EcoStruxure IT Design CFD release notes 2022

[JLehr]

Shortcut key for Top View and Rack Power on hover

December 2022

We have some small quality-of-life improvements to EcoStruxure IT Advisor CFD based on user feedback.

You can now use the shortcut key 't' to instantly jump back to the default, top down view. Also, while hovering over racks (when an analysis is present) you can see the power for each rack.

To take this idea even further, at the beginning of 2023, we will be adding a Rack Power view so you can see the power of all of your racks, similar to how perforated floor tiles are colored for airflow.

Please keep the feedback and suggestions coming. It helps us, and helps make EcoStruxure IT Design CFD better for everyone!

Undo! Finally!

November 2022

Thank you everyone for your patience and many (many) requests for undo/redo.

It's a clearly a core piece of functionality that was missing. Now if you make a change you don't want when modeling a data center, you can either use the buttons on the top tool bar or use the keyboard shortcuts. Thanks again for your patience! 

 

New Containment and Pressure-Scaling features

October 2022

Containment

• (Unlimited-version users only). You can now specify leakage in terms of a "% open area". Previously, ITA CFD idealized all leakage as taking place "through the IT Racks" as they typically represent the primary leakage paths. Now you can add additional leakage uniformly distributed over the surfaces of the Containment. Of course, you can (still) also use Porous Plates (coincident with faces of the Containment) to explicitly model specific areas of leakage, e.g., where the containment meets the tops of the racks.
• After "Analyzing" the Containment hover-over menu now provides lots of great information which helps you understand precisely where all of the airflow is going as well as providing a summary of pressure inside the containment.

Pressure Scaling

• ITA CFD now automatically scales the pressure in all parts of the whitespace so that the pressure in the main room area is zero on average. This convention is consistent with how we normally make pressure measurements in actual data centers for testing, cooler-control, etc. We also retained the manual "Pressure Offset" if you wish to further scale pressures up or down by any amount.
• While this feature seems modest or even obvious, we're not aware of it in any other CFD tool and it is one of those things that just "feels right".

New PDF report with screenshots

October 2022

For our paying customers, there is a new PDF report that includes room summary information and reference images of the cooling check view and field values (temperature, pressure, speed, velocity vectors).

This compliments the available spreadsheet which contains all of the project and the analysis data.

50mm resolution support

September 2022

For our paying customers, equipment and room resolution in 50mm (2 inch) increments is now supported. This allows, for instance, an often requested ability to model 800mm racks.

Placing and moving equipment in a data center continues to be a smooth and easy process. Equipment will continue to snap to the preferred placement grid (150mm intervals), but also will snap to other equipment edges.

When you don't want to use the mouse to drag equipment around, there is a Move menu. Use the menu or keyboard shortcuts to move equipment in either 50mm or 150mm amounts.

If you want to dig in deeper, you can use the new CFD Grid button to see the underlying grid that will be used when doing the CFD calculations.

Modeling your data center in 150mm (6 inches) continues to be the recommended 'sweet spot' for data center CFD. However, for the times that you need just a bit more, 50mm resolution is supported.

 

Progress towards 50mm resolution and 800mm racks

August 2022

For our paying customers, we've added the ability to see the underlying grid that is used during a CFD analysis.

You enable it first in Settings > CFD and then choose Display CFD Grid Setting in Toolbar. An additional icon will appear to the left of the Cooling Check icon. You can then toggle the visibility of the CFD Grid on and off.

We consider this a real CFD-geek power user feature - feel free to let us know if we are wrong! - but it is part of an important step in getting to 50mm resolution and support for things like 800mm racks. 

Legend Settings and Plane Max/Min

June 2022

In a recent update, we added Global Max and Min values reported right above the legend.

We received some feedback that this could create more questions than answers when sharing the IT CFD analysis results with customers.

Legend settings are now available in the Settings menu. You can switch the max and min values displayed in the legend to:

Global: The values that were displayed from the previous update.

Plane: This new setting displays the max and min values of the visible field values plane.

None: None is now the default.

Pressure offset control and velocity vector components are also in the legend settings.

Note: The legend settings are available only in the unlimited version.

Cooling Check Thresholds and more!

June 2022

Cooling Check Thresholds

The headliner of this update is the Cooling Check thresholds. You can now change the temperature thresholds for IT inlet temperatures as well as thresholds for recirculation. If you only want to focus on IT inlet temperature, you can disable the recirculation thresholds.

Go to Settings > Cooling Check.

Note that the Cooling Check Thresholds are only available for those with access to the unlimited version of EcoStruxure IT Advisor CFD. Upgrade to unlimited access here.

Improved Field Value Probing

• Highlight Velocity Vector when probing
• Probe for values inside Containment

No Leakage construction option for Raised Floor and Dropped Ceiling

An issue with reporting Raised Floor and Dropped Ceiling leakages in the report as addressed.

Custom Coolers (Unlimited Version Only)

April 2022

IT CFD now supports custom coolers with angled supplies. Previously, you only had the standard cooler objects like Row Coolers, Downflow Coolers, etc. Now you can group together any number of supply and return terminals to make your own cooler. 

You can also now specify the airflow supply angle in any desired direction - to model things like louvered supply grilles. 

Best of all, this all works elegantly using the Group feature already present in IT CFD. Just "Group" any combination of cooler supply and return terminals (and other objects too if desired) and IT CFD will automatically recognize the group as a Custom Cooler. 

How cool is that (pun intended)?

Interpolated Temperatures, Pressures, and Speed (Unlimited Version Only)

April 2022

The scalar field values (temperature, pressure, and speed) are all now interpolated. This gives a smooth, high-quality, and accurate display of all the values. Not only does this look good, but, IT CFD also allows you to see "smooth" numerical values as you move the mouse cursor!

Miscellaneous improvements

April 2022

• A Help Menu has been added which currently includes a Quick-Start Guide. In the future, we'll be adding more reference material. 
• All supply and return terminals (e.g., on Row Coolers, Downflow Coolers Front Discharge, etc.) include blue supply and red return arrows upon object selection.

Merge (Unlimited Version Only)

April 2022

Use the new File > Merge option to merge the entire equipment population from a saved project into the currently open project. All equipment enters the current project in the same orientation and position (relative to the coordinate origin) in which it existed in the saved project.

This means you can now create custom libraries of objects (e.g., groups, custom coolers, etc.) to share among your other projects and even with other IT CFD users!

Monitor Regions

February 2022

IT CFD now supports monitor regions.

Monitor regions are user-defined volumes that report the Min/Max/Avg of Temperature, Pressure, and Speed for the volume. The data is available on the tooltip once an analysis has been run.

A monitor region can be placed just like any other piece of equipment and can be adjusted down to the size of a single cell or increased to the size of the entire room.

Containment now reports the same information as the monitor regions in the tooltip.

In the screenshot below, the monitor region is used to examine the airflow coming out of the four perforated floor tiles closest to the cooler.

If you have questions, send us an email or ask in the EcoStruxure IT forum.

 

 

Report Export

February 2022

IT CFD now has the long awaited Report Export feature. Go to File > Export Report to download a report in Excel xlsx format. The report contains all relevant project information.

Multi-select: Selection Window

January 2022

IT CFD now supports selection windows. Use your mouse to create a selection window to select multiple items and groups at once. 

[JLehr]

December 2022

We have some small quality-of-life improvements to EcoStruxure IT Advisor CFD based on user feedback.

You can now use the shortcut key 't' to instantly jump back to the default, top down view. Also, while hovering over racks (when an analysis is present) you can see the power for each rack.

To take this idea even further, at the beginning of 2023, we will be adding a Rack Power view so you can see the power of all of your racks, similar to how perforated floor tiles are colored for airflow.

Please keep the feedback and suggestions coming. It helps us, and helps make EcoStruxure IT Design CFD better for everyone!

[JLehr]

Thank you everyone for your patience and many (many) requests for undo/redo.

It's a clearly a core piece of functionality that was missing. Now if you make a change you don't want when modeling a data center, you can either use the buttons on the top tool bar or use the keyboard shortcuts. Thanks again for your patience! 

[JLehr]

Containment

• (Unlimited-version users only). You can now specify leakage in terms of a "% open area". Previously, ITA CFD idealized all leakage as taking place "through the IT Racks" as they typically represent the primary leakage paths. Now you can add additional leakage uniformly distributed over the surfaces of the Containment. Of course, you can (still) also use Porous Plates (coincident with faces of the Containment) to explicitly model specific areas of leakage, e.g., where the containment meets the tops of the racks.
• After "Analyzing" the Containment hover-over menu now provides lots of great information which helps you understand precisely where all of the airflow is going as well as providing a summary of pressure inside the containment.

Pressure Scaling

• ITA CFD now automatically scales the pressure in all parts of the whitespace so that the pressure in the main room area is zero on average. This convention is consistent with how we normally make pressure measurements in actual data centers for testing, cooler-control, etc. We also retained the manual "Pressure Offset" if you wish to further scale pressures up or down by any amount.
• While this feature seems modest or even obvious, we're not aware of it in any other CFD tool and it is one of those things that just "feels right".

[JLehr]

For our paying customers, there is a new PDF report that includes room summary information and reference images of the cooling check view and field values (temperature, pressure, speed, velocity vectors).

This compliments the available spreadsheet which contains all of the project and the analysis data.

[JLehr]

For our paying customers, equipment and room resolution in 50mm (2 inch) increments is now supported. This allows, for instance, an often requested ability to model 800mm racks.

Placing and moving equipment in a data center continues to be a smooth and easy process. Equipment will continue to snap to the preferred placement grid (150mm intervals), but also will snap to other equipment edges.

When you don't want to use the mouse to drag equipment around, there is a Move menu. Use the menu or keyboard shortcuts to move equipment in either 50mm or 150mm amounts.

If you want to dig in deeper, you can use the new CFD Grid button to see the underlying grid that will be used when doing the CFD calculations.

Modeling your data center in 150mm (6 inches) continues to be the recommended 'sweet spot' for data center CFD. However, for the times that you need just a bit more, 50mm resolution is supported.

[JLehr]

August 2022

For our paying customers, we've added the ability to see the underlying grid that is used during a CFD analysis.

You enable it first in Settings > CFD and then choose Display CFD Grid Setting in Toolbar. An additional icon will appear to the left of the Cooling Check icon. You can then toggle the visibility of the CFD Grid on and off.

We consider this a real CFD-geek power user feature - feel free to let us know if we are wrong! - but it is part of an important step in getting to 50mm resolution and support for things like 800mm racks. 

[JLehr]

June 2022

In a recent update, we added Global Max and Min values reported right above the legend.

We received some feedback that this could create more questions than answers when sharing the IT CFD analysis results with customers.

Legend settings are now available in the Settings menu. You can switch the max and min values displayed in the legend to:

Global: The values that were displayed from the previous update.

Plane: This new setting displays the max and min values of the visible field values plane.

None: None is now the default.

Pressure offset control and velocity vector components are also in the legend settings.

Note: The legend settings are available only in the unlimited version.

[JLehr]

Cooling Check Thresholds

The headliner of this update is the Cooling Check thresholds. You can now change the temperature thresholds for IT inlet temperatures as well as thresholds for recirculation. If you only want to focus on IT inlet temperature, you can disable the recirculation thresholds.

Go to Settings > Cooling Check.

[JLehr]

Note that the Cooling Check Thresholds are only available for those with access to the unlimited version of EcoStruxure IT Advisor CFD. Upgrade to unlimited access here.

Improved Field Value Probing

• Highlight Velocity Vector when probing
• Probe for values inside Containment

No Leakage construction option for Raised Floor and Dropped Ceiling

An issue with reporting Raised Floor and Dropped Ceiling leakages in the report as addressed.

[JLehr]

IT CFD now supports custom coolers with angled supplies. Previously, you only had the standard cooler objects like Row Coolers, Downflow Coolers, etc. Now you can group together any number of supply and return terminals to make your own cooler. 

You can also now specify the airflow supply angle in any desired direction - to model things like louvered supply grilles. 

Best of all, this all works elegantly using the Group feature already present in IT CFD. Just "Group" any combination of cooler supply and return terminals (and other objects too if desired) and IT CFD will automatically recognize the group as a Custom Cooler. 

How cool is that (pun intended)?

[JLehr]

Interpolated Temperatures, Pressures, and Speed (Unlimited Version Only)

April 2022

The scalar field values (temperature, pressure, and speed) are all now interpolated. This gives a smooth, high-quality, and accurate display of all the values. Not only does this look good, but, IT CFD also allows you to see "smooth" numerical values as you move the mouse cursor!

Miscellaneous improvements

April 2022

• A Help Menu has been added which currently includes a Quick-Start Guide. In the future, we'll be adding more reference material. 
• All supply and return terminals (e.g., on Row Coolers, Downflow Coolers Front Discharge, etc.) include blue supply and red return arrows upon object selection.

Merge (Unlimited Version Only)

April 2022

Use the new File > Merge option to merge the entire equipment population from a saved project into the currently open project. All equipment enters the current project in the same orientation and position (relative to the coordinate origin) in which it existed in the saved project.

This means you can now create custom libraries of objects (e.g., groups, custom coolers, etc.) to share among your other projects and even with other IT CFD users!

[JLehr]

The scalar field values (temperature, pressure, and speed) are all now interpolated. This gives a smooth, high-quality, and accurate display of all the values. Not only does this look good, but, IT CFD also allows you to see "smooth" numerical values as you move the mouse cursor!

[JLehr]

Use the new File > Merge option to merge the entire equipment population from a saved project into the currently open project. All equipment enters the current project in the same orientation and position (relative to the coordinate origin) in which it existed in the saved project.

This means you can now create custom libraries of objects (e.g., groups, custom coolers, etc.) to share among your other projects and even with other IT CFD users!

[JLehr]

IT CFD now supports monitor regions.

Monitor regions are user-defined volumes that report the Min/Max/Avg of Temperature, Pressure, and Speed for the volume. The data is available on the tooltip once an analysis has been run.

A monitor region can be placed just like any other piece of equipment and can be adjusted down to the size of a single cell or increased to the size of the entire room.

Containment now reports the same information as the monitor regions in the tooltip.

In the screenshot below, the monitor region is used to examine the airflow coming out of the four perforated floor tiles closest to the cooler.

If you have questions, send us an email or ask in the EcoStruxure IT forum.

[JLehr]

IT CFD now has the long awaited Report Export feature. Go to File > Export Report to download a report in Excel xlsx format. The report contains all relevant project information.

[JLehr]

IT CFD now supports selection windows. Use your mouse to create a selection window to select multiple items and groups at once.