Understanding the planning, purchasing, operation and maintenance of cooling systems is essential to minimizing power and heat densities caused by rack and tower servers. Unfortunately, air conditioning terminology routinely used in the cooling industry is unnecessarily complicated. This complexity makes it difficult and frustrating for data center managers to specify cooling requirements and even makes it difficult to discuss current cooling system performance with contractors, engineers and maintenance personnel.

This paper explains cooling terms in common language, providing an essential reference for IT professionals and data center operators. This guide covers terms related to:

• Heat and humidity
• Temperature and pressure
• Cooling-related units of measurement and more