Independent computer system zone cooling responsive to zone power consumption

Abstract

A computer system has a plurality of heat-generating computer devices arranged in a data center, a cooling system in the data center, and a real-time cooling controller. The cooling system is configured for directing a cooling fluid to a plurality of different zones of the computer system, where each zone is occupied by a different subset of the heat-generating devices. The real-time cooling controller is configured for monitoring a power consumption of the heat-generating devices at each zone, independently controlling a cooling fluid flow rate to each zone, targeting one of the zones for increased cooling in response to a detected increase in the power consumption at the targeted zone, and increasing the cooling fluid flow rate to the targeted zone in immediate response to the power consumption increase.

1 - 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A computer system, comprising:
 a plurality of heat-generating computer devices arranged in a data center;   a cooling system in the data center configured for directing a cooling fluid to a plurality of different zones of the computer system, each zone occupied by a different subset of the heat-generating devices; and   a real-time cooling controller configured for monitoring a power consumption of the heat-generating devices at each zone, independently controlling a cooling fluid flow rate to each zone, targeting one of the zones for increased cooling in response to a detected increase in the power consumption at the targeted zone, and increasing the cooling fluid flow rate to the targeted zone in immediate response to the power consumption increase.   
     
     
         16 . The computer system of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of heat-generating devices comprise:
 a plurality of rack-mounted servers.   
     
     
         17 . The computer system of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a plurality of computer equipment racks, each computer equipment rack including a plurality of the heat-generating devices, and each zone including at least one of the racks.   
     
     
         18 . The computer system of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a plurality of computer room air conditioning units, each computer room air conditioning unit configured for directing airflow to a different zone.   
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 an air-to-liquid heat exchanger provided on each rack for cooling airflow through the rack, wherein the real-time cooling controller is configured to independently control the cooling fluid flow rate to each zone by controlling a flow rate of liquid coolant to each heat exchanger.