6SigmaRoom Tutorials
Tutorial 2
6SigmaRoom Tutorial 2
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6SigmaRoom Tutorial 2
Table of Contents
Table of Contents 3
Tutorial 2: Building Your First Data Centre 4
Thermal Analysis of a New Data Centre 5
Quick Reference Guide 6
Get Started 7
Facility Details 8
Import CAD design 9
Lay Out Cabinets 12
Add Cooling 14
Solve and Analyse 17
ACU Failure 19
Conclusions 21
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6SigmaRoom Tutorial 2
Tutorial 2: Building Your First Data Centre
These tutorials aim to walk you through the process of designing a data centre in 6SigmaRoom.
You will take on the role of Mechanical Engineer in a company building a new data centre and provide the thermal analysis
necessary to take the project from proof of concept to completion.
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Thermal Analysis of a New Data Centre
l You will begin, in Tutorial 2, with an initial set of CAD files representing architects’ drawings. Initially these will contain only
minimal detail. However, this is enough to create a simple model and show the design will provide N+1 redundancy. This will
prove to the client the viability of your design.
l Later, in Tutorial 3, you will be provided with more detailed architectural plans, representing the actual building chosen to
host your data centre. You will learn how to add structural features such as columns, which are often unavoidable in real
buildings. Then you will need to add the support mechanical and electrical services. You must show that the data centre still
behaves acceptably with these new additions and identify any new risks introduced.
l In Tutorial 4 you will explore using different containment solutions to manage air flow and resolve any issues arising from
room architecture. You will need to make use of the version tree to manage the alternative proposals and make decisions.
l In Tutorial 5 you will investigate different control strategies for your cooling system to ensure an efficient system without risk
to the client's IT.
l In Tutorial 6 you will begin thinking about real IT equipment. So far you have used generic resources to plan your data
centre. Now your client has made some decisions on what IT to use and you will need to make decisions about what cooling
strategy to pursue based on this.
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Quick Reference Guide
Changing the Model View Moving Objects
3D Rotate - Right mouse button Move - Blue Handles
Zoom - Mouse wheel Stretch - Green Handles
Pan - Middle mouse wheel Rotate - Pink Handles
Rubber Band Zoom - Shift + left mouse button Right click on the handles to:
Multiple Select - Click and drag with left mouse button "Move by...", "Stretch by..." or
"Rotate by..." a specified value
A - Above U - Under L - Left R - Right F - Front B - Back 3 -
3D View W - Walkthrough mode
Object Panel Tips and Tricks
1. Drag and drop objects from the object panel into the 1. Right click any object for more options
model 2. Double click on an object to open the object in a new
2. Type key words in the object panel search to find graphical view
standard objects and library items 3. Tools and objects related to your current task will be
3. Select an object in the object panel to make the shown in a context sensitive ribbon
object type top of the pick priority 4. Hold CTRL + SHIFT to turn off the snap grid while
4. Right click on an object in the object panel for the moving/resizing an object
option to select/highlight all objects of that type
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6SigmaRoom Tutorial 2
Get Started
1. Open 6SigmaRoom
2. Click the Create New button on the Welcome Screen
3. Click the Save button in the File menu, then name the
model Tutorial2
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Facility Details
The data centre you are building is designed to operate within limits determined by both business and
safety needs. You have been told the IT Capacity is expected to be 160kW and to ensure appropriate N + 1
redundancy. The Facility Details tool can be used to keep track of these limits, and other top level
information about your data centre.
Specify Facility Details
1. Click the Facility Details button on the Build
ribbon
2. In the Facility Details window, set:
a. Facility Name to Tutorial Data Centre
b. Cooling Redundancy Scheme to N + x
c. Cooling Redundancy (x) to 1
d. IT Limit to 160 kw
3. Click Close
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Import CAD design
6SigmaRoom aims to enhance both the initial design process of data centres and the ongoing
management of changing environments. To help build your first model you have been sent a CAD drawing
of a basic data centre layout. The drawing is typical of the early stages of the design process - detailed
architectural plans have not yet been received, or detailed IT specifications decided. You can use the tools
on the Import ribbon to import this CAD drawing into 6SigmaRoom. This will help guide you as you build
your first model.
Import CAD
1. Click the CAD Drawing button on the Import
ribbon, then select [Link]
The default file location is: {installation
directory}\Users\Public\Public
Documents\6SigmaDC
\Release16.3\TutorialCases\Models
You may need to change the file type to DWG
in order to view the [Link] file.
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The Import CAD Drawing dialog allows you to
view each element of the CAD file you are
importing. You can also individually exclude
elements from appearing in the imported CAD
plane.
2. Click Finish in the Import CAD Drawing dialog
3. Click the Sketch Walls button on the Build ribbon
In this window you can adjust the positions of
the room walls or construct new walls. To
match the CAD design you will need to remove
the default walls, then build new walls.
Remember that you can still pan and zoom in
preview windows.
4. Click and drag to select all the Wall nodes
5. Press DELETE
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You can sketch new walls using a simple point
and click method. A node will apear at each
location you click. Red nodes mean a wall has
not been completed. As you complete each
wall the nodes will change from red to green -
you can see this in the Sketch Walls image
(Right). The length of each wall is also
displayed. Ensure these match the Sketch
Walls image.
6. Click in the upper left hand corner of the CAD
drawing to begin drawing
7. Click in the upper right hand corner of the CAD
drawing to build the first wall (this should have a
length of 11.4m)
8. Trace out the perimeter of the room by clicking at
each corner - your drawing should match the image to
the right when finished
9. Check Move Room origin to (0,0) on Finish
10. Click Finish
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6SigmaRoom Tutorial 2
Lay Out Cabinets
By examining the CAD plane you have been given, you can see space has been marked out for
cabinets in four rows. 6SigmaRoom's Lay Out Cabinets tool allows you to add cabinets and grilles in a
typical hot and cold aisle layout with one operation.
Add Cabinets
1. Click the Lay Out Cabinets button on the
Build ribbon
Follow the design of the CAD, which
contains four rows of 7 racks (indicated by
green crosses), with 3 cold aisles (indicated
by the shaded areas) and 2 hot aisles.
2. In the Layout node of the Lay Out Cabinets
window, set:
a. Row Orientation to Through
b. Number of Rows to 4
c. Cabinets per Row to 7
d. Cold Aisle Width to 2
e. Cold Aisle Pitch to 7
f. First Aisle to Cold
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You do not have a full specification of the
IT requirements and are required to split the
load equally among the cabinets. You can
use Black Box models to approximate a
typical cabinet for this purpose.
3. In the IT Specification node set:
a. Modelling Level to Cabinet Only
b. Cabinet Power to 5 kW
c. Temperature Rise to 12 °C
Position the first aisle (indicated by a star)
by clicking on any tile in the graphical view.
4. Use the Lay Out Cabinets window to align the
cabinets with the CAD plane
5. Click OK
6. Inspect your new cabinets in the graphical view
Click and hold the scroll button to pan the
view. Click and hold the right mouse button
to rotate the view.
The Errors window shows that you have
insufficient cooling capacity in your room.
You will fix this next. The Errors window
offers useful warnings and advice as you
build.
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Add Cooling
By examining the CAD plane you have been given you can see space has been marked out for four Air
Cooling Units (ACUs). You can drag and drop these into the model from the Object Panel.
Add a new ACU
1. Press A to return to the Above view
2. Locate the Search bar above the Object Panel, then
type 60kW
3. Click and drag the Cooling Unit (Lowered EC) -
60kW from the Object panel onto the ACU01
location in the model.
Adjust Fan Speed
In order to ensure N + 1 redundancy you have surplus cooling capacity available. This means you can
decrease the fan speed on the ACUs during normal operation to avoid wasting power. Since you have the
equivalent of one spare ACU, begin by decreasing the fan speed of each ACU by 25%.
1. In the New ACU dialog, set Fan Speed to 75%
2. Click OK
Blue and green manipulator handles enable
you to move and re-size the object. A pink
manipulator handle allows you to rotate
objects. You will need to use these to position
the ACUs.
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When you select or create an object in the
Graphical View, it will be highlighted with a red
bounding box.
3. Use the blue and green manipulator handles to
move and re-size the object so that it is fully aligned
with the ACU01 location in the model.
As you drag an object around the graphical
view, a blue bounding line will appear around
nearby objects that it can be snapped to. This
includes elements of the CAD plane. Use this
snapping feature to help you.
Duplicate the ACU
It is often easier to duplicate objects in the
model you want to reuse, rather than define all
of the properties each time you add a new
object. You will use this feature to add the
other ACUs.
1. Press CTRL + D
The duplicate ACU will appear on top of the
original.
2. Drag the new ACU onto the space marked ACU02
using the blue manipulator handles
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3. Multi-select ACU01 and ACU02 (click and drag with
the left mouse button to draw a box around them)
4. Press CTRL + D
5. Use the pink rotation handle to rotate the new
ACUs by 180°
6. Drag the pair of ACUs onto the spaces marked
ACU03 and ACU04
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Solve and Analyse
Now that you have finished building the model, you can run the solver to simulate the air and heat flow.
When the solution is complete, you can examine the results to see if the design will work correctly.
Solve
1. Click the Solve button on the Solve ribbon
The model will automatically save when you
click the solve button.
2. Click Start
3. When complete, click Close
Analyse Results
1. Click the Result Plane button on the Results
ribbon
2. Click OK in the New Object dialog
You can change the range of the displayed
results from the legend menu. It is often useful
to restrict the temperature range of the plot.
This allows you to see more subtle variations
in the results.
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You should change the Bound Type from Full
to Displayed Plots. This will restrict the
temperature range to those shown by the result
plane.
3. Right click on the Legend, then click Legend
Bounds
4. Set the Bound Type to Displayed Plots
You can see that hot air is spreading out of the
hot aisles and into the rest of the facility.
5. Select the result plane by clicking it in the graphical
view.
6. Right click, then click hide
7. Click on the Cabinet Plot button on the Results
ribbon
8. Go to Cooling System > ASHRAE 2015
Temperature Compliance
ASHRAE 2015 Temperature Compliance is an
industry standard of safe operating
temperatures for IT cabinets. While your model
may not exactly match the image on the right,
all the cabinets in your room should be within
the recommended (green) or allowable (orange)
temperature ranges.
9. Click the Preconfigured Views button on the
Results ribbon
10. Click Object Defined
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ACU Failure
Simulate ACU Failure
You can simulate an ACU being taken offline, for maintenance or because of a failure, in 6SigmaRoom.
This will show if this design meets the N + 1 cooling requirement.
1. Select ACU03 in the Graphical View
2. Click the context sensitive Air Cooling Unit ribbon
The Object ribbon is context-sensitive, so the
options available will vary depending on the
object selected. When you select an object in
the model, the Object ribbon will appear
(highlighted in blue) for that object. It contains
a range of options for editing and manipulating
the selected object.
3. Click the Off button in the Fans section
4. Click the Off button in the Cooling section
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Activate Spare Capacity
Previously, you set the ACU Fan Speed to 75% in order to meet the N+1 redundancy requirement. Now
you can use the remaining three units at 100% capacity to maintain adequate cooling during a failure.
Hold CTRL and left click to select multiple
objects in the model.
1. Select ACU01, ACU02 and ACU04
2. Expand the Controls node in the property sheet
3. Set Fan Speed to 100 %
Solve
Now that you have activated the spare ACU capacity you can run the solver to simulate the air and heat
flow. When the solution is complete, you can examine the results to see whether sufficient cooling is
delivered during an ACU failure.
1. Click the Solve button on the Solve ribbon
2. Click Restart
3. When complete, click Close
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Analyse Results
1. Click the Result Plane button on the Results
ribbon
2. Click OK in the New Object dialog
3. Click the Cabinet Plot button on the Results
ribbon
4. Go to Cooling System > ASHRAE 2015
Temperature Compliance
You should see that most of the cabinets are
still within the ASHRAE recommended
temperature range. However, some cabinets
may be in the orange allowable category. This
is acceptable for a short period, such as ACU
failure or maintenance.
Conclusions
Congratulations - you have built your first data centre in 6SigmaRoom! You have discovered that the initial data centre design
can support the expected load during normal operations. However, if there is an ACU failure, the remaining three ACUs must
run at full capacity to compensate. You could try solving a scenario with the remaining three ACUs still at 75% utilisation to
confirm this. This is useful information that can inform future design decisions. As a thermal engineer you should inform the
project management team that the design conforms to specifications and no modifications are required at this stage.
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