Acomputer room was once filled with environmentally sensitive equipment with names such as “mainframe,” “disk drive,” “data cell,” and “impact printer.” In the 1960s, many leading research institutions were just receiving their first mainframe computers, and punch cards served as a computer’s memory and input.
In 1988, after graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering, I started working as an applications engineer for the world’s leading manufacturer of environmental control equipment for data centers. At that time, we solved issues that revolved around concerns such as humidity, vapor barriers, and “printer dust.” We made chillers with integral pumps that served mainframes through rubber hoses located beneath the raised floor. Computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units had ultraviolet light humidifiers with flushing cycles, electric reheat, four steps of compressor cooling, condensate pumps, floor stands, and turning vanes.