Benchmarking cooling efficiency in server rooms.

This paper contains a new set of design guidelines for choosing an energy efficient server room design. Choosing the right server room design can secure very fast money recuperation when selecting a better cooling system than the cheapest available. The ideal server room has a physical barrier between the hot and cold side. If a physical barrier is not possible CFD-calculations show a large savings potential of electricity for cooling machinery just from choosing the optimal room and server positioning design. With a demand of a specific maximum temperature at the server inlet and a estimated savings potential of 65-130 euros/(year/kW.K) and the difference between the best and the worst model design is 8°C. The servers are consuming 30 kW electricity all year round generating equal amount of heat. The savings potential for this room is 15,600-31,200 euros per year.