Data centers are more critical to the operation of our businesses than they have ever been in the past, and the criticality increases every day. In fact, they are not just critical to our businesses but to our daily way of life. It is also understood that the power densities in data centers continue to increase on a scale never seen before. Which is why, similar to the electrical distribution systems, properly designing, building, and controlling the HVAC cooling systems in the data center white space today is more critical than ever. The following is intended to be a high-level description of the HVAC control systems in data centers.
Multi-tenant colocation data centers face unique challenges in the data center marketplace. They need to be able to accommodate a wide variety of clientele and do so in a very cost competitive market. This presents a unique set of challenges in order to manage cost vs. availability. The colocation providers being considered are retail providers instead of wholesale providers. Wholesale providers try to lease large amounts of space or entire centers to single tenants whereas retail data center providers “carve” up the space to allow for a variety and multitude of tenants.