Degree Controls Enhances Data Center Efficiency

MILFORD, NH--(Marketwire) - Degree Controls, Inc. (DegreeC), the global leader of thermal and airflow technologies for the data center, unveiled AdaptivCool Room Scale Intelligent Cooling (RSIC), a full-service thermal management solution that reduces data center energy consumption and cooling costs.

AdaptivCool Room Scale Intelligent Cooling (RSIC) is the next-generation version of AdaptivCool, which entered the market in 2006. The enhancements in AdaptivCool RSIC—the result of two years of intense research and development—help customers reduce data center energy consumption and increase computing load without deploying additional cooling capacity.

AdaptivCool RSIC's temperature sensors send information to a sophisticated Cooling Resource Manager that calculates minute-by-minute cooling demand and controls data center airflow dynamically via floor- and ceiling-mounted air movers. Cool air is optimally directed to equipment that requires it and hot air is returned back to the air-conditioning unit—reducing over-cooling, eliminating hotspots and reducing electrical consumption for data center cooling by up to thirty percent.

An AdaptivCool RSIC installation begins with Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling (CFD), which produces a thermal map of the customer's data center. From the model, DegreeC develops a tailored RSIC configuration for the data center.

AdaptivCool RSIC includes the following new services:

Real Time Thermal Monitoring and Configuration User Interface—The intuitive monitoring and control GUI provides real-time display of hardware status, individual sensor readings, and thermal history and trends. Conditions can be securely monitored remotely.

Alarms—Alarms are sent by the monitoring system if one of the following abnormal conditions is detected: CRAC failure or warning, high CRAC return temperature, high CRAC supply temperature, high room temperature, high rack intake temperature, RSIC equipment malfunction and network communication error.

AdaptivCool Rapid Response Alerts can be redirected to AdaptivCool personnel for evaluation, analysis and prompt action.

"Our research over the last two years shows that today's data center and IT managers face a growing number of challenges—not the least of which is rising energy costs. They are looking for cost-effective solutions to ensure that their data center is running as efficiently as possible, and in many cases looking to add additional computing loads," said Coy Stine, AdaptivCool's Engineering Manager. "AdaptivCool RSIC allows customers to monitor their data center heat load in real time and make intelligent decisions."

AdaptivCool Thermal Services provides ongoing monitoring of the customers data center thermal environment. Under AdaptivCool Thermal Services, DegreeC remotely monitors data center conditions and provides monthly and quarterly reports.

AdaptivCool Thermal Services provides customers with the following options:

  • Ongoing monitoring and data analysis to predict and mitigate problems
  • Monthly and quarterly reports highlighting areas of thermal concern
  • Updated CFD Analysis—as needed
  • Summary of energy savings

DegreeC has been proactive in bringing IT energy issues to the forefront. In 2006 and 2007 DegreeC organized a number of seminars that assembled experts to discuss best practices for reducing energy consumption in the data center. DegreeC also contributed to the EPA's Report on Server and Data Center Efficiency and has been actively involved with the Alliance to Save Energy and The Green Grid.

On April 15th, in San Antonio, TX, DegreeC will be presented with Frost & Sullivan's 2008 Product Line Strategy of the Year Award in the North American Data Center Cooling Solutions market. The award recognizes DegreeC's work in creating and maintaining energy efficient computing ecosystems.

AdaptivCool RSIC will be demonstrated at AFCOM's Data Center World, March 30 - April 3 in Las Vegas. On April 2, 2008, DegreeC engineers Wally Phelps and Coy Stine will conduct a seminar discussing thermal management best practices.

About DegreeC
In eleven years DegreeC has become a leading provider of thermal and airflow solutions for challenging telecommunications and medical applications. DegreeC is now applying its chassis-level thermal expertise to mission-critical room-level spaces, primarily sophisticated data centers and clean rooms. DegreeC was founded in 1996 and now has approximately 100 employees in offices in the United States, India, China, Japan and Mexico. DegreeC's main offices are located in Milford, NH, and Marlborough,MA. DegreeC is a private, minority-owned ISO 9001 registered company.