Server cooling by airflow throttling

摘要

In a data center including hot and cold aisles, the flow rate of airflow from the cold aisle through servers to the hot aisle depends on the flow resistance of different servers. As servers may have different cooling needs, an airflow throttling mechanism is coupled to each server to individually adjust the flow resistance through each server based on the amount of cooling airflow needed by a server. Hence, servers use the amount of cooling airflow they need, reducing the overall airflow needs, which reduces the central fan requirements, of the data center.

主权项

1. A data center system comprising:
a partition arranged between a cold aisle on a first side of the partition and a hot aisle on a second side of the partition; a server arranged in the partition so that the server has an input opening positioned on the first side of the partition in communication with the cold aisle and an output opening on the second side of the partition in communication with the hot aisle, wherein the partition is arranged so that an airflow path of least resistance from the cold aisle to the hot aisle is through the server; an airflow throttling mechanism coupled to the server and configured to modify a resistance of the airflow path of least resistance from the cold aisle to the hot aisle based on a temperature of a component of the server, and an air supply unit, located external to the plurality of servers, configured to pressurize the cold aisle relative to the hot aisle, so that air flows from the cold aisle to the hot aisle through the server, wherein the airflow throttling mechanism comprises a ventilation flap coupled to a thermodynamically actuated baffle coupled to a heat sink of a processor included in the server.