Comprehensive heat load testing for an industry-leader in cloud computing

Temperature control specialist, ICS Cool Energy, has recently provided a heat load test to a globally-renowned manufacturer of servers, management systems, networking and cloud computing equipment to ensure that the equipment could withstand the head of the servers at full capacity were this to be reached.

In 2013, the world-leading company opened a brand new data centre suite with chiller and racking pre-installed, and ready to cool and house the new servers. Russ Baker, Sales Director of ICS Cool Energy’s Hire Division explains the process to test the equipment: “While the company was ready to go, it was important to make sure that both the cooling and power supply could manage the site’s requirements at the most extreme load conditions anticipated.

“Our engineers were able to simulate a heat load of the servers at full capacity. The test demonstrated the power capability of the new server room and the newly installed BMS (Building Management System) by temporarily installing 53x 9kW portable heaters. Each heater was able to represent the heat load of a server rack.
“The trial period consisted of four days of continuous running, testing the new facilities in the face of possible future overload, or temperature control failure.”

The heat load test revealed that the site’s chillers were more than capable of maintaining the required 20°C environment throughout the data centre, ensuring that the company can rely on full operations without the worry of overheating or system damage.

The precise level of energy was also monitored throughout the test period; the BMS was able to monitor each load, assessing both the power provisions as well as the back-up generators which allowed for an even greater degree of testing to be carried out.”

Baker continues, “With the testing period over, site systems were fully commissioned and ready to begin operation.”