The extra upfront cost of an air-conditioned server rack can save you money in the long run by reducing electrical costs and protecting your hardware. While the open frame and traditional server racks are a cheaper alternative, air-conditioned server racks are a suitable option for servers in less than ideal environments.

Cooler Ambient Temperature

The surrounding temperature, or the room temperature, directly influences how hot server hardware runs when in use. The higher the room temperature is, the higher is the operating temperature unless the system can compensate for the temperature with cooling the hardware. There’s no secret that excessive heat is bad for computer hardware; air-conditioned server racks address this problem directly by cooling the immediate area around the equipment. An air-conditioned server rack puts less stress on the server’s cooling components and decreases the chances of overheating wear and damage.

Cool Less Air

It’s common to fix the server room’s air conditioning to a higher setting to drop the room temperature. However, you can have to store a server rack in a place where setting the air conditioning on full blast is impractical or impossible. An air-conditioned server rack is a self-contained unit, so the air conditioner only has to cool the area immediately around the server hardware instead of the entire room. Air-conditioned server racks will cut cooling-related electricity bills into a fraction.

Cleaner Air Flow

Computer hardware that has an airflow based cooling is not resistant to damage from the elements. The system’s fans are continually moving air in one side of the system and out of the other, which pulls anything from moisture, dust, or microscopic debris that are in the air. Longer exposure to excessive moisture may damage server hardware because dirt and debris can build-up inside the system and can slowly choke the cooling airflow. Longer exposure to the elements in the airflow makes the built-in cooling device less productive and can wear down the hardware faster. A self-contained, air-conditioned server rack minimizes how much of the elements get into the airflow and can prolong server hardware lifespan.