1-805-484-2992
Quotes - Engineering - SalesCENTRAL CHILLED WATER
The Plant Behind
the CRAC Units
Computer room air conditioning (CRAC) and air handling (CRAH) units manage airflow and temperature at the room level, but CRAH units - and many CRAC configurations - depend on a central chilled-water loop to actually reject the heat the IT equipment generates. Sizing an Advantage central plant against the room's real IT load, including headroom for planned growth, is what keeps the room-level units able to do their job.
Facility uptime requirements typically drive the redundancy built into the chiller plant itself - N+1 or 2N configurations are common where the server room supports operations that can't tolerate a cooling interruption. That redundancy decision belongs at the central plant, not just at the room-level CRAC/CRAH units.
- CRAH units and many CRAC configurations draw from a central chilled-water loop
- Central plant sizing should include headroom for planned IT load growth
- Redundancy (N+1, 2N) is typically built into the central plant, not just the room units
Tell us the current or planned IT load in tons or kW, the facility's required redundancy level, and whether this is a new build or an expansion of an existing chilled-water plant, and we'll help size accordingly. See Central Chillers for indoor, outdoor and add-on module configurations that fit this kind of load.
Request a QuoteSizing Server Room & CRAC Cooling
Server room chilled-water loops are sized off total IT heat load, converted to tons, plus a margin for the room's own losses and any planned growth. Because the load is continuous and the tolerance for an outage is low, sizing conservatively and building in redundancy both matter more here than in a duty that can tolerate a brief interruption.
Where a room already has CRAC units or in-row coolers installed, matching the Advantage chiller's supply temperature and flow rate to what those units were designed around avoids a mismatch that shows up as reduced cooling capacity even though the chiller itself is sized correctly.
Send Us
- IT heat load in kW or tons, including planned growth
- Existing CRAC/in-row cooler supply temperature and flow rate, if applicable
- Redundancy requirement (N+1, 2N, or none)
- Indoor or outdoor chiller placement
TYPICAL RANGES FOR SERVER ROOM DUTY
| Facility Type | Chilled Water Supply | Load Profile | Typical Redundancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edge / small server room | 48-55°F | Continuous, low variance | N+1 or single unit |
| Enterprise data hall | 44-50°F | Continuous, steady | N+1 standard |
| Mission-critical / colocation | 44-48°F | Continuous, steady | 2N common |
Ranges are typical starting points - actual supply temperature and redundancy depend on your specific IT load density and facility uptime requirement. Call and talk it through with an engineer: 1-805-484-2992.
