Geist and Opengate Data Systems have announced that Geist has made a financial investment in Opengate Data Systems. Geist will begin offering and promoting Opengate’s line of data center airflow management solutions to their broad customer base.

Geist and Opengate Data Systems began working together in September 2007, when Opengate contracted Geist to develop and integrate web-based communication functions into a variety of Opengate solutions.

“We’ve seen this company grow,” said Sam Featherston, CEO of Geist’s parent company, Plastic Companies Enterprises. “And thus feel their intelligent containment products are the best in the industry. As a result, we jumped at the chance to further our relationship with Opengate. We are very excited to be able to offer their technology to our customers.”

Opengate Data Systems was founded in May 2007 by Mark Germagian, formerly with APC and Wright Line. Marks extensive background in telecom and the data center industry led him to develop highly intelligent, rack and row-based heat containment systems. From there, the product line has grown into a suite of innovative solutions all centering on data center optimization and energy efficiency.

As costs related to power usage continue to soar, outpacing the cost of data center hardware, companies must now look for ways to run their facilities more efficiently. Opengate takes innovative approaches to solving data center heat load issues, resulting in significant energy savings, cooler and quieter server environments, and increased equipment uptime.

“Opengate solutions adapt to server and other IT equipment demands,” said Mark Germagian, President and Founder of Opengate. “With deployment of intelligent containment and precise cooling control systems, customers are able to optimize performance and significantly reduce data center energy consumption. Safely raising the cooling supply air temperature to the upper ASHRAE limit is how we enable these efficiencies.”

Innovation in Airflow Management
Opengate’s flagship products are the Containment Cooling and Unity Cooling systems for actively managing airflow in the data center. The systems, which can be applied to the cabinet, multi-ganged cabinets, or row enclosure systems, contain generated heat and balance airflow into the return plenum at the exact rate that servers consume cool air. Total heat containment allows operators to raise temperatures to ASHRAE limits without the risk of hot spots or air mixing. This allows for significant savings from raising chiller plant operating temperatures, lowering CRAC/CRAH fan speeds to prevent oversupply, and increasing the number of free cooling days using air economization. Opengate systems are available to dissipate 10 kW, 20 kW, or 30 kW of heat, and multiple systems can be operated in concert over the IP network to allow for row-based airflow management and increased redundancy.