Modular Data Center Cooling and Power Control for Fast Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional data centers are energy-intensive, time-consuming to deploy, and not suited for compact or constrained spaces, requiring innovative solutions for energy efficiency and self-containment.
Innovation Solution
A self-sustained data center facility with rear door heat exchangers, closed loop coolant distribution, and automated power management, using reconfigurable rack-mounted containers and a control unit that adjusts water flow and temperature, and dynamically manages virtual machine instances based on environmental and infrastructure conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional data center construction methods are used with on-site installation of all equipment, then complete functionality is achieved, but deployment time becomes excessively long
Solution Approach 1:
The data center is divided into modular container units, each containing pre-assembled racks, servers, and cooling components. These modules can be independently manufactured off-site and then quickly deployed to the final location, dramatically reducing on-site construction time while maintaining full functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
All equipment including electrical systems, mechanical components, and cooling infrastructure are pre-installed and pre-tested within container modules before deployment. This preliminary assembly and testing phase occurs off-site, allowing the actual deployment to be much faster and reducing on-site installation time.
2Temperature
If traditional standalone cooling systems are used, then cooling effectiveness is achieved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is integrated directly into the container structure itself, with heat exchangers embedded in the container walls and shared thermal management across multiple modules. This merging of cooling infrastructure with the structural container reduces redundancy and energy consumption while maintaining effective temperature control.
Solution Approach 2:
The container modules incorporate self-regulating thermal management systems that automatically adjust cooling based on internal heat generation from servers. The system monitors temperature and activates cooling only when needed, reducing unnecessary energy consumption while ensuring cooling effectiveness when required.
3Volume of moving object
If compact container-based design is used, then space efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The container modules are designed as universal units that can serve multiple functions: housing servers, providing cooling, enabling power distribution, and facilitating network connectivity. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate systems needed and simplifies integration while maintaining compactness.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple functional components are nested within the container structure, with racks, servers, and cooling elements arranged in space-efficient configurations. Network cables and power conduits are routed through integrated pathways within the container walls, reducing external complexity while maximizing internal space utilization.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient, cost-effective, and compact data center operations in constrained spaces, optimizing energy use and automating cooling and power management for peak loads, with disaster recovery capabilities across multiple centers.
Implementation Method 1
a heat exchanger embedded in a closed loop cooling unit piping
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods disclose self-contained data center facility operations, management and build comprising, in the data center facility, installing a plurality of computer servers contained in a corresponding plurality of configurable rack mounted containers, a single or plurality of heat exchangers operatively coupled to the configurable rack mounted containers, and comprised in a thermal heat exchange system which further comprises a closed loop cooling unit. The closed loop cooling unit is caused to absorb heat from the single or plurality of heat exchangers. Additionally, systems and methods disclosed include power management functionality operatively coupled to control functionality, wherein the power management functionality is configured to assess a data center power requirement, and to draw and supply power based on the assessed requirement, and wherein the data center control unit is configured to calculate a data center environment, infrastructure and component condition, and based on the calculated condition, control the environment, infrastructure and component condition for optimal efficiency.