Cold and Hot Aisles in Floor Layout - Teradata IntelliCloud

The system hardware employs front-to-rear air cooling. Cool air enters the front of each cabinet through the openings in the doors, and heated air is exhausted from the rear of each cabinet.

Cold aisles are the aisle spaces between two rows of cabinets that face each other, front to front, or a row that faces open space.

Hot aisles are the aisle spaces between two rows of cabinets that are aligned rear to rear. A cabinet row with the rear-facing open space is also considered a hot aisle.

The cold aisle must remain cold. Do not attempt to cool down hot aisles. They are intended to be hot, and are not an indication of environment problems.

For a single cabinet row, two vented tiles per Teradata hardware cabinet are required. A minimum distance of 2.4 m (8 ft)—or four floor tiles—is recommended in the cold aisles, where the fronts of two rows of cabinets face each other. Perforated floor panels or floor grills must fill the cold aisles.

To meet the cold air delivery requirements for a Teradata system, wider aisle width in the cold aisles may be necessary to accommodate more perforated floor panels or floor grills.