Cooling a small server room on a budget

Small server rooms often rely on an office air conditioner and still run hot. Before buying bigger equipment, fix how air moves through the room.

Fix airflow first

• Face all equipment the same direction so hot exhaust does not blow into another device's intake.
• Fill empty rack spaces with blanking panels.
• Tidy cables so they do not block airflow at the back of racks.
• Keep the door closed and seal obvious gaps.

Check the air conditioner

Comfort air conditioners are designed for people and office hours. Make sure the unit runs continuously, is serviced regularly, and is not set to switch off at night or on weekends.

Size for the real load

Estimate the heat load from the power drawn by the equipment — nearly all of it becomes heat — and compare with the cooling capacity. Allow for growth.

Add redundancy where it matters

If the room hosts critical systems, a second cooling unit means one failure does not take systems down.

Monitor

A temperature sensor with alerts costs little and gives early warning before equipment shuts down or fails.

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