Protecting Cold-Climate Data Centers from Winter Hazards

Even when facing extreme winter weather, data centers managers are responsible for protecting critical systems. 

As computing demand rises around the world, data center managers are responsible for maximizing the efficiency of data centers and helping them operate more sustainably. Equipping a data center is a dynamic process—one that requires implementing a variety of solutions to connect and protect the equipment within.  

When constructing a data center, attention must be given to the IT equipment installed as well as to the infrastructure surrounding that equipment. Data centers in cold climates face very specific challenges brought about by freezing temperatures—but cold weather data centers come with unique opportunities as well. 

Isolating Liquid Leaks 

Data centers need to keep running constantly. Hyperscale data centers can be over 10,000 square feet – far too large for facility operators to keep an eye on manually. Because of the importance of uptime, data centers deploy a wide range of monitoring systems that help staff pinpoint and react to potential problems as quickly as possible. 

Liquid plays an integral role in data centers keeping electronics cool so the challenge facing data centers is not as simple as removing liquid sources. Data center staff need to constantly be aware of where and how liquids are flowing through facilities. Water and other liquid leaks in data centers can cause damage to property, data and customer goodwill. Any liquid coming into the data center needs to be connected to a leak detection system so that data center staff can quickly identify and react to leaks to minimize damage and downtime.  

While newly built data centers are designed with leak detection and prevention in mind, many are located in standard commercial buildings or retrofitted warehouses where staff may be challenged by unknown or less understood leak sources. In those cases, careful leak detection and prevention designs become even more important. 

Weathering the Winter Freeze 

Running a data center is a delicate operation to begin with, but data centers located in cold climates are faced with the additional challenge of dealing with the hazards of winter weather. 

Water and coolant liquid often flow through pipes located outside the temperature conditioned spaces of facilities and those pipes need to be protected from freezing to ensure a consistent flow of liquid and prevent pipes from breaking. Snow and ice buildup can pose threats to data center operations as well, blocking bifold vents that circulate fresh air into data centers, making driveways and walkways slippery, creating safety hazards for delivery and maintenance workers.   

nVent provides a wide range of solutions that keep liquids flowing and prevent snow and ice buildup, all the while monitoring liquid sources for leaks. Heat tracing cables keep pipes and walkways warm and frost free and roof and gutter deicing systems prevent damage to buildings. nVent's heat trace and leak detection control solutions connect application status to the operator’s building management systems. This provides critical awareness and protection for data center staff. In the event of a liquid leak, nVent systems can automatically trigger equipment shutdowns, sound an alarm or alert staff by text message.  

Innovating for Sustainability 

Running IT equipment generates a lot of heat, but the right cooling solutions can keep equipment running smoothly. However, in cold climates, releasing that heat into the atmosphere would be a waste of energy. If equipment is already generating heat, why not reuse it?  

New heat pump technology can be paired with efficient liquid cooling systems to gather and transport heat from server racks to be used in district heating or even as under-road heating and deicing.  

Complexity leads to mistakes, which can lead to failure. Data centers staff prioritize taking measures to prevent leaks and nVent solutions bring simplicity and convenience to designing, installing and maintaining these critical systems. As the world becomes more sustainable and electrified, technologies like those offered by nVent will play an essential role helping data center managers scale up and operate more sustainably.  

Discover our data solutions: https://www.nvent.com/en-us/data-solutions