Data Center Cooling Flashcards
7 cards from real CDCP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Data Center Cooling flashcards as text
What is immersion cooling in data centers, and what liquid is most commonly used?
Answer: Submerging server components in a thermally conductive but electrically non-conductive liquid such as dielectric fluid
Immersion cooling submerges IT components in dielectric (non-conductive) fluids like mineral oil or engineered fluorocarbon fluids, achieving very high heat transfer rates.
What is the role of a cooling tower in a data center chilled water plant?
Answer: To reject heat from the condenser water loop to the atmosphere, completing the refrigeration cycle
Cooling towers remove heat absorbed by the condenser water from the chiller's refrigeration cycle by evaporating water into the atmosphere.
What is 'N+1 redundancy' in the context of data center cooling systems?
Answer: Having one extra cooling unit beyond the minimum required to handle the full load
N+1 redundancy means one additional cooling unit beyond the number needed (N) to handle full load, so if any single unit fails, the remaining units can still support the entire load.
How does evaporative cooling improve data center cooling efficiency?
Answer: By using the latent heat of water evaporation to cool air or water, reducing mechanical refrigeration energy
Evaporative cooling exploits water's high latent heat of vaporization—as water evaporates, it absorbs significant heat energy, cooling the air or water stream with minimal electrical input.
What is a 'thermal wheel' (or rotary heat exchanger) used for in data center cooling?
Answer: A rotating heat transfer device that exchanges heat between exhaust and supply airstreams for economizer operation
A thermal wheel rotates between exhaust and supply airstreams, transferring heat (and sometimes humidity) between them, enabling economizer operation by pre-cooling supply air.
Which ASHRAE thermal guideline document specifically addresses data center environmental guidelines for IT equipment?
Answer: ASHRAE TC 9.9
ASHRAE TC 9.9 (Technical Committee 9.9) publishes the thermal guidelines for data processing environments, including the equipment class definitions and temperature/humidity ranges.
What is 'Delta T' in the context of data center cooling system performance measurement?
Answer: The temperature difference between supply air (or water) and return air (or water) across the cooling load
Delta T (ΔT) measures the temperature rise across the IT load—a higher ΔT means the cooling system is transferring more heat per unit of airflow or water flow, indicating better efficiency.