Front-to-back airflow is the standard cooling direction used in most data center server racks. In this configuration, chilled air is drawn in from the rack's front side, flows across the internal components to absorb heat, and is expelled as warm air through the rear. After all, sealing these gaps (both within and along the sides of cabinets) often provides the greatest return on investment of any airflow management effort, both. The foundation of data center airflow management is the Hot Aisle-Cold Aisle design, where cabinets are placed in alternating rows, with IT air intakes (cold aisles) and IT air exhausts (hot aisles) each facing one another. Modern servers turn nearly all of the electrical power they consume into heat. That sounds simple, but in a dense rack the practical effect is important: every extra. Knowing the airflow of your devices helps to properly plan in the data center the direction in which each device should be rack mounted to allow for proper air cooling. This list is constantly being updated, so feel free to bookmark it.
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