Great Lakes Product Solutions for Cisco Catalyst and Catalyst Switches: ESSAB14D Baffle for Cisco Catalyst 9513 Switch

Great Lakes Product Solutions for Cisco Catalyst and Catalyst Switches: ESSAB14D Baffle for Cisco Catalyst 9513 Switch

Great Lakes Product Solutions for Cisco Catalyst and Catalyst Switches Table of Contents Overview 1-2 Model Information 3 Cisco Specifications 4 Temperature Data 5 Baffle Temperature Views 6-7 Model with baffle, grommet and blanking removed 8 Corporate Headquarters P.O. Box 551 Edinboro, PA 16412 1.866.TRY.GLCC (1.866.879.4522) Phone: 814.734.7303 Fax: 814.734.3907 glcc@greatcabinets.com Great Lakes Manufacturing, Inc. 1521 Enterprise Road Corry, PA 16407 Phone: 814.734.2436 Fax: 814.665.7025 werackyourworld.com glm@greatmanufacturing.net Western Distribution 4750 Joule Street Reno, NV 89502 Phone: 775.829.9913 Fax: 775.829.9926 glcc@greatcabinets.com Great Lakes International Ltd. Aerbridge House, Unit 14 Dunshaughlin Business Park Dunshaughlin Co. Meath Ireland Phone: 011 353 1 825 8777 Fax: 011 353 1 825 8778 Great Lakes Hungary KFT Zsurló utca 13 8000 Székesfehérvár Hungary Phone: 011 36 22 880 420 Fax: 011 36 22 880 429

Overview Most modern data centers contain at least one large core switch to handle large bandwidth applications such as SAN storage systems or high volume data processing. These core switches are similar in design to a blade server in that they have expansion cards to accommodate various network configurations that allow the customer to deploy network infrastructure that is customized to fit their needs. This design requires cooling systems which are unique to switch hardware as air intake and exhaust can occur on the sides of the equipment. This configuration is commonly known as Side to Side Airflow (see Fig. 1). Modern servers are typically modeled in a front-to-back (see Fig. 2) airflow design and most data centers use the hot-aisle/cold-aisle layout (see Fig. 3) which was designed for equipment utilizing front to back cooling. This presents unique challenges when deploying core-switch hardware. Great Lakes has helped customers develop planning and product solutions to accommodate these switches in applications all over the world. Through the use of state of the art environmental measuring equipment, CFD Fig. 1: Side-to-side airflow (computational fluid dynamic modeling) and test facility equipment environments, Great Lakes has created a best practices document for deploying Cisco switch gear. Great Lakes has worked closely with its customers to provide product solutions and best practices to ensure their equipment is operating within the Cisco recommended specifications as found in their site preparation guidelines 1. Fig. 2: Front-to-back airflow in a 1U server Fig. 3: Hot-aisle/Cold-aisle Layout 1 Catalyst 9500 Series Switch Installation Guide. Cisco. Aug. 2009. <www.cisco.com> Great Lakes Cisco Core Switch Product Solutions: ESSAB14D Rev. 0 Pg. 1

Overview By closely following the Cisco Site preparation guidelines, Great Lakes has developed several product offerings to meet the needs of the customer deploying a Cisco core switch in their data center. Great Lakes has taken a considerable amount of time engineering, testing and standardizing products to comply with Cisco core switches. Each Great Lakes enclosure is designed to be used with current hot-aisle/cold-aisle best practices. Any unused RMU is populated with filler panels as well as brush grommet installed along the sides of the enclosure to prevent recirculation inside the enclosure. The constraints of the testing performed for this document will focus on the Cisco Site Installation Guide. Great Lakes Cisco Core Switch Product Solutions: ESSAB14D Rev. 0 Pg. 2

Model Information In addition to collecting data from equipment deployed in real-world data centers, Great Lakes uses CFD (computational fluid dynamic software) to test enclosure deployments to establish best practices for IT hardware. Specifications of the room designed for the CFD analysis of the switches is detailed below: Overall room size: 1030 sq. ft. Room height: 11 ft. Raised floor: 2 ft. above base floor 2 x 40 kw CRAC unit designed to deliver air under-floor with air intake on top - Set Point: 65 o F - Airflow rate: 11,992 CFM 8 x Floor Tiles: 50% open area (no baffles) CFD room model containing each variation of Cisco Switch and Great Lakes baffle kit. Great Lakes Cisco Core Switch Product Solutions: ESSAB14D Rev. 0 Pg. 3

Cisco Catalyst 9513: Overview Intake Side Cisco 6500 switch shown; representative of 9500 switch Exhaust Side Cisco 6500 switch shown; representative of 9500 switch Specifications: Dimensions 14 RMU H x 17.37"W x 28.0"D Power 2.9 kw Operating Temp. 32 F - 104 F Great Lakes Cisco Core Switch Product Solutions: ESSAB14D Rev. 0 Pg. 4

Cisco Catalyst 9513 Great Lakes recommends the GL840ES-3042 networking enclosure with ESSAB14D baffles for this application. Operating Temperatures Ensure that the system is operating in an environment no colder than 50 F (10 C) or hotter than 95 F (35 C). Side Clearance for airflow Verify that there is a minimum of 6" (15 cm) of clearance between the sides of the rack and both the chassis air intake grill and the chassis air exhaust grill GL840ES-3042: 44 RMU, 84"H x 30"W x 42"D ESSAB14: Baffles provide 6" of clearance from the switch ESSAB14D ESSAB14D GL840ES-3042 with Cisco 6500 switch installed; representative of 9500 switch Great Lakes Cisco Core Switch Product Solutions: ESSAB14D Rev. 0 Pg. 5

Cisco Catalyst 9513 INTAKE EXHAUST Intake side views Exhaust side views INTAKE EXHAUST Great Lakes Cisco Core Switch Product Solutions: ESSAB14D Rev. 0 Pg. 6

Cisco Catalyst 9513 Thermal Plane Elevation 4 Airflow (CFM) Power Usage Front Rear 3000W 778 713 Point Measured Temp in F 3 2 1 Enclosure Intake 69.4 2 Baffle Intake 69.1 3 4 Baffle Exhaust 80.8 Enclosure Exhaust 80.7 1 Top View Cross Section Thermal Plane Great Lakes Cisco Core Switch Product Solutions: ESSAB14D Rev. 0 Pg. 7

Model with baffle, blanking panels and grommet removed Intake side view INTAKE Exhaust side view EXHAUST Airflow (CFM) Power Usage Front Rear 4 3000W 647 534 Point Measured Temp in F 1 Enclosure Intake 78.8 2 Baffle Intake 73.9 3 2 3 4 Baffle Exhaust 85.8 Enclosure Exhaust 82.5 1 Top View Cross Section Thermal Plane Great Lakes Cisco Core Switch Product Solutions: ESSAB14D Rev. 0 Pg. 8

Conclusion The use of enclosure airflow management best practices (e.g. filler panels and grommets to prevent conditioned air and hot exhaust air from mixing) in conjunction with baffle kits, ensures that side airflow equipment is able to function properly while not interfering with a traditional hot-aisle/cold-aisle layout which is designed for front to back cooling methodologies. Significant cooling gains can be seen through the use of baffles as part of hot-aisle/cold-aisle best practices in reducing by pass and recirculated airflow. By directing the side exhaust airflow toward the hot aisle, less hot air mixing occurs and the hot air is directed back to the returns, improving the cooling system efficiency by maintaining a higher delta T. The thermal planes below show a comparison of the 9513 switch running in the same enclosure, however the enclosure on the left uses a baffle kit and data center best practices while the enclosure on the right is modeled without baffles, brush grommet and filler panels. 1 The enclosure with baffles, grommet and filler panels, (left image), has very well segregated air and very consistent low intake temperatures at the switch (point 1). Higher temperatures are seen on the intake side with the baffles and best practices removed (image right). Higher temperatures at the switch intake are seen at point 2. Air is able to move freely and recirculate throughout the enclosure with out baffles, brush grommet, and filler panels. 2 9513 with baffles and best practices 9513 without baffles and best practices Great Lakes Cisco Core Switch Product Solutions: ESSAB14D Rev. 0 Pg. 9