[geeks] E3K airflow

[Brian Dunbar]

On Jan 26, 2004, at 11:17 PM, Phil Stracchino wrote:

> On Mon, Jan 26, 2004 at 11:21:48PM -0500, James wrote:
>>> Here's a good diagram of the E3500 (same as E3K except FCAL instead 
>>> of
>>> SCSI):
>>>
>>> http://sunsolve.sun.com/handbook_pub/Systems/E3500/spec.html
>>>
>>> Air sucked in the top, blown out the bottom sides.
>>
>> Well this just seems contrary to all kinds of things, like physics 
>> and the
>> designs of typical datacenters. What were they thinking?
>
> Actually, this is the way I learned datacenter air cirtulation was
> SUPPOSED to work in the days of mainframes.  If your air circulation is
> top-to-bottom rather than bottom-to-top, suspended dust doesn't stay
> suspended as long.  You want that crud out of the air and into the
> filters as soon as possible.

If memory serves, air circulation in clean rooms works the same way - 
air is blasted _down_ into the floor plates where the scrubbers live.  
Man, you've never _seen_ dust-free computers until you remove one from 
inside a clean room.

~brian