Louvered rack

Claim 3

The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: at least one electronic component temperature sensor, said at least one electronic component temperature sensor being in communication with said controller, and wherein said controller is further configured to operate the actuator substantially based on the temperature(s) of the one or more electronic components.

Claim 4

The system according to claim 2 , further comprising: a memory associated with the controller, said controller being configured to access said memory to determine actuator operation based upon the detected temperatures.

Claim 5

The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a plurality of louver assemblies positioned at various locations of the rack, wherein said controller is configured to substantially independently control to plurality of louver assemblies to enable substantially varied airflow through the plurality of louver assemblies.

Claim 6

The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a component power draw sensor, said component power draw sensor being in communication with said controller, and wherein said controller is further configured to operate the actuator substantially based on the power draw of the one or more electronic components.

Claim 9

The method according to claim 6 , further comprising: receiving a second sensed temperature of the at least one component; comparing the second sensed temperature with the sensed temperature to determine whether a first manipulation of the movable louver resulted in an intended outcome; and manipulating the movable louver in an opposite manner to the first manipulation in response to the first manipulation resulting in an unintended outcome.

Claim 10

The method according to claim 6 , further comprising: receiving sensed temperatures of a plurality of electronic components; determining whether the sensed temperatures ore within a predetermined range; and wherein said step of manipulating comprises manipulating a plurality of movable louvers in substantially independent manners in response to the sensed temperatures of the plurality of electronic components being outside of the predetermined range to thereby vary the flow of cooling fluid delivery to the plurality of electronic components.

Claim 15

The system according to claim 10 , further comprising: means for determining whether the sensed temperature is above or below a predetermined maximum set point temperature; means for increasing the cooling fluid delivery to the one or more electronic components in response to the sensed temperature being above the predetermined maximum set point temperature; and means for decreasing the cooling fluid delivery to the one or more electronic components in response to the sensed temperature being below the predetermined maximum set point temperature.

Claim 16

The system according to claim 11 , further comprising: means for receiving a second sensed temperature of the at least one component means for comparing the second sensed temperature with the sensed temperature to determine whether a first manipulation of the movable louver resulted in an intended outcome; and means for manipulating a movable louver in an opposite manner to the first manipulation in response to the first manipulation resulting in an unintended outcome.

Claim 17

The system according to claim 10 , thither comprising: means for determining whether the sensed temperature is above a predetermined maximum set point temperature; means for decreasing the cooling fluid delivery to the at least one electronic component in response to the sensed temperature being above the predetermined maximum set point temperature; and means for increasing the cooling fluid delivery to the at least one electronic component in response to the sensed temperature being below the predetermined maximum set point temperature.

Claim 18

The system according to claim 10 , further comprising: means for receiving sensed temperatures of the one or more electronic components; means for determining whether the sensed temperature is within a predetermined range; and means for manipulating a plurality of movable louvers in substantially independent manners in response to the sensed temperatures of the one or more electronic components being outside of to predetermined range to thereby vary to flow of cooling fluid delivery to the one or more electronic components.

Claim 19

A data center comprising: a plurality of racks, each of said plurality of racks, having one or more movable louvers positioned on at least one of an inlet and an outlet of each of the plurality of racks; a cooling system operable to supply said plurality of racks with cooling fluid to thereby cool electronic components located within the plurality of racks; and a plurality of louver controllers configured to operate the one or more movable louvers to vary the supply of cooling fluid into the plurality of racks, said louver controllers being configured to operate the movable louvers to reduce re-circulation of the cooling fluid with air heated in the plurality of racks.

Claim 20

A data center comprising: a plurality of racks, each of said plurality of racks, having one or more movable louvers positioned on at least one of an inlet and an outlet of each of the plurality of racks; a cooling system operable to supply said plurality of racks with cooling fluid to thereby cool electronic components located within the plurality of racks; and a plurality of louver controllers configured to operate the one or more movable louvers to vary the supply of cooling fluid into the plurality of racks, said louver controllers being configured to operate the movable louvers to reduce re-circulation of the cooling fluid with air heated in the plurality of racks.

Claim 21

The data center according to claim 15 , further comprising: a mobile device configured to detect one or more environmental conditions in the data center; said mobile device being in communication with the louver controller, and wherein said louver controller is configured to operate the movable louvers in response to data received from the mobile device.

Claim 22

The data center according to claim 15 , further comprising: a return configured to receive heated air from the rack, wherein said louver controller is configured to manipulate the movable louvers to direct heated airflow in the general direction of the return.

Claim 23

The data center according to claim 15 , further comprising: a heat exchanger unit having an intake configured to receive heated air from the rack, a heat exchanger configured to cool the heated air, and n exhaust configured to supply the cooled air to the rack, wherein said louver controller is configured to manipulate movable louvers located on the outlet of the rack to direct heated airflow in the general direction of the intake and the louver controller is configured to manipulate movable louvers located on the inlet of the rack to receive cooled air from the exhaust.

Claim 24

A data center comprising: a rack having one or more movable louvers positioned on at least one of an inlet and an outlet of the rack; a cooling system operable to supply said rack with cooling fluid to thereby cool electronic components located within the rack, wherein said cooling system comprises a vent having a vent controller configured to determine airflow through said vent, said cooling system further comprising a pressure sensor configured to measure the pressure within a plenum positioned to supply cooling fluid to said vent; and a louver controller configured to operate the one at more movable louvers to vary the supply of cooling fluid from the plenum into the rack.

Claim 25

A data center comprising: a rack having one or more movable louvers positioned on at least one of an inlet and an outlet of the rack; a cooling system operable to supply said rack with cooling fluid to thereby cool electronic components located within the rack, wherein said cooling system comprises a vent having a vent controller configured to determine airflow through said vent, said cooling system further comprising a pressure sensor configured to measure the pressure within a plenum positioned to supply cooling fluid to said vent; and a louver controller configured to operate the one at more movable louvers to vary the supply of cooling fluid from the plenum into the rack.

Claim 26

The data center according to claim 19 , wherein said louver controller is in communication with the vent controller and the pressure sensor, and wherein said louver controller is configured to operate the one or more movable louvers in response to data received from said vent controller and the pressure sensor.

Claim 27

The data center according to claim 19 , wherein said rack comprises an inlet temperature sensor positioned to detect the temperature of air around the rack inlet and an outlet temperature sensor positioned to detect the temperature of air around the rack outlet, said rack further comprising a component temperature sensor positioned to detect the temperatures of one or more electronic components, wherein said louver controller is in communication with said inlet temperature sensor, said outlet temperature sensor, and said component temperature sensor, and wherein said louver controller is operable to operate the one or more movable louvers in response to data received from said inlet temperature sensor, said outlet temperature sensor, and said component temperature sensor.

Claim 28

The data center according to claim 19 , wherein said rack comprises an electronic component power draw sensor positioned to detect the power supplied to the electronic components, wherein said louver controller is in communication with said component power draw sensor, and wherein said louver controller is operable to operate the one or more movable louvers in response to data received from said component power draw sensor.

Claim 31

The method according to claim 23 , wherein said step of determining the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack comprises calculating the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack bused on temperature measurements from a plurality of temperature sensors and power supply measurements from a power draw sensor.

Claim 32

The method according to claim 23 , wherein said step of determining the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack comprises measuring the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack.

Claim 33

The method according to claim 23 , wherein said step of determining the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one vent comprises basing the determination of the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one vein on information received from a vent controller and pressure measurements from a pressure sensor located in a cooling fluid supply plenum of the data center.

Claim 34

The method according to claim 23 , further comprising: determining a conversion factor to compare the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack and the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one vent, wherein the conversion further is based upon a substantially optimal mass flow rate difference that reduces or eliminates re-circulation of cooling fluid with heated air, and wherein the step of comparing the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack and the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one vent comprises comparing the mass flow rates of airflow through the at least one rack and the at least one vent based upon the conversion factor.

Claim 35

The method according to claim 27 , further comprising: determining whether the converted mass flow rate of airflow trough the at least one rack is greater than the convened mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one vent; and manipulating the one or more movable louvers in response to the convened mass flow rare of airflow through the at least one rack differing from the converted mass flow rate of the airflow through the at least one vent.

Claim 36

The method according to claim 28 , further comprising: increasing the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack in response to the converted mass flow rate of the airflow through the vent exceeding the converted mass flow rate of the airflow through the rack.

Claim 37

The method according to claim 28 , further comprising: determining the temperatures of one or more components in to at least one rack; determining whether the temperatures of the one or more components in the at least one rack is below a predetermined maximum temperature; manipulating the one or more movable louvers to increase the mass flow rate of airflow through the rack in response to the temperatures of the one or more components exceeding the predetermined maximum temperature; and manipulating the one or more movable louvers to decrease the mass flow rate of airflow through the rack in response to the temperatures of the one or more components falling below the predetermined maximum temperature.

Claim 38

The method according to claim 30 , further comprising: receiving a second sensed temperature of the one or more components; comparing the second sensed temperature with the sensed temperature to determine whether a first manipulation of the one or more movable louvers resulted in an intended outcome; and manipulating the one or more movable louvers in an opposite manner to the first manipulation in response to the first manipulation resulting in an unintended outcome.

Claim 39

The method according to claim 28 , further comprising: determining the temperatures of one or more components in the at least one rack; determining whether the temperatures of the one or more components in the at least one rack is below a predetermined maximum temperature; manipulating the one or more movable louvers to decrease the mass flow rate of airflow through the rack in response to the temperatures of the one or more components exceeding the predetermined maximum temperature; and manipulating the one or more movable louvers to increase the mass flow rate of airflow through the rack in response to the temperatures of the one or more components falling below the predetermined maximum temperature.

Claim 40

The method according to claim 23 , further comprising: performing a numerical modeling of a temperature distribution and characteristics of airflow in the data center; and manipulating the one or more movable louvers in response to the numerical modeling to reduce re-circulation of airflow in the data center.

Claim 41

The method according to claim 23 , further comprising: implementing a plurality of movable louvers of a plurality of racks as resources; and performing one or more of trading and allocating the resources as rack agents to distribute cooling fluid to a plurality of racks.

Claim 42

A computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs, said one or more computer programs implementing a method of reducing re-circulation of air in a data center having at least one rack and at least one vent for supplying cooling fluid to the at least one rack, said at least one rack having one or more movable louvers, said one or more computer programs comprising a set of instructions for: determining the muss flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack; determining the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one vent; comparing the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack and the at least one vent; and manipulating the one or more movable louvers in response to the comparison of the mass flaw rates through the at least one rack and the at least one vent to thereby reduce re-circulation of air in the data center.

Claim 43

A computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs, said one or more computer programs implementing a method of reducing re-circulation of air in a data center having at least one rack and at least one vent for supplying cooling fluid to the at least one rack, said at least one rack having one or more movable louvers, said one or more computer programs comprising a set of instructions for: determining the muss flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack; determining the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one vent; comparing the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack and the at least one vent; and manipulating the one or more movable louvers in response to the comparison of the mass flaw rates through the at least one rack and the at least one vent to thereby reduce re-circulation of air in the data center.

Claim 44

The computer readable storage medium according to claim 35 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: determining a conversion factor to compare the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack and the muss flow rate of airflow through the at least one vent, wherein the conversion factor is based upon a substantially optimal mass flow rate difference that reduces or eliminates re-circulation of cooling fluid with heated air, and wherein the step of comparing the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack and the mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one vent comprises comparing the mass flow rates of airflow through the at least one rack and the at least one vent based upon the conversion factor.

Claim 45

The computer readable storage medium according to claim 36 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: determining whether the converted mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack is greater than the converted mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one vent; and manipulating the one or more movable louvers in response to the converted mass flow rate of airflow through the at least one rack differing from the converted mass flow rate of to airflow through the at least one vent.

Claim 46

The computer readable storage medium according to claim 37 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: increasing the mass flow rate of airflow trough the at least one rack in response to the converted mass flow rate of the airflow through the vent exceeding the converted mass flow rate of the airflow through the rack.

Claim 47

The computer readable storage medium according to claim 37 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: determining the temperatures of one or more components in the at least one rack; determining whether the temperatures of the one or more components in the at least one rack is below a predetermined maximum temperature; manipulating the one or more movable louvers to increase the mass flow rate of airflow through the rack in response to the temperatures of the one or more components exceeding the predetermined maximum temperature; and manipulating the one or more movable louvers to decrease the mass flow rate of airflow through the rack in response to the temperatures of the one or more components falling below the predetermined maximum temperature.

Claim 48

The computer readable storage medium according to claim 37 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: receiving a second sensed temperature of the one or more components; comparing the second sensed temperature with the sensed temperature to determine whether a first manipulation of the one or more movable louvers resulted in an intended outcome; and manipulating die one or more movable louvers in an opposite manner to the first manipulation in response to the first manipulation resulting in an unintended outcome.

Claim 49

The computer readable storage medium according to claim 35 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions for: determining the temperatures of one or more components in the at least one rack; determining whether the temperatures of the one or more components in the at least one rack is below a predetermined maximum temperature; manipulating the one or more movable louvers to decrease the mass flow rate of airflow through the rack in response to the temperatures of the one or more components exceeding the predetermined maximum temperature; and manipulating the one or more movable louvers to increase the mass flow rare of airflow through the rack in response to the temperatures of the one or more components falling below the predetermined maximum temperature.