Individually Cooling One Or More Computers In A Rack Of Computers In A Data Center

Abstract

Individually cooling one or more computers in a rack of computers in a data center including an air intake chamber, the air intake chamber having a first opening at a bottom end for receiving air from beneath the data center through perforated tiles in the floor of the data center and a plurality of openings at a top end for providing air into a plurality of flexible air channels; and a plurality of flexible air channels, each air channel having a first end opening into the air intake chamber and having an opening at a second end and having a connector to connect the second end of the flexible air chamber to a particular position in the rack corresponding to the location of a particular computer in the rack.

1 - 9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . A method for individually cooling one or more computers in a rack of computers in a data center, the system comprising:
 receiving through an air intake chamber cooled air from beneath the data center through perforated tiles in the floor of the data center; and   directing the received air through a plurality of flexible air channels to a plurality of computers in the rack.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein directing the received air through a plurality of flexible air channels to a plurality of computers in the rack further comprising directing air to computers running compute intensive jobs. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising:
 identifying a computer running compute intensive applications; and 
 redirecting, from one computer to the computer running the compute intensive applications, the received air through one of the flexible air channels. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising:
 identifying a computer whose operating temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold; and 
 redirecting, from one computer to the computer whose operating temperature exceeds the predetermined threshold, the received air through one of the flexible air channels. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the flexible air channels comprise flexible accordion tubes. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the air intake chamber has a diameter and shape conforming in size to the size of a perforated tile of the floor of the data center. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising securing the air intake chamber to the floor of the data center. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the rack of computers comprises a blade environment including a chassis and a plurality of blade servers.