According to the video description from Microsoft Research, “ASHRAE and server manufacturers specify a temperature range for the inlet air into servers. Yet most cooling control is based on return or supply temperature at the cooling unit. In the past, collecting server temperatures required significant wiring, configuration, cost, and time. Even with the right data, determining which cooling unit affects which server rack is a difficult engineering problem that few have solved.

Thus, controlling based on server inlet temperature was expensive and difficult, if not impossible. Disruptive technology in wireless mesh network sensing and advances in control algorithms combined with Variable Speed Drives (VSD/VFD) have enabled a more cost effective way to control data center cooling based on server inlet temperatures.

This case study will present an overview of the server inlet temperature-based control and case studies of two data centers. Discussion will include data center energy efficiency best practices and utility rebates. You will learn how this control strategy reduced total data center energy costs by 10-17.”