To keep up with all the demands of a high-performance computing (HPC) data center, Purdue, like most research universities, must respond to a constant and ever-increasing demand for higher computing power. As a result of its long and continuing expansion, the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing was planning the installation of a new cluster, but the facility had reached its maximum cooling capacity and density.
Purdue’s Rosen Center for Advanced Computing was of traditional design with a cold-air plenum in the ceiling fed by computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units around the periphery of the room. The air system could not cool full racks nor was there space in the data center to add more racks. Even with racks that were only half full, density was maxed out.