07 Jan
In October, I was thrilled to join Rahi Systems as a Director of Sales, heading up data center power and cooling solutions. I’ve spent a significant portion of my career to date working with Fortune 100 companies, first in New York and then in the San Francisco Bay Area, to build and optimize their telecom and data center operations.
At Rahi Systems, I’m looking forward to working with our clients to identify opportunities to realize significant savings and efficiencies in operating their data centers. An often-shared graph from HP-EYP Mission Critical, referenced below, breaks out the expected energy costs from the average data center – equipment and electricity, from the often less obvious ones, namely power and cooling. In fact, HP-EYP estimates that 37% of all data center energy is consumed by cooling equipment and air movement.
At Rahi Systems, we are working with our clients to reduce cooling component energy usage in many ways but there are two I’d like to highlight today: Cost effective containment systems, and next generation cooling systems.
1.Cost effective containment systems:
Containment systems are one technology not broadly in use by today’s data center managers that can reduce cooling component energy usage. Containment systems directly address the higher heat density of today’s servers by separating hot and cold air in order to encourage uniform inlet air temperatures. This allows data center managers to raise the supply air set point temperature and reduce cooling unit fan speeds. It may also leverage maximum hours of air-side or water-side economizer usage. At Rahi Systems, we sell a broad range of containment systems; based on the configuration of the room either a Cold Aisle Containment (CAC) or Hot Aisle Containment (HAC) system may be optimal. We also offer exclusive access to Enconnex, a line of proprietary high quality and cost effective containment systems that are easy to deploy in existing or new data centers. Below is a picture of a recent implementation of 100 Enconnex racks and accompanying Hot Aisle Containment systems at a Rahi client site.
2.Next generation cooling systems:
Today’s conventional cooling systems force IT managers to make a choice: Build large and expensive chiller plants to address their best guestimate of future cooling needs, or utilize small and modular direct expansion (DX) technology, which reduces upfront costs but is more expensive to operate long term. At Rahi Systems, we are exploring an innovative solution that provides IT managers with the best of both worlds: Small and modular cooling systems with consistently low operating costs. This solution utilizes specially designed air-to-air heat exchangers, low energy variable speed fans, and low water adiabatic cooling technology. What it’s not using is significant – no compressors, no pumps, and minimal water. If you are interested in learning more about this solution, please contact me.
Since joining Rahi Systems, I’ve been struck by the company’s commitment and ability to go above and beyond to solve our customers’ most difficult IT problems, whether it be power, cooling and space or network, compute and storage. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me to discuss how Rahi Systems can make your data center more efficient, I can be reached at [email protected] or 650-686-7312.
Ken has been with Rahi Systems for four years, serving as Director of Sales and Strategic Accounts. Before joining Rahi he was with Emerson Network Power for a little over 10 years, helping co-location providers select cooling and power systems and physical data center infrastructure. Prior to that he worked for UUNET, one of the early Tier 1 networks that helped build the Internet backbone. He gained his engineering background in the U.S. navy and maritime industry, earning an engineering degree from the Merchant Marine Academy.
Ken has been with Rahi Systems for four years, serving as Director of Sales and Strategic Accounts. Before joining Rahi he was with Emerson Network Power for a little over 10 years, helping co-location providers select cooling and power systems and physical data center infrastructure. Prior to that he worked for UUNET, one of the early Tier 1 networks that helped build the Internet backbone. He gained his engineering background in the U.S. navy and maritime industry, earning an engineering degree from the Merchant Marine Academy.
About Rahi
Rahi is a subsidiary of Wesco Distribution, a Fortune 200 Company with operations in 50+ countries and annual revenues over USD 19B. Rahi delivers comprehensive data centre solutions for global enterprises, hyperscalers, and multi-tenant data centres. Rahi provides IOR, local currency billing, and RMA services, enabling businesses to operate efficiently anywhere.
Since being acquired in Nov. 2022, Rahi’s global presence and analytical expertise help clients achieve their business and IT requirements.
Ken Kiernan