Just a few years ago, the standard working temperature of a data center white space was approximately 22 °C. Today, it is quite normal to have data centers running between 24-27 °C in front of the servers, as confirmed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), who expanded its data center operating temperature guidelines. The data center environment is getting hotter and data center management has evolved accordingly to incorporate more power and higher temperatures.
Data center designs, in accordance with ASHRAE guidelines, have thus accepted to move to the upper limit of the recommended envelope, and in some cases, even to the allowable ranges (A1-A4), allowing data center managers and manufacturers to be creative with cooling solutions. One of the most efficient solutions that have recently been introduced is adiabatic and evaporative cooling: an ancient technique brought into the 21st century.
