Server Room Air Conditioning in Winter

Summer Server Cooling Needs

Changes made to physical server configuration during warm weather may not show problems right away. Companies replaced older computers with high-heat blade servers or move the servers into a smaller room to open up floor space. The existing air conditioning is often up to the challenge of the increased heat load.

Hot outside weather doesn't affect the server room since the building's air conditioning automatically runs more to compensate. In some cases IT managers might have to bring in spot coolers to supplement the existing system, but other times no changes need to be made. The instinctive assumption is that if the server room is fine in the hot summer months, there will be no problem when outside temperatures drop.

Winter Makes Server Rooms Hotter

Unfortunately when winter sets in, server room air conditioning faces its greatest challenge. Many smaller server rooms depend on the building's air conditioning system to keep cool, but in winter the HVAC system is switched from cooling to heating. Not only are the servers not getting the cool air they need, but additional heat is actually being blown into the room through the vents.

IT managers find their servers actually run hotter because of the lack of cool air. They may also find they have paid attention to the cooling needs of the servers but forgot about other equipment such as network routers. Even if the system doesn't suffer a heat disaster, equipment running hot has a much shorter useful life.

Air Conditioning Must Be a Dedicated System

It is a rare business that doesn't depend on its servers for daily operation. If the computers overheat and shut down, company operations often shut down as well. For this reason, every server room needs a dedicated cooling system separate from the building's HVAC system.

Installing a high-efficiency central cooling system is very expensive and not necessary for today's computer rooms. Many IT departments find portable air conditioning to be a less expensive and more versatile solution than an expensive HVAC upgrade. The ability to add or remove units as cooling needs change or as the building's main cooling system changes is essential in keeping a server room cool.

Don't wait until it's too late to give your the cooling capacity it needs. Set up a dedicated server cooling system by using spot coolers to create the ideal environment modern electronics need.