US20120024515A1

US20120024515A1 - Data center and heat dissipating system thereof

Info

Publication number: US20120024515A1
Application number: US12/868,204
Authority: US
Inventors: Chao-Ke Wei
Original assignee: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd
Priority date: 2010-07-30
Filing date: 2010-08-25
Publication date: 2012-02-02
Also published as: TW201205253A

Abstract

A container data center includes a plurality of server systems installed in a container. Each server system includes a power distribution units (PDU) used to manage power and a heat dissipating system to dissipate heat. The heat dissipating system includes a fan and a fan controller connected to the PDU. The PDU detects output power of the corresponding server system and transforms the output power to a corresponding fan rotation speed control signal transmitted to the fan controller, the fan controller controls rotation speed of the fan according to the fan rotation speed control signal.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to data centers, and particularly to a container data center and a heat dissipating system thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
With increasing heavy duty use of on-line applications, the need for computer data centers has increased rapidly. Data centers are centralized computing facilities that include many servers, often arranged in server racks or shelves, and one rack or shelf with some servers can be considered a server system. In a data center, some fans are arranged at appropriate locations to dissipate heat produced by the server systems. At any given time, perhaps only some of the server systems are working at high power and producing a lot of heat while the remaining systems are working at low power and producing much less heat. However, the fans only have one rotation speed regardless of whether all or some of the fans are producing a lot of heat, which wastes electricity. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, all the views are schematic, and like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a container data center, the container data center including a plurality of server systems.

FIG. 2 is a front, schematic view of four server systems of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a back, schematic view of the four server systems of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a heat dissipating system used in the container data center of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure, including the accompanying drawing, is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.
Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a container data center 100 includes a plurality of server systems 20 installed in portable container 10. In one embodiment, the server systems 20 are arranged in two rows and the number of the server systems is determined according to the size of the container 10.
Referring to FIGS. 2-4, two adjacent server systems 20 share a single heat dissipating system, for example, FIGS. 2-4 show four server systems 20 with two heat dissipating systems.
Each server system 20 includes two racks 22, a plurality of servers 24 arranged on the two racks 22, and two power distribution units (PDUs) 222 installed on the top of the two racks 22. The PDUs 222 are used to manage power of the server system.
The heat dissipating system includes two fans 30, two fan controllers 40, two heat exchangers 50 (such as cold water), and two heat insulation boards 60. The two fans 30 are arranged on the top of the two server systems 20 and blow down. The two heat exchangers 50 are respectively arranged on the top of the two server systems 20. The two heat exchangers 50 are used to cool hot air from two sides of the two server systems 20, and the cooled air is blown into the space between the two server systems 20 by the two fans 30 to dissipate heat of the two server systems 20. The two heat insulation boards 60 are arranged between the two heat exchangers 50 and the two server systems 20. An opening 62 is defined between the two heat insulation boards 60, and located under and aligned with outlets of the two fans 30. The two heat insulation boards 60 are used to insulate cooled air from heated air.
The two PDUs 222 are respectively connected to the two fan controllers 40. The two PDUs 222 detect output power of the two server systems 20, and transform the output power of the two server systems 20 to two corresponding fan rotation speed control signals transmitted to the two fan controllers 40. The two fan controllers 40 control rotation speed of the two fans 30 according to the fan rotation speed control signals. In one embodiment, when the output power of the two server systems 20 are increased, the rotation speed of the two fans 30 are correspondingly increased. For example, the fan rotation speed control signals are pulse-width modulation (PWM) signals, when the output power of the two server systems 20 are increased, the duty cycle of the PWMs are correspondingly increased, and then the rotation speed of the two fans 30 are correspondingly increased. Therefore, the heat dissipating system of the container data center 100 can save electricity.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the embodiments to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

1. A data center comprising:

a portable container; and

a plurality of server systems installed in the container, wherein each of the plurality of server systems comprises a power distribution units (PDU) to manage power, and a heat dissipating system to dissipate heat;

wherein the heat dissipating system comprises a fan and a fan controller connected to the PDU, the PDU detects output power of the corresponding server system and transforms the output power to a corresponding fan rotation speed control signal to the fan controller, the fan controller controls rotation speed of the fan according to the fan rotation speed control signal.

2. The data center of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of server systems further comprises two racks and a plurality of servers arranged on the two racks.

3. The data center of claim 1, wherein two fans of two adjacent server systems of the plurality of server systems are arranged on tops of the two adjacent server systems and blow down, two heat exchangers are respectively arranged on tops of the two adjacent server systems, the two heat exchangers cool hot air from two sides of the two adjacent server systems and the cooled air is blown into a space between the two adjacent server systems by the two fans.

4. The data center of claim 3, wherein two heat insulation boards are arranged between the two heat exchangers and the two adjacent server systems, an opening is defined between the two heat insulation boards and located under the two fans, the two heat insulation boards insulate cooled air from heated air.

5. The data center of claim 3, wherein the heat exchangers contain cold water.

6. The data center of claim 1, wherein the fan rotation speed control signal is a pulse-width modulation signal.

7. A heat dissipating system used to dissipate heat for a server system comprising a power distribution units (PDU) used to manage power, the heat dissipating system comprising:

a fan; and

a fan controller connected to the PDU, the PDU detects output power of the corresponding server system and transforms the output power to a corresponding fan rotation speed control signal to the fan controller, the fan controller controls rotation speed of the fan according to the fan rotation speed control signal.

8. The heat dissipating system of claim 7, wherein the fan rotation speed control signal is a pulse-width modulation signal.