COTS cooling

[Jim Meyer]

On Tue, 2002-04-23 at 22:00, Robert B Heckendorn wrote:
> We don't have to pay for the cooling but the cost of the installation
> of cooling is being used as an argument to cut corners on the machine
> itself.  :-( So I would love to get the cost of the installation of
> cooling down.

I just faced a similar circumstance; we're building a new facility and
our CFO originally nixed raised floors and serious cooling because the
general contractor showed him a big pricetag with no context. I didn't
end up involved in the project until six months later.

I was lucky enough to get three magic formulas and an excellent bit of
advice. The formulas:

Formulas:
KVA @ 3 Phase = ((I*E)*1.73)/1000
BTU/hr        = (((I*E)*0.8)/1000)*3413
AC Tonnage    = BTU/12000

The advice: Create a spreadsheet. Show these formulas. Show replacement
cost of your equipment, both current and future if you plan to expand in
that room. Total it all up. Then show the costs of installation against
that. Context.

For us, it showed that the total buildout of a real computer room would
cost less than 10% of the cost of the machines. That and a discussion of
raised failure rates due to heat turned the corner on that one.

Good luck!

--j
-- 
Jim Meyer, Geek At Large                              purp at wildbrain.com