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PowerEdge Product Group

Direct from

Development

their respective owners.

PowerEdge MX7000 Chassis Thermal Airflow Architecture

Tech Note by:

Rick Eiland

SUMMARY

Creating a modular

infrastructure that can efficiently

cool the high-power, high-

density workloads of today and

tomorrow requires intelligent,

scalable design.

Dell EMC’s PowerEdge MX7000

modular infrastructure meets

these thermal challenges

through an innovative, patent-

pending chassis architecture

design.

The Multiple Airflow Zone

architecture of the new MX7000

chassis enables enhanced

energy efficiency in the cooling

of higher power and denser

system configurations, extends

the lifecycle of the chassis to

accommodate multiple

generations of future IT

technology, and delivers

excellent investment protection.

Modular infrastructures enable customers to be flexible in configuration, agile in

management, and efficient in design, over several generations of compute,

storage, and networking needs. The unique thermal design of the new Dell

EMC PowerEdge MX7000 chassis ensures that customers can confidently grow

over many generations of IT technology, satisfying forthcoming demands for

scalable expansion and performance while providing excellent investment

protection. The multiple airflow zone architecture of the MX7000 is engineered

to ensure fresh air is delivered to each component of the chassis, enabling

enhanced cooling of higher power and dense system configurations.

CHASSIS ARCHITECTURE

The overall chassis architecture of the PowerEdge MX7000 uses dedicated,

independent airflow paths for each critical subsystem (Compute, I/O, and Power

Supplies) to provide fresh air to each individual zone. This design allows for

expanded feature support, improved cooling efficiency, and the flexibility to

scale with future needs. Figure 1 below provides a view of the front and rear of

the MX7000 chassis with each zone highlighted.

 Zone 1 (Blue): Cooling air for the eight vertically-arranged Compute and

Storage sled slots at the front of the chassis is drawn thru the chassis by

five horizontally-arranged fans at the rear

 Zone 2 (Yellow): Four vertically arranged fans at the front of the chassis

push cooling air into the I/O Modules (IOMs) at the rear of the chassis

 Zone 3 (Green): The bottom of the chassis is populated with up to six

power supply units (PSUs) each with a dedicated fan and exhaust airflow

path out the rear of the chassis

Figure 1: Front and rear view of PowerEdge MX7000 chassis with dedicated airflow zones highlighted

The orthogonal layout of these zones allows for simple, front-to-back airflow

thru the chassis. By avoiding overly complex airflow paths to each subsystem,

the overall chassis minimizes its impedance, allowing for increased airflow

Summary of content (3 pages)

PAGE 1
Direct from Development PowerEdge Product Group PowerEdge MX7000 Chassis Thermal Airflow Architecture Tech Note by: Rick Eiland SUMMARY Creating a modular infrastructure that can efficiently cool the high-power, highdensity workloads of today and tomorrow requires intelligent, scalable design. Dell EMC’s PowerEdge MX7000 modular infrastructure meets these thermal challenges through an innovative, patentpending chassis architecture design.
PAGE 2
capability compared to traditional modular chassis architectures. Additionally, the independent airflow zones allow for more granular fan control algorithms which increase fan speeds only when and where it is needed to further increase efficiency. COMPUTE & STORAGE SLED COOLING Compared with previous modular chassis from Dell and competitors, the MX7000 chassis contains no vertical midplane that would restrict the airflow through the chassis.
PAGE 3
Figure 3: Airflow through Zone 2 of the MX7000 chassis, showing cooling of IOMs. Other airflow zones have been greyed out in this graphic. POWER SUPPLIES Power supplies in the MX7000 chassis benefit from a simple, independent airflow path at the bottom of the chassis, as shown in the cross sectional view of Figure 4 below. PSUs intake fresh air at the front of the chassis.