• • • DATA CENTRE WORLD PREVIEW • • •
The liquid future of data centre cooling at Data Centre World London
Demand for data services is growing at a phenomenal rate and yet, there has never been a greater pressure, or duty, to deliver those services as efficiently and cleanly as possible
W
ith this rising demand, and equipment densities, air as a cooling medium is reaching its limits. Developments in hybrid and liquid cooling will allow providers to rise to the challenge sustainably. The data infrastructure industry is facing a number of challenges in today’s digital world. As every area of operation comes under greater scrutiny to meet these demands, one area in particular, cooling, has come into sharp focus. It is an area not only ripe for innovation, but where significant progress has been made that shows a way forward for a greener future. Liquid cooling technologies have developed as means to meet the demands of both volume and density needed for tomorrow’s data services.
Liquid cooling takes many forms, but the three primary techniques currently are direct-to- chip, rear door heat exchangers, and immersion cooling. Direct to chip (DtC), or direct to plate, cooling is where a metal plate sits on the chip or component and allows liquid to circulate within enclosed chambers carrying heat away.
This is a highly effective technique, that is precise and easily controlled. It is often used with specialist applications, such as high-performance compute (HPC) environments. Rear door heat exchangers, as the name suggests, are close- coupled indirect systems that circulate liquid through embedded coils to remove server heat before exhausting into the room. They have the advantage of keeping the entire room at the inlet air temperature, making hot and cold aisle cabinet configurations and air
containment designs redundant, as the exhaust air cools to inlet temperature and can recirculate back to the servers.
The most efficient units are passive in nature, meaning server fans move the air necessary. Whilst for many, liquid immersion cooling immediately conjures up the image of a bath brim full of servers and dielectric, precision liquid immersion cooling operates at rack chassis-level with servers and fluid in a sealed container.
30 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • FEBRUARY 2023 This enables operators to immerse standard
servers with certain minor modifications such as fan removal, as well as sealed spinning disk drives. Solid-state equipment generally does not require modification.
A distinct advantage of the precision liquid cooling approach is that full immersion provides liquid thermal density, absorbing heat for several minutes after a power failure without the need for back-up pumps.
Developments in liquid cooling technologies are a significant step forward that will enable operators and service providers to meet demand,
while ensuring that sustainability obligations and goals can be met. Initially hybrid solutions will facilitate legacy operators to make the transition to more efficient and effective systems, while more advanced technologies will ensure new facilities more efficient, even as capacity is built out to meet rising demand. At this year’s Data Centre World, nVent will be showcasing its innovative Smart RackPower PDU, a rack-mounted power distribution solution enabling operators to control power in data cabinets, open frame racks, and wall-mount enclosures. nVent is also demonstrating the fruits of its partnership with Iceotope, a world leader in precision immersion liquid cooling. Working together, nVent and Iceotope have developed integrated chassis- level precision-cooled rack solutions for a wide range of applications in industrial, enterprise, and far-edge data centre facilities, enabling scalable deployments anywhere and everywhere. For the first time in the UK, Iceotope precision cooling is being demonstrated integrated with a nVent SCHROFF Varistar CP cabinet featuring an nVent HOFFMAN manifold & Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU.) On stand nVent will also have on display for the first time, a Direct- to-Chip Liquid Cooling server with Coolant Distribution unit with rear door cooler hybrid cooling solution on display, showing our complete liquid cooling portfolio. nVent will be showcasing solutions for server room racks, in- row cooling, and power distribution at the show. With more than 30 million units in use and a global presence with over 80 manufacturing, service, and distribution centres, nVent provides a wide range of PDUs to meet all data centre and server room needs. With high-accuracy metering, the range easily integrates with most major Data Centre
Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software offerings, basic and metered outlet PDU. Visit nVent Schroff and Iceotope at Data Centre World, stand number D770, to learn more about the future of data centre cooling and steps to take towards become net-zero as a data centre.
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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