Airflow Requirements

The system uses forced air to draw in ambient air for cooling from the front of the chassis, while heated air exits the rear of the chassis. The design of the system provides two primary regions of airflow: The lower airstream cools the server modules, and the upper airstream cools the power supplies, chassis monitoring modules, Sun Blade 6000 network express modules, and PCIe ExpressModules.

The rear fan cage includes six rear fan modules, each module having two fans, for a total of 12 fans. The fans draw cool air through the front of the server modules and exhaust heated air through the back of the chassis. This results in a typical measurement of approximately 600 CFM of total airflow.

The upper airstream provides forced air by using a combination of internal fans within each power supply.

Follow these airflow guidelines:

• Do not block the ventilation areas of the chassis.

• Ensure that all cabling at the rear of the chassis does not block any exhaust air.

• Ensure that front and rear cabinet doors are at least 60 percent perforated to ensure minimal restriction of airflow. Removal of either or both doors will improve the cooling capability of the system.

• Front and rear clearance between the inside of the cabinet doors and the system should allow a minimum of 0.2 inch (0.5 cm) at the front of the system and 3.1 inches (7.9 cm) at the rear of the system for proper airflow.