The data center industry is, by its very nature, energy intensive. Not only do the banks of servers require electricity to run, but the heat generated by that computing power needs to be cooled and dissipated. AI, machine learning and high-performance computing are just the latest in a long list of new technologies that are increasing the need for data center capacity at an exponential rate. In a rapidly increasing digital world, data center design and infrastructure that allows it all to work is more important than ever.
At the same time, sustainability and net-zero carbon targets are no longer just ‘nice’ things for a business to have, but are often, hard-and-fast necessities for a company to operate. Carbon and sustainability are also quickly becoming fundamental pieces of data to win new business. Though there are many different avenues that need to be addressed to achieve this ideal, in the data center industry the technology at the forefront of this green revolution is liquid cooling.
One company on the cutting-edge of this technology is Iceotope, a pioneer in the realm of Precision Liquid Cooling solutions.
Liquid vs traditional air-cooling technology
Traditional data center cooling methods usually involve circulating air to remove the heat generated by the servers. Data center operators have invested lots of money into their existing infrastructure, so air-cooling will still have its place. For example, it continues to work well in countries with cooler climates, as bringing in cold air from the outside can be efficient.
In other conditions the opposite is true; air cooling in hot, tropical climates like those seen in many countries across APAC, is expensive and energy intensive. Likewise, conditions with particles and high levels of dust in the atmosphere make air cooling equally problematic. In both these cases, liquid cooling comes into its own.
Iceotope’s Precision Liquid Cooling technology, for example, uses a precise delivery of dielectric fluid to remove almost 100% of the heat generated by the components in a server. This efficiency translates to both environmental and cost benefits for data center operators.
According to Nathan Blom, Chief Commercial Officer at Iceotope, Precision Liquid Cooling reduces energy usage by up to 40%. What’s more, it also cuts water consumption up to 100% – adding further to the technology’s green credentials.
In addition, Blom explains that Iceotope’s Precision Liquid Cooling technology actually addresses some of the limitations with other liquid cooling methods.
Direct-to-chip solutions, which target specific IT components, usually still require some auxiliary air cooling. Immersion cooling, which can recapture nearly 100% of the heat generated, requires a lot of space and specific structural and design considerations that make it a more difficult technology to adopt.
Precision Liquid Cooling technology, Blom told W.Media, “combines the best of both technologies and effectively addresses their inherent limitations”.
Practical solutions are needed
Of course, in the real world, a solution not only needs to be beneficial in theory, but in order for the industry to adopt it en masse, it will also have to be practical to do so. Once again Mr. Blom believes Iceotope’s Precision Liquid Cooling technology comes into its own here.
The company’s KUL RAN product, for example, is designed to operate in conditions with limited power supply, adverse weather conditions and with low-touch maintenance requirements. In addition, with no fans, Precision Liquid Cooling technology reduces stress on chassis components, cutting component failures by 30%.
At the same time, with data center space usually at a premium, the technology cuts down on the space requirements for a given IT load by eliminating the need for hot and cool aisles – particularly beneficial in urban areas and at the edge, where in some cases it is allowing “compute power in places that have not been possible till now”, says Blom. It also offers a six-times improvement in power density per square meter compared to tank immersion.
These factors all combine to make the solution both scalable and highly serviceable, even when placed in more remote locations. In Blom’s words, Precision Liquid Cooling “cools, protects and monitors the whole IT stack from the cloud to the extreme edge”.
Sustainable growth is the only way forward
As demand for data center capacity and computing power grows, the need for sustainable and energy-efficient solutions grows with it. Data centers on the edge, in harsh environments or in urban locations with even greater limitations on space, while becoming more necessary, also bring with them their own specific conditions and hurdles to overcome.
Cooling is the number one area that most data centers can address, right now, to improve energy efficiency and environmental impact. As Mr. Blom puts it, “the significance of efficient and sustainable IT infrastructure cooling cannot be emphasized enough”.
It is exactly these kinds of innovative cooling technologies that will allow the industry to grow at the pace the world is demanding of it.
