Controlled cooling of a data center

Abstract

A device for sensing at least one environmental condition in a data center. The device includes a chassis, a propelling mechanism, a power supply, a steering mechanism, and a controller supported on the chassis. The chassis also supports at least one environmental condition sensor and is operable to travel through the data center and sense at least one environmental condition at various locations throughout the data center.

1 .- 46 . (canceled)  
   
   
       47 . A device comprising: 
 a cooling apparatus;    a fluid supply apparatus;    a controller configured to separately operate the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus to at least one of vary a temperature and a volume flow rate of cooling fluid supplied by the device.    
   
   
       48 . The decvice according to  claim 47 , wherein the controller is further configured to receive information representing at least one environmental condition, and wherein the controller is configured to separately operate at least one of the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus based upon the received information.  
   
   
       49 . The device according to  claim 48 , wherein the at least one environmental condition is determined from sensor data representing at least one of an inlet, an outlet, and interior of a coolant flow path.  
   
   
       50 . The device according to  claim 48 , wherein the at least one environmental condition is determined from cooling fluid flow supplied through a vent.  
   
   
       51 . The device according to  claim 48 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the existence of one or more areas of maldistribution of cooling resources based upon the at least one environmntal condition and wherein the controller is further configured to operate at least one of the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus to at least reduce cooling resource maldistribution in the one or more areas of cooling resource maldistribution.  
   
   
       52 . The device according to  claim 47 , said device comprising one of a computer room air conditioning unit, a compressor-type air conditioning unit, a chiller-type air conditioning unit, and a heat exchanger.  
   
   
       53 . The device according to  claim 47 , wherein the controller is further configured to receive information representing an impending load on at least one electronic component which the device is configured to cool, and wherein the controller is configured to separately operate at least one of the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus based upon the received information.  
   
   
       54 . The device according to  claim 47 , wherein the fluid is air, and wherein the controller is configured to separately operate the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus to at least one of vary a temperature and a volume flow rate of air supplied by the device.  
   
   
       55 . A method of controlling a device, said method comprising: 
 separately controlling a cooling apparatus and a fluid supply apparatus of the device, wherein the cooling apparatus is configured to vary a temperature of cooling fluid and wherein the fluid supply apparatus is configured to vary volume flow rate of cooling fluid supplied by the device.    
   
   
       56 . The method according to  claim 55 , further comprising: 
 receiving at least one input, wherein separately controlling the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus further comprises separately controlling the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus based upon the at least one input.    
   
   
       57 . The method according to  claim 56 , the method being adapted for use with at least one sensor, wherein the step of receiving at least one input further comprises receiving information representing at least one sensor.  
   
   
       58 . The method according to  claim 57 , further comprising: 
 processing the received information to detect one or more areas of cooling resource maldistribution; and    wherein separately controlling the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus further comprises controlling at least one of the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus to substantially reduce the one or more areas of cooling resource maldistribution.    
   
   
       59 . The method according to  claim 56 , the method being adapted for use with at least one sensor positioned to detect at least one condition of cooling fluid flow at one or more of an inlet, an outlet, and interior of a fluid flow path, wherein: 
 the step of receiving at least one input further comprises receiving information representing at least one sensor; and    said method further comprises separately controlling the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus in dependence upon the received information.    
   
   
       60 . The method according to  claim 56 , the method being adapted for use with at least one sensor positioned to detect at least one condition of cooling fluid flow supplied through a vent configured to supply at least one electronic component with the cooling fluid, wherein: 
 the step of receiving at least one input farther comprises receiving information representing at least one sensor, and,    said method further comprises separately controlling the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus in dependence upon the received information.    
   
   
       61 . The method according to  claim 56 , adapted for use where the at least one input represents information representing an impending load on at least one electronic component which the device is configured to cool, said method further comprising: 
 separately controlling the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus in dependence upon the received information.    
   
   
       62 . The method according to  claim 55 , adapted for use where the fluid is air, said method further comprising separately controlling cooling temperature and air flow rate.  
   
   
       63 . The method according to  claim 61 , the method being adapted for use with at least one sensor, wherein the step of receiving at least one input further comprises receiving environmental information representing at least one sensors and wherein the step of separately controlling the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus for comprises separately controlling the cooling apparatus and the fluid supply apparatus in dependence upon both the information representing the impending load and the environmental information.  
   
   
       64 . A method for determining a substantially optimized cooling resource distribution in a room, said method comprising: 
 inputting a layout of a room into a numerical modeling program;    implementing the numerical modeling program to calculate a distribution of cooling resources in the room; and    determining at least one of a modified cooling resource distribution scheme and a modified layout to substantially optimize cooling resource distribution in the room.    
   
   
       65 . The method according to  claim 64 , wherein implementing the numerical modeling program further comprises implementing the numerical modeling program to determine one or more areas of cooling resource maldistribution, and wherein determining at least one of a modified cooling resource distribution and a modified layout further comprises determining at least one of a modified cooling resource distribution and a modified layout that at least reduces the one or more areas of maldistribution, to thereby substantially optimize cooling resource distribution in the room.  
   
   
       66 . A system comprising: 
 a computing device; and    a plurality of sensors positioned at various locations;    said computing device being operatively coupled to the plurality of sensors to receive therefrom information representing at least one condition.    
   
   
       67 . The system according to  claim 66 , wherein the computing device is further configured to at least one of create and update a database entry using the information.  
   
   
       68 . The system according to  claim 66 , wherein the computing device is configured to control a cooling system based upon a detected condition determined from the information.  
   
   
       69 . The system according to  claim 66 , wherein the computing device is configured to control a vent based upon a detected condition determined from the information.  
   
   
       70 . The system according to  claim 66 , wherein said system detects a condition from the information including one or more of temperature, pressure, humidity, cooling fluid velocity, and cooling fluid flow rate.  
   
   
       71 . The system according to  claim 66 , wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors is positioned to detect at least one condition of a cooling fluid flow path.  
   
   
       72 . The system according to  claim 66 , wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors is positioned to detect at least one condition of cooling fluid flow at one or more of an inlet, an outlet, and an interior of a cooling fluid flow path.  
   
   
       73 . The system according to  claim 66 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the existence of one or more areas of maldistribution of cooling resources based upon the information.  
   
   
       74 . The system according to  claim 66 , wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors is positioned to detect at least one condition of cooling fluid flow supplied through a vent.