Applied Math Modeling Inc. has released CoolSim 4, the next generation of the company’s airflow modeling software. As the industry’s only cloud-based implementation, CoolSim 4 has been designed from the ground up with ease-of-use and scalability in mind.

“CoolSim 4 takes data center design software to a completely new level,” said Paul Bemis, CEO of Applied Math Modeling. “For the first time, customers can quickly and accurately determine the total cost to operate their data center, the maximum equipment loading for a given data center, and the optimal placement of cooling and thermal loads - all in a cost-effective cloud computing environment.”

CoolSim 4 allows users to predict the effect of failed cooling units and the energy savings related to optimizing airflow using techniques such as containment (Hot-Aisle/Cold-Aisle) or reduced fan speeds. And because CoolSim 4 is highly scalable, data center energy optimization occurs through the rapid manipulation of design parameters.

“We have realized for some time that to meet the needs of users in the data center modeling market, the issues of large scale, parametric based energy optimization were important,” said Bemis. “With CoolSim 4, we open the door to the next generation of truly predictive data center modeling solutions.”

Key features of CoolSim 4 include:

• The ability to accurately predict the total energy envelope for a data center using metrics including PUE (Power Utilization Effectiveness), RTI (Return Temperature Index), and RCI (Rack Cooling Index). Using these new metrics, data center operators and design engineers can quickly and easily assimilate CoolSim CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) output results, and make energy optimization decisions.(RTI and RCI are trademarks of ANCIS Inc.)

 • A new advanced user environment with an embedded high performance graphics engine based on OpenSceneGraph. This open source graphics engine, popular in the gaming industry, provides a highly interactive, photorealistic environment for the creation of 3D data center models.

 • Data center models will be easier to build, manage, and maintain as a result of the new object-oriented, database-driven modeling environment with hierarchical XML data structures. This key feature will allow the CoolSim 4 component library to scale comfortably without performance degradation.

• Extensibility to upstream and/or downstream applications such as real-time data sensor or data center information management (DCIM) systems. All CoolSim 4 data can be searched and replaced by external programs using simple XML transforms allowing CoolSim 4 to integrate easily into existing data center software systems.

“I am thrilled to finally see a cost-effective CFD tool for rapidly analyzing the thermal environment in today’s data center that incorporates the new RTI, RCI, and PUE metrics,” said Dr. Magnus Herrlin, president of ANCIS Inc., a leading designer of indoor environmental and energy solutions for data centers. “This key capability will allow users to rapidly optimize their data center designs for lowest possible energy consumption.”

CoolSim 4 is based upon an all new model building environment, which improves user productivity by allowing models to be built in multiple concurrent views. Thus the data center model can be constructed using both 2D and 3D views at the same time. The option to use multiple display monitors is also supported, offering additional on-screen real estate for building more accurate representations of the data center.

Once built, the model is automatically submitted to a hosted high-performance computing (HPC) cluster for processing using ANSYS/FLUENT (CFD) technology. After the simulation is complete, HTML output reports and 3D visual images are produced and sent to the user. This mechanism allows users to perform multiple “what-if” studies of their data centers to determine the optimal placement of existing equipment, evaluate new or alternative designs, or visualize the effect of adding new equipment to an existing room.