Ventilation And Cooling Requirements - Oracle EXADATA X7-2 EF Installation Manual

Caution -

Ventilation and Cooling Requirements

Always provide adequate space in front of and behind the rack to allow for proper ventilation
of rackmounted servers. Do not obstruct the front or back of the rack with equipment or objects
that might prevent air from flowing through the rack. Rackmountable servers and equipment,
including Oracle Exadata Storage Server X7-2L, draw cool air in through the front of the rack
and release warm air out the back of the rack. There is no airflow requirement for the left and
right sides due to front-to-back cooling.
If the rack is not completely filled with components, cover the empty sections with filler panels.
Gaps between components can adversely affect airflow and cooling in the rack.
The servers function while installed in a natural convection airflow. Follow these environmental
specifications for optimal ventilation:
Ensure that air intake is in the front of the system, and the air outlet is in the back. Take care
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to prevent recirculation of exhaust air in a rack or cabinet.
Allow minimum clearance of 123.2 cm (48.5 inches) in the front of the system, and 91.4 cm
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(36 inches) in the back.
Ensure unobstructed airflow through the chassis. The Oracle Exadata Storage Server X7-
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2L uses internal fans that can achieve 140 CFM, within the specified range of operating
conditions.
Ensure that ventilation openings, such as cabinet doors for both the inlet and exhaust of the
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server, are unobstructed. For example, Oracle Rack Cabinet 1242 and Sun Rack II cabinets
are optimized for cooling. Both the front and back doors have 80 percent perforations that
provide a high level of airflow through the rack.
Ensure that front and back clearances between the cabinet doors is a minimum of 2.5 cm
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(1 inch) at the front of the server and 8 cm (3.15 inches) at the back of the server when
mounted. These clearance values are based on the inlet and exhaust impedance (available
open area) and assume a uniform distribution of the open area across the inlet and exhaust
areas, which improve cooling performance.
Note -
distance of the server from the doors, can affect the cooling performance of the server.
You must evaluate these restrictions. Server placement is particularly important for high-
temperature environments.
ESD risk becomes critical when levels drop below 30 percent.
The combination of inlet and exhaust restrictions, such as cabinet doors and the

Ventilation and Cooling Requirements

Preparing for Server Installation 17