Video Processing Server Cooling for Filmmakers

Server rack cooling is not a one size fits all process and there are many variables that those requiring high-performance servers in work must negotiate in the quest to find suitable server rack cooling solutions. At Maxi-Cool we are approached by customers with server cooling requirements that are complex and often unusual. Mostly, however, our customers are simply trying to accommodate multiple variables when finding a server cooling system that will suit their needs. As we have identified many times on this blog, servers do not run properly without proper cooling systems and therefore the right server rack system must take account of adequate cooling to be fit for purpose.

One of our customers is a filmmaker working in East London. Their Maxi-Cool story demonstrates that there are many variables and many constraints within which servers need to run and be appropriately cooled for the purpose of running their business. This independent film studio makes video and film segments for advertisements and features for clients. They have a small staff, are busy with multiple projects and use sophisticated rendering software. All the work for clients is created in house and this is partly due to the use of a particular rendering software with its own server. The software used needs to be centrally located for a number of users at the same time and the necessary frequency of the revisions to the content makes the use of the cloud too slow to be efficient and productive in terms of output. This software is also immensely powerful and creates a significant thermal load lending it towards being best located in an office space.

This business is based in a rented office space in East London. The office space is large and open and recently refurbished to an extremely high standard. Comfort air conditioning is included in the rent for space. Its space is in many ways a blank canvas and as such gives the tenant a high degree of flexibility in terms of arranging the space to suit their needs. They approached us as they needed to find a video processing server cooling system. A Maxi-Cool User Story for their servers that would accommodate the heat load of the rendering software. A suitable system needed to be localised because they could not improve, increase, redirect or control the air conditioning of the space.

Maxi-Cool Enclosures were suitable for this situation as they do not require an outside condenser so there were no modifications necessary to the building. Also, the Maxi-Cool unit can be positioned easily, as they come on heavy-duty castors, and they can be repositioned in the space over time as the demands on the space changes without an engineer. As it happened in the first year, the customer repositioned the Maxi-Cool unit themselves in the breakout area. Additionally, if the business was to relocate to another space, they could simply take the Maxi-Cool system with them with the other furniture.

For us, this was a relatively straightforward installation. Once the team had got everything onto the first floor it was simply put into position and switched on to test. Our engineers always test that everything is working properly and address any questions the customer might have before leaving any site. Once everything is tested, the Maxi-Cool was turned off and the customer was free to install their own equipment before turning the Maxi-Cool back on again. Maxi-Cool Enclosure Cooling Systems were a flexible server cooling option for this business and provided them with the cooling they required to run their software efficiently and accommodating the other variables of space and environment.

All Maxi-Cool customer information is confidential and therefore user stories are anonymised.  All user story descriptions are narratives based on discussion with customers and observations of the physical spaces and locations that we have visited and have installed different types of Maxi-Cool Enclosure Cooling Systems in.

If you have an unusual server cooling situation – give us a call for a quote or a visit!