New York Data Center Conference is 'Cool'

Staff -- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 4/1/2006

Data center managers and design experts convened in Manhattan last month to discuss the latest trends driving these mission-critical facilities.

The conference, Datacenter Dynamics New York, touched upon a number of topics, including power and cooling. Regarding the latter, it was noted that many designers are seeing a return of chilled water to cool server rooms. "Given the sheer power needed, the requirement for liquid cooling to remove heat generated from IT equipment isn't just an option; in many cases it is the only solution," said Stephen Worn, Global Conference Chairman. "And as the IT market continues to focus on maximizing the number of server blades per enclosure, traditional air-cooled server cabinets often cannot support the dramatic escalation in heat loads, and new solutions are required."

The need to control energy bills was also a hot topic. "Discussion of 'The Power Gap' came from every direction—from maximizing data center energy efficiency through power-saving designs, technologies and DC-based solutions, through to scalable UPS systems, and battery vs. rotary solutions," said Worn.

Data center operators, he added, must look to design for thermal management, cooling performance and energy transmission efficiency in the next 18 months to manage and limit the predictable high density power and cooling costs.

Other highlights at the event included keynote addresses from Don Beaty, chairman of ASHRAE TC9.9 Committee. He discussed how delegates can make the most of improvements in processor and blade technology. Also speaking was Jerry Burkhardt of New York-based Syska Hennessy Group. His firm launched a new classification system for determining the levels of criticality for an organization's critical facilities, which reflected the increasingly complex data center infrastructure landscape.

The New York event was actually the kick-off of a 12-city series of data center conferences and expos that will be conducted internationally. Other U.S.-based events will take place in San Francisco (July 27), Chicago (Oct. 5) and Dallas (TBD).

For more on the conferences visit www.DataCenterdynamics.com.