Until now temporary data centre cooling equipment has been unable to match the sophistication of the permanent variety in terms of building management systems report faults. But all that is about to change, says Mark Hills, managing director of Watkins Hire

Many of the numbers surrounding information and communications technology are mind-blowing. For example, in 1968, a single transistor cost $1; today, $1 will buy you 50 million transistors.

The first computer chip, built in the early Seventies, contained 2,300 transistors; Intel now routinely produces chips with a billion transistors.

The world’s first digital computer, the Harvard Mark I, developed in the mid-1940s, could perform three additions or subtractions in a second, and a single multiplication took six seconds; today, there is a supercomputer in the US that can perform more than a quadrillion calculations per second.

As the power of computers continues to rise exponentially, so too does the need for more sophisticated ancillary equipment to keep them cool.

For decades, manufacturers have struggled with the cooling of “mission critical” computers and, more recently, of powerful blade servers (essentially, a chassis housing several thin, modular computer motherboards including processors, memory, storage, and network connections).

Data centres are extremely important facilities, often protecting vital data and containing information upon which the very survival of the companies and  governments  depends. As such, they demand robust and reliable permanent cooling systems to protect the sensitive heat-producing computer equipment they house.

Indeed, most will be fully monitored throughout the day and night, 365 days a year by a dedicated operator or FM provider. This means they will probably employ remote telemetry to establish that the data centre cooling equipment is operating at its optimum level and that temperatures are holding at the required level.

All of this assumes that the system is operating correctly, but what if the data centre cooling malfunctions or needs to be supplemented because of, say, expansion or the provision of more powerful computers?

To date, any emergency cooling or top-up temporary cooling has been hired-in and, effectively, left to its own devices. However, by definition, this leaves a lot to chance. What is required is a more proactive temporary cooling system that can monitor and report on various important parameters and which allows problems to be identified and fixed immediately.

That is why we have developed a groundbreaking remote fault reporting and telemetry device that tells customers when a temporary data centre cooling system has broken down or is failing to operate within a preconfigured temperature range.

The device reassures the client that the equipment is operating correctly and maintaining the desired temperature. It also collects full temperature telemetry to show, in real time, the condition and status of the cooling system via our website.

When a fault condition is detected, the unit triggers an e-mail alarm message and sends this to an individual or multiple e-mail addresses via the GPRS network. Performance data is also sent simultaneously to a dedicated website for recording and monitoring.

The telemetry can also be configured to store temperature values at specific time intervals during the day; the data is stored in a 128K flash memory and either downloaded on request or at pre-set times to a website for clients to access and analyse.

Temperature ranges at which the telemetry device will send out alerts can be set in advance. The device will report a fault via e-mail if the temperature moves outside this preconfigured range and send this data to a dedicated website.

When fitted to temporary chiller, the Watkins system reports on:
•   Power on.
•   Fault requiring attention.
•   Leaving water temperature (data logged hourly and reported daily).
•   Power off.

When fitted to a portable split air conditioner like the PAC22 or SAC25, the system reports on these parameters plus low and high room temperatures.

When a fault is reported, Watkins Hire contact the client and advise them of the breakdown. Watkins Hire will then dispatch a service engineer to address the fault if required.

“Remotely monitoring is not new technology,” Mark continues, “but it is cutting edge for the rental industry supplying monitored temporary cooling equipment.  Our telemetry software is internet based has been written and developed in house to improve service response levels, time savings and, as we all know, time saved is money saved! But more importantly saving data loss or corruption”

This means that the temporary cooling solution can be as sophisticated as the permanent system with all the advantages in terms of robustness, built-in redundancy and peace of mind that this implies. Indeed, if it has been installed to top up the existing system, it will complement the existing cooling system and work as one.