Design for data center cooling capacity allocation and management

Abstract

A dynamically adjustable cooling system is discussed, and a system configuration design method for cooling airflow management and scheduling is disclosed. The system includes a first IT room and a second IT room, each of which includes an electronic rack with IT components. The system also includes a cooling unit configured to provide cooling air to the IT components. The system also includes a cooling air supply channel to distribute the cooling air to the IT components. The system also includes a plurality of shutters installed at different locations, such as installed on the supply port of the cooling unit, in the cooling air supply channel, and installed on the inlet port of the IT room, the inlet port being used to configure the airflow in the supply channel. Each shutter can be opened and closed independently to produce a plurality of different air flow combinations for cooling the IT components.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to data centers. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to cooling electronics racks in a data center. Background Art

[0002] Heat removal is a prominent factor in the design of computer systems and data centers. The number of high-performance electronic components, such as high-performance processors, packaged within servers has been steadily increasing, increasing the amount of heat generated and dissipated during normal operation of the servers. The reliability of servers used within data centers decreases as their ambient temperature increases or falls outside of the desired range. Maintaining a proper thermal environment is critical to the proper operation of these servers in the data center as well as server performance and lifespan. Heat removal solutions are necessary to cool these high-performance servers and IT equipment.

[0003] Power-intensive processors enable intensive computing solutions such as deep learning. Electrical servers with these processors (i.e., high-power central processing units (CPUs) and / or general or graphics processing units (GPUs)) have very high power density per unit volume of space. Liquid cooling is a viable high-power density thermal management solution. Typically, data center workloads are planned before a data center is built. However, in actual deployment and operation, the workload may be different from the initial design. Summary of the invention

[0004] In a first aspect, a data center cooling system is provided, comprising: a first information technology IT room having a first group of electronic racks, each electronic rack in the first group of electronic racks including a first IT component; a second IT room having a second group of electronic racks, each electronic rack in the second group of electronic racks including a second IT component; a plurality of cooling units configured to provide cooling air to the first IT component or the second IT component; a cooling air supply channel for distributing the cooling air to the first IT component and the second IT component; and a plurality of shutters installed at different positions, the different positions including: on the supply ports of the plurality of cooling units; within the cooling air supply channel; and on the inlet ports leading to the first IT room and the second IT room; wherein each shutter can be independently opened and closed to produce a plurality of different air flow combinations for cooling the first IT component and the second IT component.

[0005] In a second aspect, a method for cooling a data center is provided, comprising: configuring a plurality of cooling units to provide cooling air to a first group of IT components in a first information technology IT room and a second group of IT components in a second information technology IT room; configuring a cooling air supply channel to distribute the cooling air to the first group of IT components and the second group of IT components; positioning a plurality of shutters on supply ports of the plurality of cooling units, within the cooling air supply channel, and on inlet ports leading to the first IT room and the second IT room; and opening one or more of the plurality of shutters and closing the remaining number of shutters to create a first air flow combination among a plurality of different air flow combinations, thereby cooling the first group of IT components and the second group of IT components in a specific manner. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.

[0007] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a data center facility according to one embodiment.

[0008] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electronics rack according to one embodiment.

[0009] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary dynamically adjustable cooling system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary dynamically adjustable cooling system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary dynamically adjustable cooling system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary dynamically adjustable cooling system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary dynamically adjustable cooling system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating a process for managing airflow for data center cooling according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Various embodiments and aspects of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the details discussed below, and the accompanying drawings will illustrate various embodiments. The following description and the accompanying drawings are examples of the present disclosure and should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure. Many specific details are described below to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. However, in some cases, in order to provide a concise discussion of embodiments of the present disclosure, known or conventional details are not described.

[0016] Reference to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" in the specification means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. The phrase "in one embodiment" appearing in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

[0017] Typically, data center workloads are planned before a data center is built. However, in actual deployment and operation, the workload may be different from the initial design. This may require the cooling system of the data center to be able to adjust based on the changing workload. For example, the IT rack power and the IT load of each data center room can be determined and rated using peak power conditions. Based on the determination of power and load, a cooling system can be designed, including the type of cooling equipment, the number of cooling equipment, and the layout of the cooling equipment. Traditionally, cooling designs for data centers provide essentially fixed cooling systems. A fixed number of cooling units have traditionally provided a fixed amount of cooling capacity for a given data center. This can be problematic if, after the data center and cooling system are installed and deployed, the IT load of the data center increases to exceed the initially planned load. This problem is occurring more and more frequently as the computing power required worldwide increases. Overheating is a serious problem due to the increased IT load and the heat generated by the computing components.

[0018] In order to overcome the above problems or prevent the above problems from occurring, a dynamically adjustable cooling system can provide adjustable cooling to a data center, and thereby can effectively cool the IT components of a data center in response to dynamic changes in IT loads without requiring any physical changes in the infrastructure or cooling units. A dynamically adjustable cooling system can be implemented by providing a new configuration of a cooling unit, a cooling air supply channel, and a plurality of shutters installed at various locations throughout the cooling system to guide air flow or fluid flow. The cooling air supply channel can be used between a cooling unit (e.g., an IDEC cooling unit) and a data center module or IT room. This idea will be able to dispatch the cooling airflow from where it is designed to another space where the cooling airflow is actually needed. The air shutters can be located on the supply port of the cooling unit, on the air inlet of the wall of the cooling air supply channel, and inside the air supply channel. By controlling the open and closed states of the shutters, different cooling air channel configurations can be created for different cooling configurations required in a data center room.

[0019] A variety of different configurations and designs are contemplated in this disclosure. Some of these configurations include using backup units for multiple rooms; introducing multiple hybrid shutters within the cooling air supply duct; introducing a single active shutter within the duct, among other configurations. Additionally, different building layer designs are contemplated in this disclosure and will be discussed in more detail here. A dynamically adjustable cooling system can increase the efficiency and flexibility of any data center that uses the cooling system. This can allow the IT load of the data center to exceed the load that was originally planned.

[0020] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a data center or data center unit according to one embodiment. In this example, Figure 1 A top view of at least a portion of a data center is shown. Figure 1 According to one embodiment, a data center system 100 includes rows of electronic racks of information technology (IT) components, equipment, or instruments 101 to 102, such as computer servers or computing nodes that provide data services to various clients via a network (e.g., the Internet). In this embodiment, each row includes an array of electronic racks such as electronic racks 110A to 110N. However, more or fewer rows of electronic racks may be implemented. Typically, rows 101 to 102 are aligned in parallel, with their front ends facing each other and their rear ends facing away from each other, thereby forming a passage 103 between them to allow management personnel to walk therein. However, other configurations or arrangements may also be applied.

[0021] In one embodiment, each of the electronic racks (e.g., electronic racks 110A to 110N) includes a housing to accommodate multiple electronic racks of IT components operating therein. The electronic racks may include a heat removal liquid manifold, a plurality of server slots, and a plurality of blade servers that can be inserted into and removed from the blade servers or server slots, wherein the heat removal liquid manifold includes an integrated cooling module discussed herein. Each blade server represents a computing node having one or more processors, memory, and / or permanent storage devices (e.g., hard disks). At least one of the processors is attached to a liquid cold plate (also referred to as a cold plate assembly) to receive cooling liquid. In addition, one or more optional cooling fans are associated with the blade servers to provide air cooling to the computing nodes housed therein. Note that the heat removal system 120 can be coupled to multiple data center systems, such as the data center system 100. The heat removal system 120 removes a large amount of heat generated within the data center to the atmosphere.

[0022] In one embodiment, the heat removal system 120 includes an external liquid loop connected to a cooling tower or dry cooler outside the building / containment vessel. The heat removal system 120 may include, but is not limited to, evaporative cooling, free air, and large heat mass rejection and waste heat recovery designs. In the present disclosure, the heat removal system 120 may also be referred to as a cooling system. The heat removal system 120 may include a connection to a cooling liquid source that provides cooling liquid.

[0023] In one embodiment, each blade server is modularly connected to a heat removal liquid manifold so that the blade server can be removed from the electronics rack without affecting the operation of the remaining blade servers and the heat removal liquid manifold on the electronics rack. In another embodiment, each blade server is connected to a heat removal liquid manifold (also known as a cooling liquid manifold) through a quick release coupling assembly, which has a first liquid intake connector and a first liquid outlet connector, and the first liquid outlet connector is connected to a flexible hose to distribute heat removal liquid to the processor. The first liquid intake connector will receive heat removal liquid from the heat removal liquid manifold mounted on the rear end of the electronics rack through the second liquid intake connector. The first liquid outlet connector will send the warmer or hotter liquid carrying the heat exchanged from the processor to the heat removal liquid manifold via the second liquid outlet connector, and then send it back to the coolant distribution unit (CDU) in the electronics rack.

[0024] Although the present disclosure focuses on air flow management in air cooling systems, other forms of cooling, such as liquid cooling, may also be used. Alternatively, liquid cooling may coexist with air cooling solutions for some data centers. Figure 1 As shown, the room is designed with cooling liquid and cooling air. For example, in one embodiment, an optional heat removal liquid manifold provided on the rear end of each electronic rack is connected to a liquid supply line 132 to receive heat removal liquid (also referred to as cooling liquid) from the heat removal system 120. The heat removal liquid is distributed through a liquid distribution loop attached to a cold plate assembly on which a processor is mounted to remove heat from the processor. The cold plate is configured similar to a radiator in which a liquid distribution pipe or channel is attached or embedded. The resulting warmer or hotter liquid carrying heat exchanged from the processor is transmitted back to the heat removal system 120 via a liquid return line 131. The liquid supply line 132 / liquid return line 131 is referred to as a data center or room liquid supply / return line (e.g., a global liquid supply / return line), which supplies heat removal liquid to all electronic rack rows 101 to 102. The liquid supply line 132 and the liquid return line 131 are connected to the heat exchanger of the CDU located in each of the electronic racks, thereby forming a main loop. A second loop of the heat exchanger is coupled to each of the blade servers in the electronics rack to deliver cooling fluid to the cold plates of the processors.

[0025] In one embodiment, the data center system 100 further includes an air supply system 135 for generating airflow so that the airflow passes through the air spaces of the blade servers of the electronic racks to exchange the heat generated by the computing nodes (e.g., servers) due to the operation of the computing nodes, and discharge the heat exchanged by the airflow to the external environment 108 outside the house / room / building. For example, the air supply system 135 generates a cool / cold air flow to circulate from the channel 103 through the electronic racks 110A to 110N to carry away the exchanged heat. The cold air flow enters the electronic racks through the front ends of the electronic racks, and the warm / hot air flow leaves the electronic racks from their rear ends. The warm / hot air with the exchanged heat is exhausted from the room / building. Thus, the cooling system is a hybrid liquid-air cooling system, in which part of the heat generated by the processor is removed by the cooling liquid through the corresponding cold plate, and the rest of the heat generated by the processor (or other electronic equipment or processing equipment) is removed by airflow cooling. The air supply system 135 can be connected to the heat removal system 120 to extract the heat into the atmosphere.

[0026] Figure 2 2 is a block diagram showing an electronic rack according to one embodiment. The electronic rack 200 may represent Figure 1 Any of the electronic racks shown, for example, electronic racks 110A to 110N. Figure 2 According to one embodiment, the electronic rack 200 includes, but is not limited to, an optional CDU 201, an RMU 202, and one or more blade servers 203A to 203E (collectively referred to as blade servers 203). The blade servers 203 can be inserted into the server slot array from the front end 204 or the rear end 205 of the electronic rack 200, respectively. Note that although five blade servers 203A to 203E are shown here, more or fewer blade servers can be maintained within the electronic rack 200. It should also be noted that the specific locations of the CDU 201, RMU 202, and blade servers 203 are shown for illustrative purposes only; other arrangements or configurations of the CDU 201, RMU 202, and blade servers 203 can also be implemented. In one embodiment, the electronic rack 200 can be open to the environment or partially contained by a rack container, as long as the cooling fans can generate airflow from the front end to the rear end.

[0027] In addition, for at least some of the blade servers 203, an optional fan module (not shown) is associated with the blade server. Each of the fan modules includes one or more cooling fans. The fan module can be mounted on the rear end of the blade server 203 or the electronics rack to generate an airflow that flows out of the front end 204, travels through the air space of the blade server 203, and exits from the rear end 205 of the electronics rack 200.

[0028] In one embodiment, the CDU 201 mainly includes a heat exchanger 211, a liquid pump 212 and a pump controller (not shown), as well as some other components such as a liquid reservoir, a power supply, a monitoring sensor, etc. The heat exchanger 211 can be a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger. The heat exchanger 211 includes a first loop having an inlet port and an outlet port, which has a first pair of liquid connectors, which are connected to an external liquid supply line 132 / return line 131 to form a main loop. The connector connected to the external liquid supply line 132 / return line 131 can be set or installed on the rear end 205 of the electronic rack 200. The liquid supply line 132 / return line 131 is also called a room liquid supply line / return line. As mentioned above, the liquid supply line 132 / return line 131 is connected to the heat removal system 120. In addition, the heat exchanger 211 also includes a second loop with two ports, which has a second pair of liquid connectors, which are connected to the liquid manifold 225 to form a second loop, which may include a supply manifold (also called a rack liquid supply line) and a return manifold (also called a rack liquid return line), the supply manifold supplies cooling liquid to the blade servers 203, and the return manifold returns warmer liquid to the CDU 201. Note that the CDU 201 can be any kind of commercially available or custom CDU. Therefore, the details of the CDU 201 will not be described here.

[0029] Each of the blade servers 203 may include one or more IT components (e.g., a central processing unit or CPU, a graphics processing unit (GPU), memory, and / or storage devices). Each IT component may perform data processing tasks, wherein the IT component may include software installed in a storage device, loaded into a memory, and executed by one or more processors to perform data processing tasks. The blade server 203 may include a host server (referred to as a host node) connected to one or more computing servers (also referred to as computing nodes, such as CPU servers and GPU servers). The host server (having one or more CPUs) typically interfaces with a client over a network (e.g., the Internet) to receive requests for specific services such as storage services (e.g., cloud-based storage services such as backup and / or recovery), execute applications to perform certain operations (e.g., image processing, deep data learning algorithms or modeling, etc., as part of a service software or SaaS platform). In response to the request, the host server assigns the task to one or more of the execution computing nodes or computing servers (having one or more GPUs) managed by the host server. The execution computing server performs the actual task, which may generate heat during operation.

[0030] The electronic rack 200 can optionally further include an RMU 202 configured to provide and manage power provided to the blade servers 203 and the CDU 201. The RMU 202 can be coupled to a power supply unit (not shown) to manage the power consumption of the power supply unit. The power supply unit can include necessary circuits (e.g., an alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) or DC to DC power converter, a battery unit, a transformer or a regulator, etc.) to provide power to the remaining components of the electronic rack 200.

[0031] In one embodiment, the RMU 202 includes an optimization module 221 and a rack management controller (RMC) 222. The RMC 222 may include a monitor to monitor the operating status of various components within the electronic rack 200, such as the computing node 203, the CDU 201, and the fan module. Specifically, the monitor receives operating data from various sensors representing the operating environment of the electronic rack 200. For example, the monitor may receive operating data representing the temperature of the processor, the coolant, and the air temperature, which may be captured and collected by various temperature sensors. The monitor may also receive data representing the fan power and pump power generated by the fan module and the liquid pump 212, which may be proportional to their respective speeds. These operating data are referred to as real-time operating data. In addition, the monitor may also receive a signal indicating whether a liquid leak occurs in any blade server, such as a signal from a leak detector and / or a sensor (e.g., a liquid sensor, a temperature sensor). Note that the monitor may be implemented as a separate module within the RMU 202.

[0032] Based on the operational data, the optimization module 221 performs optimization using a predetermined optimization function or optimization model to derive a set of optimal fan speeds for the fan module and an optimal pump speed for the liquid pump 212, so that the total power consumption of the liquid pump 212 and the fan module is minimized, while the operational data associated with the liquid pump 212 and the cooling fan of the fan module are within their respective design specifications. Once the optimal pump speed and the optimal fan speed are determined, the RMC 222 configures the liquid pump 212 and the cooling fan based on the optimal pump speed and the fan speed.

[0033] As an example, based on the optimal pump speed, the RMC 222 communicates with the pump controller of the CDU 201 to control the speed of the liquid pump 212, which in turn controls the liquid flow rate of the cooling liquid supplied to the liquid manifold 225 to be distributed to at least some of the blade servers 203. Similarly, based on the optimal fan speed, the RMC 222 communicates with each of the fan modules to control the speed of each cooling fan of the fan module, which in turn controls the airflow rate of the fan module. Note that each of the fan modules can be individually controlled with its specific optimal fan speed, and different fan modules and / or different cooling fans within the same fan module can have different optimal fan speeds.

[0034] As described above, each of the blade servers includes multiple IT components, such as processors or processing units, that can generate heat during operation. According to one embodiment, the IT components of each blade server are attached to an integrated cooling module having an array of cold plates arranged therein to attach to the outer surface of each IT component for heat exchange. The integrated cooling module is designed as a single cooling module having a cooling liquid distribution channel embedded therein to reduce the number of connecting joints and components, which in turn reduces the chance of liquid leakage, which will be described in further detail below. The following figures and descriptions discuss designs for various different dynamically adjustable cooling system structures. Note that the figures given below are simplified representations of dynamically adjustable cooling systems. The scale is not meant to be drawn to scale, and the numbers and calculations associated with data centers, IT rooms, IT racks, IT modules, shutters, cooling units, etc. are examples of configurations and are not meant to be technical specifications.

[0035] Figure 331 is a block diagram showing an exemplary dynamically adjustable cooling system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This configuration may use a backup cooling unit 316, which may be positioned adjacent to a plurality of cooling units 315. The cooling unit 315 may supply cooling air to a cooling air supply channel 330 through a supply port louver 321. The cooling air supply channel 330 may extend to the entire width of the IT room 301 and the IT room 302. An internal louver 323 may be used to control the air flow supplied from the backup unit 316. All louvers 321, 322, and 323 may include blades that allow air to pass when open and block air flow when closed. All louvers 321, 322, and 323 may be opened or closed automatically, manually, or remotely. Closed louvers do not allow air or fluid to pass through. Open louvers allow air or fluid to pass through substantially freely. The cooling air then enters the IT rooms 301 and 302 through the inlet port louvers 322. The cooled air is then dispersed through one or more cold aisles in the IT rooms 301 and 302 to cool the IT components 311 on the IT racks 310. The exhausted hot air leaves the IT rooms 301, 302 to return to the cooling units 315. A spare unit 316 may be installed between the two sets of cooling units 315, such as Figure 3 As shown. The backup unit 316 can be used in a variety of situations. For example, when the IT load in the IT rooms 301, 302 increases, the backup unit 316 can be considered as a backup unit for cooling IT components. In order to provide cooling air to both IT rooms, both internal louvers 323 can be open, allowing air from the backup unit 316 to freely travel through both sides of the cooling air supply channel 330 and through all inlet louvers 322.

[0036] The backup unit 316 can also be used to serve IT room 301 or IT room 302 if the load of the room is increased relative to the other, or the actual deployed power equipment is higher than the power equipment originally planned. To serve IT room 301, the right interior shutter 323 (from the reader's perspective) is closed, and the left interior shutter (from the reader's perspective) is opened. This allows air flow from the backup unit 316 to be pushed into the IT room 301. This allows increased cooling capacity. The opposite is also true: to serve IT room 302, the left interior shutter 323 (from the reader's perspective) is closed, and the right interior shutter (from the reader's perspective) is opened. This allows air flow from the backup unit 316 to be pushed into the IT room 302. The backup unit 316 can be larger than the other cooling units 315, so that it has a greater cooling capacity than the other cooling units 315.

[0037] Another configuration may be that the backup unit 316 may be used as a rear unit, so two groups of cooling units (e.g., four cooling units on the left side and four cooling units on the right side) may share a rear unit (e.g., the backup unit 316). This may save initial capital costs on the backup system as well as save corresponding floor space. If the backup unit 316 is large enough, it may be able to serve more than two IT rooms, thereby saving even more costs. Internal shutters 323 may be used to control the air flow supplied from the backup unit 316. When the backup unit 316 is idle, the supply port shutters 321 on the backup unit 316 may be closed. When the backup unit 316 is powered on, the supply port shutters 321 on the backup unit 316 may be opened. Figure 3 The configuration shown may allow the load on the IT room to increase over time, or allow higher power IT equipment to be added. For example, using the backup unit 316 and associated structure, the number of IT components and the power generated by the IT components can be safely increased to 50% above what was originally planned for the data center.

[0038] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary dynamically adjustable cooling system and managing cooling airflow according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 A dynamically adjustable cooling system using multiple internal shutters 423 in the cooling air supply channel is shown. It should be mentioned that in different situations, the shutters on the edge of the cooling air supply channel need to be adjusted in combination with the internal shutters 423. The room configuration can be similar to Figure 3 The internal shutters 423 may be used to direct air flow to the IT room 301 or 302 depending on the open-closed configuration of the internal shutters 423. For example, in order to direct most of the cooling air to room 302 rather than room 301, the leftmost internal shutter 423 may be closed and the remaining internal shutters 423 may be opened. The inlet shutters 322a and 322b may be closed, thereby blocking air flow to the IT room 301. Thus, the IT room 301 may be cooled by only three cooling units 315a to 315c. And the IT room 302 may be cooled by nine cooling units 315d to 315i. Therefore, the cooling airflow is managed and scheduled based on the actual load conditions in the IT room. Other configurations are also possible. For example, if the second interior shutter 423 from the left is closed, the inlet shutter 322a is open, the inlet shutter 322b is closed, and the remaining shutters are open, IT room 301 can be cooled by cooling units 315a to 315e, and IT room 302 can be cooled by cooling units 315f to 315l. Figure 4 As shown, the interior louvers 423 may be arranged in any configuration, and there may be more or less than five interior louvers 423 .

[0039] In order to Figure 4For the configuration to work properly, some buffer space may be required in cooling unit 315. This may mean that cooling unit 315 may not operate at maximum capacity when configured in the original configuration (e.g., cooling units 315a to 315f cool IT room 301 and cooling units 315g to 315l cool IT room 302). In addition, the data center room may be designed based on the peak IT power load, which may mean that the cooling capacity employed should be able to handle the cooling requirements at the potential peak power. However, not all IT racks may bear the maximum load or be able to operate at maximum power. Therefore, some portions of the cooling capacity may not be used. Figure 4 The configuration shown may utilize cooling capacity more efficiently. For example, if IT room 301 is filled with high power density IT components (e.g., for artificial intelligence) and IT room 302 is not filled with high power density IT components (e.g., for search), the cooling capacity in IT room 301 may need to be greater than the cooling capacity in IT room 302. In this case, as described above, it may be necessary to allow more cooling air to flow into IT room 301 by appropriately opening shutters 423, 322, and 321. In addition, the two groups of cooling units (e.g., 315a to 315f; and 315g to 3151) may be backup units for each other. For example, if IT room 301 does not require cooling, all cooling units 315 serve IT room 302 by closing the inlet shutters 322 connected to IT room 301.

[0040] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary dynamically adjustable cooling system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 In the configuration, movable shutters 525 are provided in the cooling air supply channel 330 to replace a plurality of stationary internal shutters (e.g., internal shutters 423). Like other internal shutters, the movable shutters 525 can be oriented perpendicular to the wall of the cooling air supply channel 330. The movable shutters 525 can be moved in the cooling air supply channel 330 to reach different positions. Any position within the cooling air supply channel 330 is possible. The movable shutters 525 can be used to block air flow by closing their blades. For example, when the IT room 301 and the IT room 302 have the same cooling requirements, the movable shutters 525 can be located between the two IT rooms 301, 302, in the center of the cooling air supply channel 330. The movable shutters can be in a closed position so that the cooling units 315a to 315f cool the IT room 301, and the cooling units 315g to 315l cool the IT room 302. As another example, to configure the dynamically adjustable cooling system so that IT room 301 is served by cooling units 315a to 315i, movable shutter 525 may be located between inlet shutters 506 and 507, such as Figure 5As shown. The blades of movable shutter 525 can be closed. Similarly, inlet shutters 505 and 506 can also be closed. All other shutters can be open. Movable shutter 525 can be open or partially open. By moving movable shutter 525 to different positions and opening and closing the appropriate inlet shutters 501 to 508, a variety of other configurations are also possible.

[0041] Fig. 6A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary dynamically adjustable cooling system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6A 1 shows what can be considered a complete building or complete module / campus level design. Four IT rooms 601 to 604 and four sets of associated cooling units are shown. In addition, shared cooling units 630a to 630f can be located between IT rooms 601 and 603 and IT rooms 602 and 604, respectively. An air duct system can be used to direct the airflow supplied by the shared cooling units 630a to 630f to the top IT room or the bottom IT room. For example, the shared cooling unit 630a can be used to cool the IT room 601 or 603 using air ducts, as shown in FIG. Figure 6B As shown. Each of the shared cooling units 630a to 630f can be used to direct air flow to its corresponding IT room 601, 602, 603, and 604, or to any one of the IT rooms 601 to 604. For example, the shared cooling unit 630a can be used to cool the IT room 602 by closing the inlet louvers in the air supply channel 611 and opening the internal louvers that separate the air supply channels 611 and 612. With this design, any shared cooling unit 630a to 630f can push air through any air supply channel 611 to 614 and cool any IT room 601 to 604. It should be mentioned that the air duct system between the shared cooling unit and the cooling air channel is Fig. 6A Not shown.

[0042] Figure 6B It is shown Fig. 6A Block diagram of a side view of a dynamically adjustable cooling system shown. Cooling air moves upward from cooling unit 630a through air duct 640. If both shutters 651 and 652 are open, the air may move equally toward IT room 601 and IT room 602. If shutter 652 is closed and shutter 651 is open, the cooling air will travel to IT room air supply channel 611. If shutter 652 is open and shutter 651 is closed, the cooling air will travel to air supply channel 613. Once the cooling air reaches air supply channel 611 or air supply channel 613, the shutters within air supply channels 610 to 614 may indicate which IT room 601 to 604 to enter, as shown in FIG. Figure 3 middle Figure 5The concept can be extended to multiple data center modules or rooms, and Figure 6B In the video, only two rooms are presented.

[0043] Fig. 6A The design shown also saves space for the air supply duct on the other side of the IT room. It can be seen that only one side of the IT room is designed with an air supply duct. The air supply duct can take up a lot of floor space. The current design saves space on both sides of the IT room.

[0044] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary dynamically adjustable cooling system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 A design using an additional air duct system utilizing air ducts 711 to 717 is shown. In this configuration, instead of directly connecting the cooling unit and the cooling air supply channel, the air ducts 711 to 717 can be used to connect the cooling unit and the air supply channels 721, 722. Figure 7 As shown, an additional air duct 714 is used between air duct 713 and air duct 715. Two shutters are used on each side of air duct 714. By opening and closing each shutter, the cooling air generated by cooling units 735 and 736 can be directed in many different directions. For example, cooling units 735a and 735b can be used to cool IT room 302 by opening shutter 732 and closing shutter 731. This can direct the cooling air through air duct 714 into air supply channel 722 and into IT room 302. Note that movable shutters can be implemented in air supply channels 721 and 722 and can work similarly to movable shutters 525.

[0045] The concept provided by the present invention can be extended to other data center layouts, not limited to the data center layout shown in the figure. The idea is that by applying the current concept, cooling units and cooling airflow can be managed and dispatched to multiple locations (IT rooms, IT modules, etc.) due to changes in IT load and deployment plans, and can also be used for redundant design considerations.

[0046] In another embodiment, cooling air ducts such as cooling air duct 330, together with louvers and air duct systems such as air duct systems 714 and 640, can be designed as part of a building or a separate module. The corresponding louvers can be considered as parts of air duct modules or air supply ducts. In this method, these modules can be prefabricated in manufacturing and then shipped to the data center site for installation. This will increase deployment efficiency. In addition, these modules can be standardized, which means that airflow management and scheduling configurations can also be standardized. For example, in terms of airflow or cooling capacity, an air supply duct can be configured to 30%-70%, 40%-60%, 50%-50% regardless of the deployed cooling unit. In addition, although the present disclosure discusses air flow management, other forms of cooling, such as liquid cooling, can be used as an alternative to air cooling or in combination with air cooling.

[0047] The configurations shown and discussed here are examples only. Other configurations may include side supply (e.g., the cooling unit is located on the side of the IT room), ceiling return; ceiling supply, ceiling return; ceiling supply, side return, or any combination of supply and return. In addition, different types of separation methods may be applied. The methods and systems discussed herein may be used to handle non-uniform IT conditions, data center upgrades, redundant designs, etc. In addition to shutters, other airflow management devices (e.g., valves) may also be implemented. The cooling unit may be an IDEC unit or a direct air cooling system unit, and may receive similar results to each other.

[0048] Figure 8 800 is a flow chart illustrating a process for managing airflow for data center cooling according to one embodiment. Process 800 may be performed by processing logic that may include software, hardware, or a combination thereof. Figure 8 At block 801, a plurality of cooling units are configured to provide cooling air to a first group of IT components in a first IT room and a second group of IT components in a second IT room. At block 802, a cooling air supply channel is configured to distribute cooling air to the first group of IT components and the second group of IT components. At block 803, a plurality of louvers are configured on supply ports of the cooling units, within the cooling air supply channel, and on inlet ports of the first IT room and the second IT room. At block 804, processing logic individually opens and closes the louvers to create airflow combinations of different air flow combinations for cooling the IT components in a specific manner.

[0049] Some portions of the foregoing detailed description have been presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, considered to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities.

[0050] It should be remembered, however, that all of these terms and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless otherwise clearly indicated from the above discussion, it should be understood that throughout the specification, discussions utilizing terms such as those described in the following claims refer to the actions and processes of computer systems or similar electronic computing devices that manipulate data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories and transform that data into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system's memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission, or display devices.

[0051] Embodiments of the present disclosure also relate to devices for performing the operations herein. Such a computer program is stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable (e.g., computer-readable) medium includes a machine (e.g., computer) readable storage medium (e.g., a read-only memory ("ROM"), a random access memory ("RAM"), a magnetic disk storage medium, an optical storage medium, a flash memory device).

[0052] The processes or methods described in the preceding figures may be performed by processing logic including hardware (e.g., circuits, dedicated logic, etc.), software (e.g., software implemented on a non-transitory computer-readable medium), or a combination of both. Although the processes or methods are described above in terms of some sequential operations, it should be understood that some of the described operations may be performed in a different order. In addition, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially.

[0053] The embodiments of the present disclosure are not described with reference to any particular programming language. It should be appreciated that the teachings of the embodiments of the present disclosure as described herein can be implemented using a variety of programming languages.

[0054] In the foregoing description, embodiments of the present disclosure have been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It is apparent that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. Therefore, the description and drawings are considered to be illustrative rather than restrictive.

Claims

1. A data center cooling system, comprising: A first information technology IT room having a first group of electronic racks, each of the first group of electronic racks including a first IT component; A second IT room having a second set of electronic racks, each of the second set of electronic racks including a second IT component; a plurality of cooling units configured to provide cooling air to the first IT component or the second IT component, wherein a first group of the plurality of cooling units is dedicated to cooling the first IT component, a second group of the plurality of cooling units is dedicated to cooling the second IT component, and the number of cooling units in the first group and the second group of the plurality of cooling units is greater than one; a cooling air supply channel for distributing the cooling air to the first IT component and the second IT component; and A plurality of shutters are installed at different positions, wherein the different positions include: on the supply ports of the plurality of cooling units; within the cooling air supply passage; and On the inlet ports leading to the first IT room and the second IT room; Each shutter can be opened and closed independently to generate a plurality of different air flow combinations for cooling the first IT component and the second IT component based on actual load conditions in the first IT room and the second IT room.

2. The data center cooling system of claim 1, wherein: One of the plurality of cooling units is designated as a backup cooling unit, the backup cooling unit being configured to provide cooling air to the first IT component or the second IT component; and A first air flow combination of the plurality of different air flow combinations includes a first louver between the backup cooling unit and the first IT room opened and a second louver between the backup cooling unit and the second IT room closed.

3. The data center cooling system according to claim 1, wherein: A first air flow combination of the plurality of different air flow combinations includes closing a first portion of the cooling air supply passage by closing one or more of the plurality of louvers, thereby preventing cooling air from flowing to the first portion.

4. The data center cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that: A first louver of the plurality of louvers is a movable louver that is slidable along the cooling air supply passage and oriented perpendicular to a wall of the cooling air supply passage.

5. The data center cooling system according to claim 4, wherein: The venetian shutter is configured and positioned such that, when closed, the venetian shutter closes the first portion of the cooling air supply passage by restricting air flow to the first portion.

6. The data center cooling system of claim 1, wherein: A first cooling unit among the plurality of cooling units is located between the first IT room and the second IT room; the cooling air supply passage extending from the first cooling unit to both the first IT room and the second IT room; A first louver is located between the first cooling unit and the first IT room; A second louver is located between the first cooling unit and the second IT room; in: The second shutter is closed to cut off the air flow to the second IT room, thereby providing cooling air to the first IT room; and The first shutter is closed to cut off air flow to the first IT room, thereby providing cooled air to the second IT room.

7. The data center cooling system of claim 1, further comprising: One or more air ducts located between the plurality of cooling units and the cooling air supply passage, wherein: a first air duct connecting the first IT room to the second IT room; some of the plurality of louvers are mounted on the one or more air ducts; and A first air flow combination of the plurality of different air flow combinations allows cooling air to flow from a first group of the plurality of cooling units through the first air duct to the second IT component.

8. The data center cooling system of claim 1, wherein: In an arrangement based on a first cooling requirement of the first IT room and a second cooling requirement of the second IT room, some of the plurality of shutters are open and some of the plurality of shutters are closed.

9. The data center cooling system of claim 1, wherein: The cooling air supply passage is adapted to serve as a cooling fluid supply passage to distribute cooling fluid to the first IT component and the second IT component.

10. The data center cooling system of claim 1, further comprising: A third information technology IT room having a third group of electronic racks, each of which includes a third IT component; as well as a fourth information technology room, comprising a fourth group of electronic racks, each of which comprises a fourth IT component, in: The plurality of cooling units are configured to: provide cooling air to the third IT component and the fourth IT component in addition to providing cooling air to the first IT component and the second IT component; The plurality of shutters are installed on inlet ports leading to the third IT room and the fourth IT room; and The plurality of different air flow combinations cool the third IT component and the fourth IT component in addition to cooling the first IT component and the second IT component.

11. A method for cooling a data center, comprising: configuring a plurality of cooling units to provide cooling air to a first IT component in a first information technology IT room and a second IT component in a second information technology IT room, wherein a first group of the plurality of cooling units is dedicated to cooling the first IT component, a second group of the plurality of cooling units is dedicated to cooling the second IT component, and the number of cooling units in the first group and the second group of the plurality of cooling units is greater than one; configuring a cooling air supply channel to distribute the cooling air to the first IT component and the second IT component; positioning a plurality of louvers on supply ports of the plurality of cooling units, within the cooling air supply channel, and on inlet ports to the first IT room and the second IT room; and One or more of the plurality of shutters are opened based on actual load conditions in the first IT room and the second IT room, and the remaining number of shutters are closed to create a first air flow combination among a plurality of different air flow combinations, so as to cool the first IT component and the second IT component in a specific manner.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: One of the plurality of cooling units is designated as a backup cooling unit, the backup cooling unit being configured to provide cooling air to the first IT component or the second IT component; and The first of the plurality of different air flow combinations includes a first louver between the backup cooling unit and the first IT room opened and a second louver between the backup cooling unit and the second IT room closed.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein: The first of the plurality of different air flow combinations includes closing a first portion of the cooling air supply passage by closing one or more of the plurality of louvers, thereby preventing the cooling air from flowing to the first portion.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein: A first louver of the plurality of louvers is a movable louver that is slidable along the cooling air supply passage and is oriented perpendicular to a wall of the cooling air supply passage.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The venetian shutter is configured and positioned such that, when closed, the venetian shutter closes the first portion of the cooling air supply passage by restricting air flow to the first portion.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein: A first cooling unit among the plurality of cooling units is located between the first IT room and the second IT room; the cooling air supply passage extending from the first cooling unit to both the first IT room and the second IT room; A first louver is located between the first cooling unit and the first IT room; A second louver is located between the first cooling unit and the second IT room; in: closing the second shutter to cut off air flow to the second IT room, thereby providing cooling air to the first IT room; and The first shutter is closed to cut off air flow to the first IT room, thereby providing cooled air to the second IT room.

17. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: One or more air ducts are provided, the one or more air ducts being located between the plurality of cooling units and the cooling air supply channel, wherein: a first air duct connecting the first IT room to the second IT room; some of the plurality of louvers are mounted on the one or more air ducts; and A first air flow combination of the plurality of different air flow combinations allows cooling air to flow from a first group of the plurality of cooling units through the first air duct to the second IT component.

18. The method according to claim 11, wherein: In an arrangement based on a first cooling requirement of the first IT room and a second cooling requirement of the second IT room, some of the plurality of shutters are open and some of the plurality of shutters are closed.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein: The cooling air supply passage is adapted to serve as a cooling fluid supply passage to distribute cooling fluid to the first IT component and the second IT component.

20. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: Setting up a third IT room, the third IT room having a third group of electronic racks, each of the third group of electronic racks including a third IT component; and A fourth IT room is provided, wherein the fourth IT room has a fourth group of electronic racks, and each electronic rack in the fourth group of electronic racks includes a fourth IT component. in: The plurality of cooling units are configured to provide cooling air to the third IT component and the fourth IT component in addition to the first IT component and the second IT component; The plurality of shutters are installed on inlet ports leading to the third IT room and the fourth IT room; and The plurality of different air flow combinations cool the third IT component and the fourth IT component in addition to the first IT component and the second IT component.

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