Submittal

WW-CPWP-09, Rev.0, 09/2009

Deploying a Vertical Exhaust System

to Achieve Energy Efficiency and Support Sustainability Goals

• Passive air-blocking devices. Blanking panels should occupy empty rack spaces and air sealing

grommets should be used to seal raised floor tile cutout openings to maintain hot and cold air

separation.

• Cable pathways. Data center designers should deploy overhead cabling pathways at the front of

cabinets in order to ensure enough clearance at the rear of the cabinet for vertical duct units to be

directly positioned above the exhaust area. Also, in-cabinet cable managers provide pathways

allowing cables to run vertically in cabinet side areas; cables are managed out of the path of hot

exhaust airflow and are distanced from equipment chassis.

Retrofit Cases

Although many data center designers incorporate VESs into an initial room design, these systems can be

deployed in conjunction with existing cooling systems to address high heat-generating cabinets that emerge

over time. Room layout conditions under which the VES can be deployed in retrofit applications include

adequate room above the cabinet to fit a vertical duct unit and a hot air return path such as a dropped ceiling

return plenum. The retrofitting of VESs provides additional cooling efficiency at minimal operating cost. A VES

can be integrated with existing hot aisle / cold aisle cooling layouts, whether the data center is a raised floor or

concrete slab type.

Conclusion

High heat loads in the data center are best managed by deploying UPI-based solutions that support uptime

goals, prolong the life of active equipment, and enable the continued support of “green” IT goals. Organizations

cannot afford to waste money on inefficient cooling practices, so data center stakeholders need to be confident

that the thermal management solutions they deploy will achieve cooling goals at minimal cost.

These goals can be realized by the deployment of passive exhaust containment systems. The modular, passive

Vertical Exhaust System (VES) channels heat from the server exhaust directly into the hot air return plenum,

isolating hot exhaust air from equipment cooling air to eliminate data center hot spots due to hot exhaust air

recirculation. Best cabling practices to observe include keeping the in-cabinet exhaust area behind servers as

free from obstructions as possible to enable the unimpeded flow of hot exhaust air into the vertical duct. In

particular, installers should route data and power cables toward cabinet side walls and away from server

exhaust areas, leaving the exhaust area free from large cable bundles.

Panduit’s expertise in the data center space and consultative approach to determining customer requirements

deliver physical infrastructure solutions that optimize the thermal efficiency of the data center infrastructure. Our

comprehensive UPI-based data center solutions include thermal management systems, High Speed Data

Transport (HSDT) systems, cabinet systems, and physical infrastructure management software. This unique

solutions approach enables enterprises to confidently meet broader business objectives for agility, availability,

integration and security.

For more information on comprehensive Panduit data center solutions, or to view the Net-Access Cabinet

brochure featuring the VES, visit www.panduit.com/datacenter