DataCenter Design Essential
Tutorials
Tutorial 4
DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Table of Contents
Table of Contents 3
Tutorial 4: Containment and Comparing Models 4
Quick Reference Guide 5
Comparing Models in DataCenter Design Essential 6
Cold Aisle Containment 8
Hot Aisle Containment 10
Comparison 14
Conclusions 15
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Tutorial 4: Containment and Comparing Models
These tutorials aim to walk you through the process of designing a data centre in DataCenter Design Essential.
You will take on the role of a mechanical engineer in a company building a new data centre and guide the project from proof of
concept to completion.
In tutorial 4 you will learn how to apply hot and cold containment and how to compare different solutions.
In the last tutorial you discovered that the column in the room causes dangerous thermal leakage. You have
been told that this column is load bearing and cannot be removed. In tutorial 4 you will explore using cold or
hot aisle containment to resolve this problem. You will need to make multiple files for different versions to
manage the alternative proposals and make decisions.
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Quick Reference Guide
Changing the Model View Moving Objects
3D Rotate - Hold right mouse button
Zoom - Scroll mouse wheel
Move - Blue Handles
Pan - Hold mouse wheel
Stretch - Green Handles
Rubber Band Zoom - Shift + left mouse button
Rotate - Pink Handles
Multiple Select - Click and drag with left mouse button
A - Above, U - Under, L - Left, R - Right, F - Front, Right click on handles to:
B - Back, 3 - 3D View "Move by...", "Stretch by..." or
"Rotate by..." a specified value
Hold SHIFT while pressing a 2-dimensional view key to retain the
current zoom level
Object Panel Tips and Tricks
1. Right click any object for more options
1. Drag and drop objects from the object panel into the model
2. Double click on an object to open the object in a new Enhanced
2. Type key words in the object panel search to find standard
View
objects and library items
3. Tools and objects related to your current task will be shown in a
3. Select an object in the object panel to make the object type top
context sensitive ribbon
of the pick priority
4. Hold CTRL + SHIFT to turn off the snap grid while moving/resizing
4. Right click on an object in the object panel for the option to
an object
select/highlight all objects of that type
5. Press the F1 key to access the online documentation
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Comparing Models in DataCenter Design Essential
Open the Model
In this tutorial you will explore two different containment solutions, therefore you will have to maintain
several files to manage the different versions of your room. Integrated version control is available in the
Advanced and Pro editions.
1. Open DataCenter Design Essential
2. Click File > Open
3. Browse to the location of your saved Tutorial3
file
4. Double click the file to load it
Before beginning you should delete any
existing results planes or streamlines and
set preconfigured views to object defined.
To delete the streamlines, double left-click
cabinet K6 to view it in an Enhanced View
tab. The streamline plots can then easily be
selected and deleted.
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Remove Cabinet Legs
The default cabinet design is raised on
short legs. This would allow air to escape
from any containment system. Before
adding containment you will need to remove
these.
1. Expand the Commonly Used node in the
Object Panel
2. Right click on Cabinet and then click Select All
3. Expand the Construction node in the Property
Sheet
4. Set the Legs > Height attribute to 0 mm
Create New Models
1. Click the Save As... button in the File menu
and create a new version named Cold Aisle
Containment
2. Click the Save As... button in the File menu
and create a new version named Hot Aisle
Containment
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Cold Aisle Containment
Having multiple versions allows you to explore different design directions for your data centre in one
model. You will begin by experimenting with cold aisle containment.
Add Cold Aisle Containment
1. Open the Cold Aisle [Link] file
you made earlier
2. Press A to show the model in above view
3. Expand the Cabinets node in the object panel
4. Drag and drop an Aisle Enclosure onto a Cold
Aisle (see image right)
5. Click OK in the new object dialog
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the other two aisles
(see image right).
You should see that the enclosures have
automatically been resized to fit your aisles.
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Solve and Analyse the Model
1. Click the Lite Solve on My PC button on the
Solve ribbon
2. Click Restart
3. When complete, click Close
4. Click the Result Plane button on the Results
ribbon, then click OK
5. Right-click the legend and click Legend
Options...
6. In the Bounds tab, set Bound Type to User Set
7. Set Upper Bound to 33 C and Lower Bound to
18 C
8. Click Apply Changes, then click Close
Notice that the containment has effectively
separated the hot and cold air of the room.
The cabinet intakes should now all receive
air at 18 °C. However, this means that many
other areas of the room experience
temperatures up to 30 °C. This can be a
problem for human operators.
9. Click the Cabinet Plot button on the Results
ribbon
10. Go to Cooling System > ASHRAE 2015
Temperature Compliance .
You should notice that all the cabinets are
at recommended temperatures. You can
examine individual temperatures from the
results tab in the property sheet.
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Hot Aisle Containment
You have now seen the effects of cold aisle containment. Building multiple versions allows you to create a
parallel design using hot aisle containment instead. You will now build a hot aisle containment solution
and compare its behaviour to the cold aisle containment solution.
Add Hot Aisle Containment
1. Open the Hot Aisle [Link] file you
created earlier
2. Expand the Cabinets node in the object panel
3. Drag and drop an Aisle Enclosure onto a Hot
Aisle (see image right)
4. Click OK in the new object dialog
5. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the other aisle.
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Add False Ceiling
You will need to add a false ceiling to provide an airflow path from your contained aisles back to the ACUs.
1. Expand the Architecture node in the Object
Panel
2. Drag and drop a False Ceiling into the
Enhanced View
3. Click OK in the New False Ceiling dialog
You now need to connect the hot aisles and
the ACUs to the false ceiling space. This will
create a return path for the hot air leaving
the cabinets.
4. Right click the Aisle Enclosure in the object
panel, then click Select All
5. In the Add Parts Section of the Aisle
Enclosure ribbon, click Ceiling Duct
6. Click OK
The new ceiling duct will automatically cut a
corresponding hole in the containment
allowing the air to flow out. By default,
ducts will extend to the height of the false
ceiling.
7. Multiple-select all ACUs (CTRL + click)
8. In the Add Parts section of the ACU ribbon,
click Ceiling Duct
9. Click OK.
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Solve and Analyse
1. Click the Lite Solve on My PC button on the
Solve ribbon
2. Click Restart
3. When complete, click Close.
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Analyse Room
1. Click the Result Plane button on the Results
ribbon, then click OK
2. Click the Cabinet Plot button on the Results
ribbon
3. Go to Cooling System > ASHRAE 2015
Temperature Compliance.
Analyse Streamlines
You can use streamlines to see how the ducts you built earlier allow air to be recycled through the ACUs.
1. Delete the result plane
2. Multiple-select ACU01 and ACU04
3. Click the Streamline Plot button on the
Results ribbon
4. Set:
a. Num Lines U to 7
b. Num Lines V to 7
5. Click OK
6. Use the Play and Stop controls on the
Animation ribbon to animate the streamlines.
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
Comparison
The Compare Models view allows you to view and analyse multiple models simultaneously. This is helpful
because it enables like-for-like comparisons. You can now use it to compare your hot aisle and cold aisle
containment configurations.
The Compare Models View
1. Click the Compare Models button on the
Results ribbon
2. Go to File > Open and select Cold Aisle
[Link]
3. Click the Cabinet plot button
4. Go to Cooling System > ASHRAE 2015
Temperature Compliance
5. Click the ACU Plot button
6. Go to Cooling System > Cooling Capacity in
use
7. Click the New Result Plane button.
The Model Comparison window can be
enlarged to see the models more clearly.
The two model views within it can then be
resized to fit evenly by navigating to
Window > Tile Vertically.
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DataCenter Design Essential Tutorial 4
You can see that both approaches
successfully keep the cabinets at safe
temperatures.
Using cold aisle containment prevents warm
air from mixing with the cabinet inflow,
producing a more consistent and cooler air
supply, compared to a solution that does
not use cold aisle containment. Cold aisle containment
Hot aisle containment is typically a more
expensive solution, since it requires a false
ceiling. Here, the hot aisle containment
prevents hot exhaust air from mixing with
the air in the rest of the data hall. This
results in lower average temperatures
across the whole room, at the expense of a
slightly less consistent air supply to the
cabinets. Hot aisle containment
Conclusions
Congratulations, you have now completed the DataCenter Design Essential tutorials! In this tutorial you have seen how
containment solutions can prevent hot air from leaking and recirculating. There are two common approaches - hot or cold
aisle containment. You have learned how to use the compare models tool to evaluate different design decisions. You have
seen that both approaches have ensured cabinets remain at recommended temperatures. The hot aisle containment
maintains colder overall temperatures in this case.
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