Patent ID: 8355890

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for evaluating equipment in a data center, the equipment including a plurality of equipment racks, and at least one cooling provider, the method comprising: receiving, by a computer, data regarding each of the plurality of equipment racks and the at least one cooling provider, the data including a layout of the equipment racks and the at least one cooling provider, and a power draw value for each of the equipment racks; storing, by the computer, the received data; determining a cooling load for the at least one cooling provider; determining, by the computer, maximum cooler capacity for the at least one cooling provider based on the layout, and the power draw; for each equipment rack, determining, by the computer, a maximum rack capacity based on the layout and the maximum cooler capacity, by iteratively increasing a value of power for the equipment rack and determining an updated cooling load for the at least one cooling provider until the updated cooling load exceeds the maximum cooler capacity; and displaying, by the computer, an indication of the maximum rack capacity for at least one equipment rack.