a plurality of IT devices.

8. A support structure according to claim 6 or 7, in which the support structure is configured to support a plurality of GPUs, or bitcoin miners, or ASICs.

9. A support structure according to claim 7 or 8, comprising one or more walls configured to form a chamber, or passage, below the foraminous surface.

10. A support structure according to any of claims 6 to 9, configured to support one or more modular skirts according to any of claims 1 to 5, or to support a plurality of GPUs or bitcoin miners or ASICs supported by modular skirts according to any of claims 1 to 5.

11. A shipping container configured to house IT equipment, the shipping container comprising one or more support structures according to any of claims 6 to 10.

12. A shipping container configured to house IT equipment, comprising;

an air-mixing chamber arranged inside the container;

a system space inside the container;

13. A shipping container according to claim 12, additionally comprising a second variable-resistance element arranged across an outlet from the passageway to the exterior of the container.

14. A shipping container according to claim 12 or 13, in which the passageway is arranged on the base of the container.

15. A shipping container according to claim 12, 13 or 14, comprising two support structures arranged lengthways along the container.

16. A shipping container according to claim 15, in which the support structures are separated by a central aisle.

17. A shipping container according to any of claims 12 to 16, in which the support structure is a support structure according to any of claims 5 to 10.

18. A shipping container according to any of claims 12 to 17, comprising one or more IT devices supported on the support structure, in which the IT devices are configured to exhaust hot air, in use, into the passageway.

5

19. A shipping container according to claim 18, in which the one or more IT devices comprise one or more GPUs, or bitcoin miners, or ASICs.