U.S. patent application number 12/873909 was filed with the patent office on 2011-03-10 for data center, cooling system, and method of cooling information technology device.
This patent application is currently assigned to FUJITSU LIMITED. Invention is credited to Junichi Ishimine, Tadashi Katsui, Ikuro Nagamatsu, Yuji Ohba, Seiichi Saito, Masahiro Suzuki, Akira Ueda, Yasushi Uraki, Nobuyoshi Yamaoka.
Application Number | 20110059687 12/873909 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43332638 |
Filed Date | 2011-03-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110059687 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Katsui; Tadashi ; et
al. |
March 10, 2011 |
DATA CENTER, COOLING SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF COOLING INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY DEVICE
Abstract
A data center includes a housing room that houses an information
technology device; an air conditioning machine that cools air in
the housing room and supplies the air under a floor of the housing
room; a grille that allows the air supplied under the floor to
circulate in the housing room; and a rack device that houses the
information technology device. In the housing room in the data
center, the rack device is arranged in such a way as to surround
the grille. The information technology device is housed in the rack
device in such a way as to take in air from a space surrounded by
the rack device via the grille and discharge air to the housing
room. The air conditioning machine is arranged at a side from which
the information technology device discharges air.
Inventors: |
Katsui; Tadashi; (Kawasaki,
JP) ; Ishimine; Junichi; (Kawasaki, JP) ;
Saito; Seiichi; (Kawasaki, JP) ; Suzuki;
Masahiro; (Kawasaki, JP) ; Nagamatsu; Ikuro;
(Kawasaki, JP) ; Ohba; Yuji; (Kawasaki, JP)
; Yamaoka; Nobuyoshi; (Kawasaki, JP) ; Ueda;
Akira; (Kawasaki, JP) ; Uraki; Yasushi;
(Kawasaki, JP) |
Assignee: |
FUJITSU LIMITED
Kawasaki
JP
|
Family ID: |
43332638 |
Appl. No.: |
12/873909 |
Filed: |
September 1, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
454/275 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 7/20745
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
454/275 |
International
Class: |
F24F 7/00 20060101
F24F007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 4, 2009 |
JP |
2009-205327 |
Claims
1. A data center, comprising: a housing room that houses an
information technology device; an air conditioning machine that
cools air in the housing room and supplies the air under a floor of
the housing room; a grille that allows the air supplied under the
floor to circulate in the housing room; and a rack device that
houses the information technology device, wherein the rack device
is arranged in such a way as to surround the grille, the
information technology device is housed in the rack device in such
a way as to take in the air from a space surrounded by the rack
device via the grille and discharge air to the housing room, and
the air conditioning machine is arranged at a side from which the
information technology device discharges air.
2. The data center according to claim 1, wherein the rack device
includes a high-heat-generating rack device which has a
high-performance information technology device and of which heat
generation amount is large; and a low-heat-generating rack device
which has a low-performance information technology device and of
which heat generation amount is small, and the high-heat-generating
rack device is arranged at a place closer to the air conditioning
machine than the low-heat-generating rack device.
3. A data center, comprising: a housing room that houses an
information technology device; an air conditioning machine that
cools air in the housing room and supplies the air under a floor of
the housing room; a grille that allows the air supplied under the
floor to circulate in the housing room; and a rack device that
houses the information technology device, wherein the rack device
is arranged in such a way as to surround the air conditioning
machine, the information technology device is housed in the rack
device in such a way as to take in the air supplied under the floor
via the grille and discharge air to an area surrounded by the rack
device, and the air conditioning machine is arranged in the area
surrounded by the rack device at a side from which the information
technology device discharges air.
4. The data center according to claim 3, wherein the rack device
includes a high-heat-generating rack device which has a
high-performance information technology device and of which heat
generation amount is large; and a low-heat-generating rack device
which has a low-performance information technology device and of
which heat generation amount is small, and the high-heat-generating
rack device is arranged at a place closer to the air conditioning
machine than the low-heat-generating rack device.
5. A data center, comprising: a housing room that houses an
information technology device; an air conditioning machine that
cools air in the housing room and supplies the air under a floor of
the housing room; a grille that allows the air supplied under the
floor to circulate in the housing room; and a rack device that
houses the information technology device, wherein the rack device
is arranged in such a way as to divide the housing room into a
first area and a second area, the grille is arranged in the first
area, the information technology device is housed in the rack
device in such a way as to take in the air via the grille arranged
in the first area and discharge air to the second area, and the air
conditioning machine is arranged in the second area.
6. A cooling system, comprising: an air conditioning unit that
cools air in a housing room housing an information technology
device and supplies the air under a floor of the housing room; a
circulation unit that allows the air supplied under the floor to
circulate in the housing room; and a device housing unit that
houses the information technology device, wherein the device
housing unit is arranged in such a way as to surround the grille,
the information technology device is housed in the device housing
unit in such a way as to take in the air from a space surrounded by
the device housing unit via the circulation unit, cool an interior
electronic device, and discharge air after the cooling to the
housing room, and the air conditioning unit is arranged at a side
from which the information technology device discharges air.
7. A cooling system, comprising: an air conditioning unit that
cools air in a housing room housing an information technology
device and supplies the air under a floor of the housing room; a
circulation unit that allows the air supplied under the floor to
circulate in the housing room; and a device housing unit that
houses the information technology device, wherein the device
housing unit is arranged in such a way as to surround the air
conditioning unit, the information technology device is housed in
the device housing unit in such a way as to take in the air
supplied under the floor via a grille, cool an interior electronic
device, and discharge air after the cooling to an area surrounded
by the rack device, and the air conditioning unit is arranged in
the area surrounded by the device housing unit at a side from which
the information technology device discharges air.
8. A method of cooling an information technology device, wherein
the information technology device is retained in a rack device that
is arranged in such a way as to surround a grille for circulating,
in a housing room in which the information technology device is
housed, cooling air supplied by an air conditioning machine under a
floor of the housing room, the method comprising: taking in the
cooling air via the grille to cool an electronic device contained
in the information technology device; and discharging the cooling
air used for cooling the electronic device to the air conditioning
machine arranged at an air discharge side of the information
technology device.
9. A method of cooling an information technology device, wherein
the information technology device is retained in a rack device that
is arranged in such a way as to surround an air conditioning
machine for supplying cooling air under a floor of a housing room
in which the information technology device is housed, the method
comprising: taking in cooling air via a grille for circulating in
the housing room air supplied under the floor to cool an electronic
device contained in the information technology device, the grille
being arranged in such a way as to surround the rack device; and
discharging the cooling air used for cooling the electronic device
to the air conditioning machine arranged in an area surrounded by
the rack device at an air discharge side of the information
technology device.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of
priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-205327
filed on Sep. 4, 2009, the entire contents of which are
incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD
[0002] The embodiments discussed herein are directed to a data
center, a cooling system, and a method of cooling an information
technology device.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In a data center where a rack device which mounts
information technology (IT) devices such as a computer, a server,
and a router is arranged, an air conditioning machine which takes
in warm air and supplies cooling air is traditionally used to
perform a cooling of IT devices.
[0004] For example as illustrated in FIG. 10, a popularly-used air
conditioning machine 52 takes in air discharged from an IT device
mounted on a rack device 50 in a data center and supplies, after
cooling, cooling air under a floor in the data center. The IT
device mounted in the rack device then takes in the cooling air
supplied under the floor from its front surface by a fan and the
like, makes the air pass through inside the device itself, and
cools electronic devices including a central processing unit (CPU)
and the like. After that, the IT device discharges air which is
warmed due to the cooling of the electronic devices from its back
surface. In this manner, cooling air and discharged air circulate
depending on the air conditioning machine 52 and the cooling of the
IT device in the rack device 50 is performed in the data center.
FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a circulation of cooling air and
discharged air depending on an air conditioning machine arranged in
a conventional data center.
[0005] Here, an example of a data center in which the rack device
50 and the air conditioning machine 52 are arranged will be
represented. FIG. 11 illustrates a housing room in a data center
according to a conventional technique. As illustrated in FIG. 11, a
plurality of rack devices 50 are arranged in the data center in
such a way that air intake sides of IT devices face each other, in
addition to a plurality of air conditioning machines 52. By making
a floor at the air intake sides of the IT devices formed by a
grille, the IT devices can take in cooling air which is supplied
under the floor from the air conditioning machines 52 via the
grille. In addition, the IT devices discharge air used for cooling
electronic devices mounted in itself from its back surface. Here, a
site where the cooling air concentrates is referred to as a cool
air zone 60 and a site where the discharged air concentrates is
referred to as a discharged air zone 70.
[0006] In recent years, higher functionality and performance of IT
devices have caused a significant increase in a product electricity
and a CPU electricity per unit area, thereby causing an increase in
an amount of heat generation per unit area. Therefore, hazardous
circumstances such as a system operation of exceeding a standard
temperature of IT devices, an extreme temperature distribution in a
data center, and a heat accumulated area are sometimes caused. In
response, as a method for avoiding such hazardous circumstances, a
method of arranging a local cooling unit on top of the rack device
50 of which heat generation amount is large and locally supplying
cooling air and the like are adopted, for example. More detailed
information about the conventional method can be obtained in
technical documentations: John Niemann, "Hot-aisle. vs. cold-aisle
containment", White Paper #135 of American Power Conversion Corp.,
2008; and White Paper LjTC040202TB of Hewlett-Packard Development
Company, L.P., 2004/02.
[0007] However, there have been a problem of having a danger of a
water leakage and a problem of a bad cooling efficiency in a data
center in the conventional technique described above.
[0008] In a case of using a local cooling unit, for example, since
a pipe for water and the like is supposed to be arranged near the
ceiling at the rack device 50, there is a chance of causing a break
with an IT device wet when a water leakage occurs. Besides, for
example in a case of additionally providing an IT device of which
heat generation amount is large in the rack device 50 housing an IT
device of which heat generation amount is not large, the air
conditioning machine 52 sometimes operates in conjunction with a
temperature of air discharged from the IT device of which heat
generation amount is large. In this case, the IT device of which
heat generation amount is not large is cooled more than necessary,
causing a failure of the IT device contrary to the intention.
[0009] Moreover, not cooling air but warm discharged air is taken
in an area denoted by a reference character "Z" in FIGS. 10 and 11,
i.e., in the rack device 50 placed at a position away from the air
conditioning machine 52 and thereby a heat accumulated area where
an electronic device cannot be cooled is caused. As a result, an
area (X) of which temperature is high is generated in the data
center and thereby a cooling efficiency in the data center
deteriorates.
SUMMARY
[0010] According to an aspect of an embodiment of the invention, a
data center includes a housing room that houses an information
technology device; an air conditioning machine that cools air in
the housing room and supplies the air under a floor of the housing
room; a grille that allows the air supplied under the floor to
circulate in the housing room; and a rack device that houses the
information technology device. In the data center, the rack device
is arranged in such a way as to surround the grille, the
information technology device is housed in the rack device in such
a way as to take in the air from a space surrounded by the rack
device via the grille and discharge air to the housing room, and
the air conditioning machine is arranged at a side from which the
information technology device discharges air.
[0011] According to another aspect of an embodiment of the
invention, a data center includes a housing room that houses an
information technology device; an air conditioning machine that
cools air in the housing room and supplies the air under a floor of
the housing room; a grille that allows the air supplied under the
floor to circulate in the housing room; and a rack device that
houses the information technology device. The rack device is
arranged in such a way as to surround the air conditioning machine,
the information technology device is housed in the rack device in
such a way as to take in the air supplied under the floor via the
grille and discharge air to an area surrounded by the rack device,
and the air conditioning machine is arranged in the area surrounded
by the rack device at a side from which the information technology
device discharges air.
[0012] According to still another aspect of an embodiment of the
invention, a data center includes a housing room that houses an
information technology device; an air conditioning machine that
cools air in the housing room and supplies the air under a floor of
the housing room; a grille that allows the air supplied under the
floor to circulate in the housing room; and a rack device that
houses the information technology device. The rack device is
arranged in such a way as to divide the housing room into a first
area and a second area, the grille is arranged in the first area,
the information technology device is housed in the rack device in
such a way as to take in the air via the grille arranged in the
first area and discharge air to the second area, and the air
conditioning machine is arranged in the second area.
[0013] The object and advantages of the embodiment will be realized
and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly
pointed out in the claims.
[0014] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary
and explanatory and are not restrictive of the embodiment, as
claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1 is a view, seen from above, of a housing room in a
data center according to a first embodiment;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view a section of which is
obtained by a cutting along a line A-A' illustrated in FIG. 1;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a view, seen from above, of a housing room in a
data center according to a second embodiment;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view a section of which is
obtained by a cutting along a line B-B' illustrated in FIG. 3;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a view, seen from above, of a housing room in a
data center according to a third embodiment;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a view, seen from above, of a housing room when a
rack device 10 is arranged to form a rhombus shape;
[0021] FIG. 7 is a view, seen from above, of a housing room when a
grille 7 and a rack device 10 are arranged in such a way as to be
parallel to either direction of wall 5;
[0022] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of arranging a plate under a
floor;
[0023] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of arranging a plate on a
floor;
[0024] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a circulation of cooling
air and discharged air depending on an air conditioning machine
arranged in a conventional data center; and
[0025] FIG. 11 illustrates a housing room in the data center
according to the conventional technique.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0026] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be
explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be
noted that the present invention is not limited to the
embodiments.
[a] First Embodiment
[0027] First, a data center to be disclosed as an embodiment will
be explained with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a view, seen from
above, of a housing room in a data center according to a first
embodiment.
[0028] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a housing room 2 in a data center
is isolated from another housing room by being surrounded by a wall
5 and includes therein a grille 7, a rack device 10, an air
conditioning machine 11, and an entrance door 12.
[0029] The grille 7 is arranged on a floor of the housing room 2
and has ventilation openings which allow air to circulate from a
space under the floor to an inside of the housing room. The rack
device 10 is a device which houses therein a plurality of
information technology (IT) devices 10a and is arranged in such a
way as to surround the grille 7 arranged under the floor of the
housing room 2. Air under the floor flows into the housing room 2
via the grille 7, i.e., from a site of the grille 7.
[0030] The IT device 10a takes in, by a fan and the like, cooling
air which is cool air supplied from the air conditioning machine 11
and cools electronic devices such as a central processing unit
(CPU) and a large scale integration (LSI) which are provided inside
the IT device 10a. The IT device 10a then discharges air which is
warmed due to the cooling of the interior electronic devices from
its back surface.
[0031] In addition, the IT device 10a has a light emitting diode
(LED) which indicates a state of an electronic device housed
therein and a state of a system provided by the IT device 10a, and
gives an alarm by turning on, for example, a red color LED in case
of an abnormality. The IT device 10a is housed in the rack device
10 to take in air from a space surrounded by the rack device 10 via
the grille 7 and discharge air into the housing room 2.
[0032] The air conditioning machine 11 performs cooling by taking
in air including the air discharged from the IT device 10a in the
housing room 2 and supplies, after the cooling, cooling air under
the floor of the housing room 2. The air conditioning machine 11 is
arranged at a side from which the IT device 10a discharges air in
the housing room 2.
[0033] The entrance door 12 is a door used by a maintenance person
who performs maintenance in the data center, such as a maintenance
of the IT device 10a housed in the rack device 10, an expansion of
the IT device 10a, and an expansion of the rack device 10 itself.
The entrance door 12 is arranged alongside the rack device 10.
[0034] As described above, the rack device 10 surrounds the grille
7, the housed IT device 10a is arranged in such a way that its air
intake side faces the side of the grille 7, and the air
conditioning machine 11 is arranged in an area where discharged air
of the IT device 10a concentrates. This configuration allows the
rack device 10 to insulate a cool air zone 20 where cooling air
flowing into the housing room 2 from the space under the floor via
the grille 7 concentrates and a discharged air zone 30 where
discharged air, which is warmed air after being used for cooling
the IT device 10a concentrates.
[0035] Consequently, the IT device 10a can cool interior electronic
devices by taking in cooling air from the cool air zone 20 in which
discharged air cannot be contained easily and the air conditioning
machine 11 can take in discharged air from the IT device 10a
quickly. As a result, an IT device can be safely cooled without a
necessity of using a local cooling unit and a cooling efficiency in
the data center can be enhanced. In addition, since the air intake
side, i.e., a front surface having the LED of the IT device 10a is
located at a side of the cool air zone 20, a maintenance person can
look over LEDs of all IT devices by entering the cool air zone 20
from the entrance door 12, which leads to a prompt detection of an
alarm.
[0036] Next, an air flow in the housing room 2 illustrated in FIG.
1 will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a
cross-sectional view a section of which is obtained by a cutting
along a line A-A' illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 2,
the cooling air supplied under the floor circulates in the housing
room 2 via the grille 7 without mixing with discharged air and is
taken in by the IT device 10a housed in the rack device 10.
Besides, the air (discharged air) discharged from the IT device 10a
is taken in by the air conditioning machine 11 without mixing with
the cooling air and flowing under the floor. Therefore, the IT
device 10a can take in cooler air and moreover an accumulation of
discharged air in the housing room 2 can be prevented. As a result,
an occurrence of a heat accumulated area in which discharged air is
taken in by the IT device 10a and therefore the IT device 10a
cannot be cooled can be prevented as much as possible.
[b] Second Embodiment
[0037] An IT device can be cooled safely in a housing room in a
data center to be disclosed in an embodiment of the invention even
with an arrangement different from the first embodiment. Then,
another example of the data center disclosed in the embodiment of
the invention will be explained in a second embodiment with
reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a view, seen from above, of a
housing room in a data center according to the second
embodiment.
[0038] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the rack device 10 is arranged in
such a way as to surround the air conditioning machine 11, the IT
device 10a is housed in the rack device 10 in such a way as to take
in air supplied under the floor via the grille 7 and discharge air
to an area surrounded by the rack device 10. Besides, the air
conditioning machine 11 is arranged in an area surrounded by the
rack device 10 and at a side from which the IT device 10a
discharges air in such a way as to surround an air conditioning
machine pipe space 11a in which a pipe of the air conditioning
machine is housed. In other words, a front surface as an air intake
side of the IT device 10a faces the side of the grille 7 and a back
surface as an air discharge side faces the side of the air
conditioning machine 11.
[0039] This arrangement allows the rack device 10 to insulate a
cool air zone 20 where cooling air flowing into the housing room 2
from the space under the floor via the grille 7 concentrates and a
discharged air zone 30 where discharged air, which is warmed air
after being used for cooling the IT device 10a concentrates. As a
result, an IT device can be safely cooled without a necessity of
using a local cooling unit and a cooling efficiency in the data
center can be enhanced. In addition, since the discharged air zone
according to the second embodiment, compared to the first
embodiment, is an area surrounded by the rack device 10 and the air
conditioning machine 11 is arranged in the discharged air zone,
discharged air is more quickly taken in by the air conditioning
machine 11. Therefore, an increase in temperature in the entirety
of the data center can be suppressed and a cooling efficiency can
be enhanced, compared to the first embodiment.
[0040] Next, an air flow in the housing room 2 illustrated in FIG.
3 will be explained with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a
cross-sectional view a section of which is obtained by a cutting
along a line B-B' illustrated in FIG. 3. As illustrated in FIG. 4,
cooling air supplied under the floor circulates upward from the
floor via the grille 7 at a neighborhood of the wall 5. Therefore,
the cooling air is supposed to pass under the floor of the
discharged air zone and does not mix with discharged air. In
addition, since the air (discharged air) discharged from the IT
device 10a is quickly taken in by the air conditioning machine 11,
the discharged air does not mix with the cooling air passing
through the grille 7. This configuration allows more strongly
preventing an occurrence of a heat accumulated area compared to the
first embodiment.
[c] Third Embodiment
[0041] The rack device can be arranged in the housing room in the
data center disclosed in the embodiment of the invention so that an
IT device can be cooled more efficiently than the first embodiment.
Then, still another example of the data center disclosed in the
embodiment of the invention will be explained in a third embodiment
with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a view, seen from above, of a
housing room in a data center according to the third
embodiment.
[0042] As illustrated in FIG. 5, the grille 7, the rack device 10,
and the air conditioning machine 11 are arranged in the housing
room 2 in the data center according to the third embodiment in the
same way as the first embodiment. In other words, the rack device
10 surrounds the grille 7, the housed IT device 10a is arranged in
such a way that its air intake side faces the side of the grille 7,
and the air conditioning machine 11 is arranged in an area where
discharged air of the IT device 10a concentrates. The rack device
10 allows insulation between a cool air zone 20 via the grille 7
and a discharged air zone 30 which is used by the IT device 10a for
the cooling.
[0043] However, the rack device 10 includes a high-heat-generating
rack device 10b which has a plurality of high-performance IT
devices 10a and of which heat generation amount is large, and a
low-heat-generating rack device 10c which has a plurality of
comparatively-low-performance IT devices 10a and of which heat
generation amount is small, which is different from the first
embodiment. The high-heat-generating rack device 10b discharges air
of higher temperature than the low-heat-generating rack device
10c.
[0044] In this case, the high-heat-generating rack device 10b is
arranged at a place closer to the air conditioning machine 11 as
illustrated in FIG. 5. By this arrangement, discharged air of
higher temperature when discharged from the high-heat-generating
rack device 10b can be taken in quickly by the air conditioning
machine 11 without filling the housing room 2. As a result, a
cooling efficiency in the data center can further be enhanced and
an improvement in temperature in the housing room 2 can be
prevented, compared to the case in which the arrangement of the
high-heat-generating rack device 10b and the low-heat-generating
rack device 10c is not taken into consideration.
[d] Fourth Embodiment
[0045] While the example of arranging the rack device 10 to form a
rectangular shape in the first embodiment, the embodiment is not
limited thereto. For example, the grille 7 can arranged to form a
rhombus shape and the rack device 10 can also be arranged to form a
rhombus shape in such a way as to surround the grille 7, as
illustrated in FIG. 6. In addition, the shape is not limited to the
rhombus and may be any shapes such as a round shape and a polygonal
shape as long as the cool air zone 20 and the discharged air zone
30 can be insulated. Moreover, also concerning the arrangement
example explained in the second embodiment, any shapes such as a
rhombus shape, a round shape, and a polygonal shape may be adopted
as long as the cool air zone 20 and the discharged air zone 30 can
be insulated as described above. FIG. 6 is a view, seen from above,
of a housing room when the rack device 10 is arranged to form a
rhombus shape.
[e] Fifth Embodiment
[0046] In the housing room in the data center disclosed in the
embodiment of the invention, the rack device 10 is not necessarily
arranged in such a way as to surround the grille 7. For example,
the grille 7 and the rack device 10 can be arranged in such a way
as to be parallel to either direction of the wall 5, as illustrated
in FIG. 7. This arrangement allows a division into the cool air
zone 20 and the discharged air zone 30. FIG. 7 is a view, seen from
above, of a housing room when the grille 7 and the rack device 10
are arranged in such a way as to be parallel to either direction of
wall 5.
[0047] Even in this case, the IT device 10a is housed in the rack
device 10 so that its air intake side faces the side of the grille
7 and takes in cooling air from the grille 7. Besides, the air
conditioning machine 11 is arranged at a side of the air discharge
from the IT device 10a, i.e., in the discharged air zone 30, which
is an area opposite to the grille 7 with respect to the rack device
10.
[0048] This arrangement allows dividing the area into one cool air
zone 20 and two discharged air zones 30. Therefore, an IT device
can be safely cooled and a cooling efficiency in a data center can
be enhanced similarly to the first to fourth embodiments.
[f] Sixth Embodiment
[0049] Various methods can be adopted for allowing cooling air
under the floor to pass easily through the grille 7 in the housing
room in the data center disclosed in the embodiments of the
invention.
[0050] For example, a plate 7a is arranged under the floor where
the grille 7 is arranged in such a way as to be perpendicular to a
surface of the grille 7 at a side opposite to the rack device 10,
as illustrated in FIG. 8. By this arrangement, the cooling air
under the floor goes upward by hitting the plate 7a under the
grille 7. As a result, all the cooling air supplied under the floor
from the air conditioning machine 11 can circulate in the housing
room 2 via the grille 7 and be fed efficiently to the cool air zone
20. FIG. 8 illustrates the example of arranging a plate under the
floor.
[0051] For example, a plate 7b is arranged on the floor where the
grille 7 is arranged in such a way as to be perpendicular to a
surface of the grille 7 at a side opposite to the rack device 10,
as illustrated in FIG. 9. This arrangement allows preventing the
cooling air circulating from the space under the floor to the
inside of the housing room 2 via the grille 7 from circulating to a
direction opposite to the rack device 10, i.e., to a direction away
from the rack device 10. In other words, the cooling air
circulating in the housing room 2 is made to circulate to a side of
the rack device 10, i.e., to a direction to the rack device 10. As
a result, the IT device 10a housed in the rack device 10 can take
in the cooling air efficiently. As a material of the plates 7a and
7b explained here, any materials such as a veneer plate, an acryl
plate, and a concrete partition may be used. FIG. 9 illustrates the
example of arranging a plate on the floor.
[0052] All examples and conditional language recited herein are
intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in
understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the
inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being
without limitation to such specifically recited examples and
conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the
specification relate to a showing of the superiority and
inferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the
present invention have been described in detail, it should be
understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations
could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of
the invention.
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