JP2011159144A - Server room and method of cooling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a configuration of a server room that reduces the load on an air conditioner. <P>SOLUTION: A server room 30 that circulates air by causing heated air from information equipment 20 housed in a rack 10 to circulate through an air conditioner 40 provided on an outer periphery inside the server room 30 is disclosed. Fans (hereinafter referred to as intake fans) 51 for letting fresh air in are provided in positions near the air conditioner 40 on one or two or more wall surfaces 31 of the server room 30, and a ventilating fan (hereinafter referred to as exhaust fan) 52 for exhausting air is provided on a ceiling 32 at the top of the server room 30. The configuration that leads fresh air in near the air conditioner 40 using the intake fans 51 and that exhausts outside the heated air from the information equipment 20 in the rack 10 from the exhaust fan 52 provided at the top of the server room 30 reduces the heat quantity of air circulated through the air conditioner 40 inside the server room 30 and can therefore reduce the load on the air conditioner 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to server room cooling.

  In recent years, with the rapid spread and development of information technology, the number of server rooms in which a large number of information devices such as server devices and network devices are stored and operated in racks has increased. In particular, as the CPU capacity and information processing amount of information devices have increased. The amount of heat generated and exhausted heat has also increased, and reliable and efficient cooling and exhaust heat technology using air conditioners has been devised.

  A typical example is that an air conditioner (specifically a so-called indoor unit) provided in a server room sends out cool air, which cools room air, to a cool air introduction section such as a front opening of a rack that accommodates information equipment. In this configuration, the air is evacuated from the back and cooled again by the air conditioner. In order to guide the cold air from the air conditioner to the cool air introduction part on the front of the rack, a part of the floor is ventilated, such as a grating panel, and the cold air is once sent from the air conditioner to the space under the floor and from the floor near the bottom of the rack. There are many examples in which the front of the rack is covered with a box-shaped flow path and the air is blown through the box-shaped flow path.

JP 2001-94284 A

  However, in the conventional technology as described above, since the indoor air is heated by exhaust heat from the information equipment and is circulated back to the air conditioner in a closed system called the server room, the amount of heat that the air conditioner exchanges heat. However, there was a problem that the load on the air conditioner increased.

In the configuration in which cool air is blown from the bottom of the rack, there is a proposal to blow outside air from the intake port only when a cool air blower or the like breaks down (for example, see Patent Document 1), but the load on the air conditioner is reduced I couldn't.
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a server room configuration that reduces the load on the air conditioner.

  Based on the above object, one aspect (1) of the present invention is a server room for circulating air by circulating the hot air from the information equipment accommodated in the rack to an air conditioner provided in the outer periphery of the server room. A ventilator for introducing outside air is provided on a wall surface of the server room in the vicinity of the air conditioner, and an exhaust fan for exhaust is provided at the upper part of the server room.

  As an aspect (5) that captures the above aspect as a method, in a server room cooling method for circulating air by circulating hot air from an information device accommodated in a rack to an air conditioner provided in an outer periphery of the server room The outdoor air is provided to the air conditioner from the outside of the server room by the outside air introduction fan provided at the position near the air conditioner on the wall surface of the server room, and the exhaust fan provided at the upper part of the server room , Wherein at least a part of the hot air from the information device is discharged to the outside of the server room.

  In this way, outside air is introduced into the vicinity of the air conditioner with a ventilation fan, while hot air from the rack information equipment is exhausted to the outside from the exhaust ventilation fan provided at the top of the server room, so that the air flows back to the air conditioner in the server room. The amount of heat generated can be reduced, and the load on the air conditioner can be reduced.

  According to another aspect (2) of the present invention, in any one of the above aspects, the exhaust fan for exhaust is provided on a ceiling of a server room.

  In this way, the ventilation fan for introducing outside air is installed on the wall near the air conditioner, and the exhaust ventilation fan is installed on the ceiling where light air with low specific gravity rises, so that heat can be efficiently discharged from the server room. The load can be reduced.

  According to another aspect (3) of the present invention, in any one of the above aspects, the exhaust fan for exhaust in the upper part of the server room is provided in the upper part of the wall surface of the server room, and the exhaust fan for introducing the outside air and the exhaust fan The ventilation fan is provided on different wall surfaces of the server room.

  In this way, by providing the exhaust fan for exhaust on the wall surface different from the exhaust fan for introducing outside air, it is possible to reduce the load of the air conditioner by discharging heat without the burden of providing a special structure such as an exhaust layer on the ceiling. .

  Another aspect (4) of the present invention is the control according to any one of the above aspects, wherein the outside air temperature and the room temperature are acquired to determine the level of both, and the ventilation fans are operated when the outside air temperature is lower than the room temperature. It has the means.

  In this way, by operating the outside air introduction and exhaust ventilation fans only when the outside air temperature is lower than the room temperature, it is possible to reduce the load on the air conditioner without introducing outside air having a temperature higher than the room temperature. .

  It should be noted that categories (methods and the like for apparatuses) different from the above-described aspects and more specific aspects described below are also included in the present invention.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the structure of the server room which aims at the load reduction of an air conditioner can be provided.

The figure which shows the structure of 1st Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the implementation example of 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows other one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows other one Embodiment of this invention.

  Next, modes for carrying out the present invention (referred to as “embodiments”) will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that assumptions common to those already described in the background art and problems are omitted as appropriate.

[1. First Embodiment]
[1-1. Configuration of First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cross-sectional configuration of a server room in the first embodiment viewed from the side. This figure shows the side surface when the server room 30 is viewed in the depth direction (arrow A direction) from the center line between the columns of the air conditioners 40 facing each other in FIG. As shown in this figure, in the first embodiment, an indoor unit of an air conditioner in which hot air (indicated by a thick gray arrow) from the information device 20 accommodated in the rack 10 is provided on the outer peripheral portion in the server room 30 ( The present invention relates to the server room 30 that circulates in the air and circulates the air to the server room 30.

  The server room 30 has a general rectangular shape (cuboid shape) as a room shape, and one or a plurality of air conditioners 40 are provided at positions along two opposing wall surfaces 31 on the outer peripheral portion of the room. The air conditioner 40 has an air inlet at the upper part and a cold air outlet at the lower part (for example, the lower surface). In addition, one or more racks 10 in which a large number of information devices 20 are housed on the shelves are installed closer to the center of the room than the air conditioners 40 shown on the left and right sides in FIG. When installing a plurality of air conditioners 40 and racks 10 for each wall surface 31 (for example, the right side and the left side in FIG. 1), the plurality of units are arranged in series in the depth direction of FIG. ) Will be.

  Here, the front surface of the rack 10, that is, the surface on the air conditioner 40 side is an opening, and this opening (referred to as “front opening”) is an access path through which an operator or the like operates the front panel of the information device 20, Also serves as a cold air introduction section. Further, the rear surface of the rack 10 (center side in FIG. 1) also has a ventilation structure such as an opening or punching metal. In the rack 10, the cooling air flowing in from the front surface absorbs exhaust heat from the information device 20 and escapes to the rear surface.

  Further, a part of the floor surface 33 of the server room 30 including the lower part of the air conditioner 40 has a ventilation structure using a grating panel or the like for allowing air to flow through the underfloor space 34, and this part is used as a ventilation part. Call it V. The cold air outlet at the lower part of the air conditioner 40 is located in a part of the ventilation part V. Further, a box-like air guide (duct) F made of a plate material covers the remaining portion of the ventilation portion V to the front opening of the rack 10.

  Furthermore, one or two or more wall surfaces 31 of the server room 30 are provided with a ventilation fan (hereinafter referred to as “intake fan”) 51 for introducing outside air at a position near the air conditioner 40, and is an upper part of the server room 30. The ceiling 32 is provided with an exhaust fan (hereinafter referred to as “exhaust fan”) 52 for exhaust. The server room 30 has a control unit 55, which is a control means for operating the ventilation fans 51 and 52 by acquiring and determining the outside air temperature and room temperature.

[1-2. Operation of First Embodiment]
In the first embodiment configured as described above, by operating the ventilation fans 51 and 52, the intake fan 51 provided in the vicinity of the air conditioner 40 draws cool outside air from the outside of the server room 30 into the intake air of the air conditioner 40. Therefore, the load on the air conditioner 40 can be reduced. In this regard, the exhaust fan 52 is preferably provided on the ceiling at a position above the rear surface of the rack 10 where hot air is discharged. Then, the air conditioner 40 once blows cold air (represented by a black solid line arrow) that has cooled the intake air into the underfloor space 34 through the ventilation portion V. The blown cold air blows up from the underfloor space 34 into the air guide F, and the air guide F guides (guides) the cold air to the front opening of the rack 10.

  The cool air guided by the air guide F flows into the rack 10 from the front opening of the rack 10 to cool the information device 20 and becomes hot air, and flows out from the back and rises toward the ceiling of the server room 30. Some of the hot air that has risen joins the air intake of the air conditioner 40 again, but a large amount of hot air is exhausted to the outside of the server room 30 by the exhaust fan 52 on the ceiling 32.

  However, when outdoor air having a temperature higher than room temperature is introduced into the room, such as in summer, a problem of increasing the load on the air conditioner 40 occurs. Therefore, the control unit 55 obtains the outside air temperature and the room temperature by the sensor S provided in the inside and outside of the server room 30 (components of the air conditioner 40 and related mechanisms may be used), and the relationship between the outside air temperature and the room temperature, that is, The height is determined, and when the outside air temperature is lower than the room temperature, the ventilation fans 51 and 52 are operated.

[1-3. Effects of the first embodiment]
In the present embodiment, as described above, outside air is introduced into the vicinity of the air conditioner 40 by the intake fan 51, while hot air from the information equipment 20 of the rack 10 is discharged to the outside from the exhaust fan 52 provided in the upper part of the server room 30. According to the configuration, the amount of heat of air circulated to the air conditioner 40 in the server room 30 can be reduced, and the load on the air conditioner 40 can be reduced. That is, by using the ventilation fans 51 and 52, the hot air staying in the room is positively discharged, and the amount of air in the room cooled by the air conditioner 40 is reduced, thereby reducing the load on the air conditioner 40.

  In particular, in the first embodiment, as described above, the intake fan 51 is provided on the wall surface close to the air conditioner 40, and the exhaust fan 52 is provided on the ceiling 32 where hot air with a low specific gravity rises, thereby minimizing energy consumption. The heat can be discharged efficiently and the load on the air conditioner can be reduced. Here, FIG. 2 is a transparent perspective view conceptually showing the first embodiment realized as a one-story data center. From the intake fan 51 provided in the upper part of the wall surface near the air conditioner 40 in the server room 30. The outside air is introduced and the hot air is discharged from the ceiling exhaust fan 52. Such a first embodiment is also suitable for implementation in a one-story data center or a server room on the top floor.

  Further, in the first embodiment, as described above, the control unit 55 operates the outside air introduction and exhaust ventilation fans only when the outside air temperature is lower than the room temperature, thereby introducing outside air having a temperature higher than the room temperature. This reduces the load on the air conditioner.

[2. Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the exhaust fan 52 is provided on the ceiling 32 in the upper part of the server room 30 (FIGS. 1 and 2). However, the exhaust fan is provided not only on the ceiling but on the upper part of the wall surface as long as it is the upper part of the server room. May be. This means that the intake fan 51 and the exhaust fan 52 are provided on different wall surfaces of the server room. As one aspect, in the second embodiment, the intake fan 51 and the exhaust fan 52 are provided on opposite wall surfaces. An example is shown (FIG. 3).

  In this second embodiment, the intake fan 51 introduces outside air into the intake air of the air conditioner 40 on the left side of FIG. 3, and most of the hot air from the rack 10 is discharged to the outside of the server room 320 by the exhaust fan 52 on the right side of FIG. To do.

  In this way, by providing a ventilation fan for exhaust on a wall that is different from the ventilation fan for introducing outside air, a special structure such as an exhaust layer is provided on the ceiling even in the case of a server room with multiple data centers or upper floors. Heat can be discharged and the load on the air conditioner can be reduced without the burden of installation.

[3. Other embodiments]
In addition, said each embodiment is only an illustration, and this invention includes what is illustrated below and other embodiment other than that. For example, the wall surface of the server room in which the intake fan 51 and the exhaust fan 52 are provided is not limited to a wall surface facing each other (FIG. 3: second embodiment), and may be an adjacent wall surface. If the intake fan 51 is provided on the two wall surfaces and the exhaust fan 52 is provided on the remaining two wall surfaces, it becomes possible to reduce the load on the air conditioner by introducing a sufficient amount of outside air even in a data center on a plurality of floors.

  Further, when supplying cold air from the air conditioner to the rack, it is not essential to blow up the cold air from the underfloor space. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the air conditioner is provided by the air passage F21 further provided in the air guide F2. If the cold air from 40 is guided to the upper part of the wind guide F2 and spreads to each part of the rack 10, when wiring the power supply or communication cable in the server room from the ceiling, a separate grating panel is provided to send the cold air. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the burden of capital investment etc. for forming a space under the floor for ventilation.

  Further, if the structure as shown in FIG. 5 is used, the cold air descends by gravity from the upper part to the lower part of the air guide F2 due to the specific gravity of the cold air. Thus, the load on the air conditioner can be reduced.

10 racks 20 information devices 30, 320, 330 server room 31 wall surface 32 ceiling 33 floor surface 34 floor space 40 air conditioner 51 intake fan 52 exhaust fan 55 control unit F, F2 air guide F21 air passage S sensor V vent

Claims (5)

In the server room for circulating air by circulating the hot air from the information equipment accommodated in the rack to the air conditioner provided in the outer periphery of the server room,
A ventilation fan for introducing outside air is provided at a position near the air conditioner on the wall surface of the server room,
A server room characterized in that an exhaust fan for exhaust is provided at the top of the server room.   The server room according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust fan for exhaust is provided on a ceiling of the server room. The exhaust fan for exhaust in the upper part of the server room is provided in the upper part of the wall surface of the server room,
The server room according to claim 1, wherein the outside-air introduction ventilation fan and the exhaust ventilation fan are provided on different wall surfaces of the server room.   4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that obtains an outside air temperature and a room temperature, determines whether both are high or low, and operates the ventilation fans when the outside air temperature is lower than the room temperature. Server room described in. In the server room cooling method for circulating air by circulating the hot air from the information equipment accommodated in the rack to the air conditioner provided in the outer periphery of the server room,
Provide outside air to the air conditioner from the outside of the server room by a ventilator for introducing outside air on the wall surface of the server room and provided in the vicinity of the air conditioner,
A method for cooling a server room, characterized in that at least a part of the hot air from the information device is discharged to the outside of the server room by an exhaust fan provided at the upper part of the server room.

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