The professionals at Aristos International have assembled a list of the ten most severe problems with data center airflow:

1. Mixing -- when hot air corrupts and warms the cool air supply. Standard condition for most data centers.

2. Recirculation -- when warm air escapes its planned return path and re-enters computer equipment, warming it instead of cooling it. Affects top-of-rack and end of row servers especially hard.

3. Short Circuiting -- when cool air escapes back to the CRAC without doing any cooling work.

4. Leakage -- when supply air from beneath the floor air sneaks into the room through cable openings and cut outs.

5. Under-Floor Obstructions -- hidden enemies of proper cool air supply, such as ridges and divides of cables, trays, piping, and structural incursions.

6. Poor Return Path -- when the warm air has no clear route to return to the CRAC. Heat build-up provokes operators to try home-made solutions.

7. Dehumidification -- happens when air reaching the CRAC is so humid that the moisture it carries condenses on the CRAC, then the air has to be re-loaded with moisture. Very expensive problem that is poorly understood by owners.

8. Venturi Reversal -- happens most often in front of the CRACs, when the cool air traveling at high velocity pulls air from the room down into its path.

9. Vortex Generation -- when misplaced CRACs generate swirls under the floor, whose centers haven't enough pressure to cool the equipment above them. Seldom diagnosed without simulation.

10. Wrong-Way Racks -- when computer racks are installed so that they intake from a hot aisle and vent into a cold aisle. Common in computer rooms that have seen considerable growth over several generations of equipment.

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