How Do I find the BTUs - British Thermal Units - of a server?
Part of the Series of questions, How Do I...
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This question came to us from a network engineer in Jacksonville, Florida. The question is a good one in planning for cooling in a computer room where servers are generally located. BTUs are a measure of heat energy. To find out how many are present with a server in operation, a few "givens" must be stated. The formula for BTUs is as follows (as it pertains to electrical engineering):
BTU = Volts X Amps X 3.41
The first given is that the "Volts" quantity is the INPUT voltage of the server at the power supply; enter that value. The second is that you must take a choice between the server's published amperage or use your own measured amperage draw of the server, the latter being probably the most accurate (if you are careful in the measurement); enter that value also. Click on Calculate to see the BTU value rounded to 3 places. You may click on Clear Values to do another.
Why and how? The accuracy of the server's published amperage load is often the beneficiary of a margin of error (as much as 20 percent - different companies do things differently) so as not to overload the power supply. That value from the manufacturer is usually the MAXIMUM the computer can accommodate. As parts are added or removed, different options are included in the original equipment, as age or normal depreciation impact the equipment, that ACTUAL amp load will vary. If possible, measure the amp load at the input to the power supply. A thank you to Hewlett Packard for the standard formula for EE work pertaining to servers.
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