Data Center Contest: The 2:00 AM Wind Tunnel

We’re gathering stories and photos for a cool contest sponsored by American Power Conversion (APC). Share your data center tales of woe with us for fun and prizes.

First prize wins a Nintendo Wii game system or you could be eligible to receive one of twenty (20) copies of System Specifications and Project Manual for Data Centers (a $250 value!) just for entering the contest. Find out more about the Data Center Contest and enter today.

Enjoy the contest entry below — and feel free to comment.

Community Manager

From a Member who wishes to remain anonymous:

The one that might win would be the night when it was 15 degrees outside and the air handlers froze up. At 2 AM it was 90 degrees on the floor, and 15 degrees outdoors. We opened all the doors and scrounged every fan that facilities could find (that was quite an ugly hodge-podge).

We focused on bringing air in from the loading dock and onto the data center floor. We were losing most of the air down the hallways, so we took some of the infamous rolls of plastic that are on the walls and built a wind tunnel. That was quite a sight, but it actually worked. Within about 30 minutes we actually had the temperature too low on the floor.

By the way, the design flaw that caused the situation has been fixed…