this has been, to me, one of the most fascinating nanog threads in years.
at the moment my own datacenter problem is filtration. isc lives in a place
where outside air is quite cool enough for server inlet seven or more months
out of the year. we've also got quite high ceilings. a 2HP roof fan will
move 10000 cubic feet per minute. we've got enough make-up air for that.
but, the filters on the make-up air have to be cleaned several times a week,
and at the moment that's a manual operation.
mechanical systems, by comparison, only push 20% make-up air, and the filters
seem to last a month or more between maintainance events. i'm stuck with the
same question that vexes the U S Army when they send the M1A1 into sandstorms,
or that caused a lot of shutdowns in NYC in the days after 9/11: what kind of
automation can i deploy that will precipitate the particulates so that air
can move (for cooling) and so that air won't bring grit (which is conductive)?
--
Paul Vixie