HP has unveiled a new service that maps the thermal conditions within a data centre or server room. 

Thermal Zone Mapping, part of HP's Thermal Assessment Services, provides a 3D model of the temperature throughout a facility, showing the location and degree to which air conditioners are actually cooling the room.

The system allows designers to arrange and manage air conditioning for optimal cooling throughout the server space thereby increasing energy efficiency and lowering costs, according to HP.

"HP's Thermal Assessment Services for the data centre help customers deal with the major challenge of driving energy efficiency to lower operational costs," said John McCain, senior vice president and general manager of HP Services.

The vendor's Dynamic Smart Cooling programme combines hardware and software to continuously adjust air conditioning settings to direct where and when cooling is required based on data from an array of sensors embedded in the server racks.

HP claims that customers can reduce data centre cooling costs by up to 45 per cent with these services.

The service uses modelling tools and techniques to determine the unique thermal conditions within a data centre. This information is then analysed by experts at HP who recommend changes to optimise conditions within the space.

HP will offer three levels of thermal assessment services:

• A quick assessment which provides a basic run down of data centre cooling based on interviews with staff and HP observations of the environment
• A more thorough examination including a 2D modelling of below-floor thermal conditions
• A 3D thermal mapping followed by analysis of the data and recommendations for improvement

The information will also allow data centre managers to analyse a variety of potential scenarios such as the impact of layout or infrastructure changes, or cooling capacity changes resulting from air conditioning failure.