Data center cooling systems have varied widely over the years, yet the goal was always the same: keeping the facility running smoothly by preventing the internal equipment from overheating. Today’s data centers are ranked not just on reliability, but also on efficiency and cost effectiveness – and the means of cooling the data center is one of the biggest energy and cost factors. As designs keep moving forward we can see how cooling solutions and strategies have evolved and where they seem to be headed into the future. This discussion will review the iterative design steps that have been taken in the past to see how cooling strategies have improved, and then forecast the next phases we may see in the near and perhaps not-so-near future.
John Peterson (bio)
Program Manager
AECOM