Data centers are mission critical facilities that typically contain thousands of data processing equipment, such as servers, switches, and routers. In recent years, there has been a boom in data center usage, leading their energy consumption to grow by about 10% a year continuously. The heat generated in these data centers must be removed so as to prevent high temperatures from degrading their reliability, which would cost additional energy. Therefore, precise and reliable thermal management of the data center environment is critical. This paper focuses on recent advancements in data center modeling and energy optimization. A number of currently available and developmental thermal management technology in data centers are broadly reviewed. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for raised-floor data centers, experimental measurements, containment systems, economizer cooling, hybrid cooling, and device level cooling are all thoroughly reviewed. The paper concludes with a summary and presents areas of potential future research, which are based on the holistic integration of workload prediction and allocation, and thermal management using smart control systems.
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December 2015
Research-Article
A Brief Overview of Recent Developments in Thermal Management in Data Centers
Sami Alkharabsheh,
Sami Alkharabsheh
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
e-mail: salkhar1@binghamton.edu
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
e-mail: salkhar1@binghamton.edu
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John Fernandes,
John Fernandes
Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
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Betsegaw Gebrehiwot,
Betsegaw Gebrehiwot
Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
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Dereje Agonafer,
Dereje Agonafer
Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
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Kanad Ghose,
Kanad Ghose
Computer Science Department,
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
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Alfonso Ortega,
Alfonso Ortega
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Villanova University,
Villanova, PA 19085
Villanova University,
Villanova, PA 19085
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Yogendra Joshi,
Yogendra Joshi
The George W. Woodruff
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, GA 30332
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, GA 30332
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Bahgat Sammakia
Bahgat Sammakia
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
Search for other works by this author on:
Sami Alkharabsheh
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
e-mail: salkhar1@binghamton.edu
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
e-mail: salkhar1@binghamton.edu
John Fernandes
Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
Betsegaw Gebrehiwot
Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
Dereje Agonafer
Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
Engineering Department,
University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX 76019
Kanad Ghose
Computer Science Department,
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
Alfonso Ortega
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Villanova University,
Villanova, PA 19085
Villanova University,
Villanova, PA 19085
Yogendra Joshi
The George W. Woodruff
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, GA 30332
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, GA 30332
Bahgat Sammakia
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
Binghamton University,
State University of New York,
Binghamton, NY 13902
Contributed by the Electronic and Photonic Packaging Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC PACKAGING. Manuscript received December 23, 2014; final manuscript received August 16, 2015; published online September 10, 2015. Editor: Y. C. Lee.
J. Electron. Packag. Dec 2015, 137(4): 040801 (19 pages)
Published Online: September 10, 2015
Article history
Received:
December 23, 2014
Revised:
August 16, 2015
Citation
Alkharabsheh, S., Fernandes, J., Gebrehiwot, B., Agonafer, D., Ghose, K., Ortega, A., Joshi, Y., and Sammakia, B. (September 10, 2015). "A Brief Overview of Recent Developments in Thermal Management in Data Centers." ASME. J. Electron. Packag. December 2015; 137(4): 040801. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4031326
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