RE: DATACENTER: AC and colo sizing question.

[Sean Donelan <sean@donelan.com>]

On Thu, 17 February 2000, "Dan Lawrence" wrote:
> Which further points to the most important aspect of data center planning I
> can think of --- engage the technical professionals (i.e.., facilities
> design engineers) early on in the process, armed with a full programming
> document of data on the intended equipment you are planning for
> implementation, injected with a little bit for technology migration through
> at least one iteration, and SWAG the rest for growth.  The Mech/Elec
> Engineers that do this for a living can short circuit (no PUN intended) the
> iterative, speculation, "what-if?" process considerably if brought in soon
> enough.

Like most professionals, their advice is only as good as the information
you give them.  Mechanical/Electrical engineers are very good at building
what you tell them.  Only a few they are good at telling you what you need.
If you want to keep your computer at 65F, they will build the system to keep
it at 65F.  If you don't know what type of computer you will have, you or
they will make various assumptions, i.e. SWAG, which brings us full circle.

How cold do you need to keep your computer room? Cold enough.

Although engineers hate this, sometimes it is a business decision, not a
technical decision.