Real time monitoring and availability of server airflow for efficient data center cooling

In a typical data center, a significant portion of the total power consumption is spent on data center cooling. This paper addresses the problem of cooling inefficiency resulting from airflow mismatch between what is required by the IT equipment vs. what is supplied by the facility fans. The paper proposes two new virtual sensors for a server; volumetric airflow and outlet temperature sensor. A method for calculating server volumetric airflow in real time based on fan RPM values is outlined. The calculated volumetric airflow and outlet temperature are exposed to Intel Data center Manager (DCM) using IPMI commands. DCM can then aggregate server airflow to compute airflow demand by rack, row or data center level. The information can be used to control facility fans to improve cooling efficiency of the data center. This represents a significant improvement over use of expensive temperature & pressure sensors distributed throughout the data center to control facility fans.