Natural cooling helps half of datacentres chill out

Replacing air conditioning with giant fans was once seen as a niche means of curbing datacentres' huge energy consumption, only suitable for specialist server farms in the coldest climates. But new research has revealed that so-called natural cooling technology is becoming an increasingly common feature of the world's datacentres.

A study of 115 datacentres, to be published by non-profit organisation Green Grid later today, will show that nearly half of datacentres now use so-called "economiser" natural air cooling units to cut costs and save energy. A further 24 per cent are considering using them in the near future.

Respondents are using economisers 80 per cent of the time they are available, saving an average of 20 per cent on energy costs and seven per cent on maintenance, the report said.

Mark Monroe, executive director of Green Grid, said the use of energy-efficient cooling technologies was more widespread than he had expected.

"What we are witnessing is a technology that is maturing faster than previously thought," he said. "We now need to make sure that datacentre managers have the tools they need to understand how and what the best economiser options are for optimum deployment."

He also told BusinessGreen that Green Grid is hoping to use US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data to pull together an analysis linking energy-efficient technologies, locations, and best practices.

The survey comes just days after the world's first carbon neutral datacentre opened in Keflavik, Iceland. The facility, owned by UK-based Verne Global, will use Iceland's dual-sourced hydroelectric and geothermal renewable energy grid, as well as free cooling from the cold Icelandic air.

Monroe said there is a growing trend to move datacentres to colder climates, so they can rely on naturally cold air, in a bid to eventually build datacentres that require no artificial cooling.

He also argued that servers were more effective at coping with warmer environments than had been previously thought.

"We've been treating servers way too nicely for too long," he said. "They just don't need to be pampered that way.

"The trend in the industry is to go to the chillerless datacentre, which means we don't have any mechanical cooling. It's a best practice that is five years out... but if you do that it means you're going to do things like open the window and flood the datacentre with cold air and that means you need to be in a cold climate."