Multiple chillers or pumps may be installed to deliver redundant operation in the event of a shut down or maintenance of the cooling system. But the existence of redundant equipment doesn’t guarantee efficient operation. One or two chillers often handle the bulk of the workload, creating a strain on the entire system.
Start-up and commissioning are critical path activities that highlight errors in installation, configuration, or programming. Start-up and commissioning failures lead to delays and the potential for existing systems to go off-line.
However, failures do occur, even within facilities that have the best preventative maintenance. Data centers are designed with redundant physical equipment and sensors to allow for active failures in the operating environment without affecting uptime performance. Errors in the complex facility control software create an environment that is unpredictable, unstable, or even worse, not redundant. It can also be cost prohibitive to install additional sensors throughout a plant, and oftentimes critical sensors are installed without a physical backup.
