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Innovative Solutions for Data Center Cooling

The data center industry has experienced massive expansion in recent years. Cooling and other vital infrastructure upkeep have often been put on the back burner because other matters seem more pressing. When a data center has major corporations vying for precious server space, meeting those demands right away usually takes precedence over routine maintenance and supportive upgrades. 

But, as you know, the importance of keeping your data center equipment cool cannot be overstated. Overheating servers are, at best, inefficient, but, at worst, could be dangerous to your facility and employees. 

Let’s explore the current state of data center cooling and look at the most efficient, cost-effective solutions you can incorporate into your business. 

Why should you consider upgrading your data center cooling method?

Data centers need innovative cooling solutions more than ever before. If you suspect your cooling is not as effective or efficient, it could be due to any of the following reasons. 

Increased electricity usage

Every passing year brings new technology developments that help computers perform increasingly complex functions more quickly than ever before. Fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, and other server-hosted services are growing exponentially. 

Data centers are meeting these evolving demands with more powerful, faster servers. As a result, the most conservative estimates of data center power usage surpassed one percent of global power usage in 2018. Since then, that percentage has likely climbed much higher; data center power estimates more than doubled from 200 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2018 to 500 TWh in 2020. 

Some of this electricity usage can be explained by the increasing rack power density of most data centers. Though the average rack power density is 7kW, many data centers can have rack densities of 16kW per rack. Even 100kW per rack is not out of the question with the increase in high-performance computing. 

As major companies offer more cloud-based services and IoT networks pop up in homes and businesses across the globe, the demand for electricity is not going to shrink anytime soon. Projections for the future reflect an accelerating pace toward data center domination of power usage worldwide. 

Smaller available spaces

Data centers frequently try to pack as much equipment as possible into a small footprint. This lets them house more servers under one roof, without the need to expand or move to another building. 

However, this tightly packed configuration also leads to reduced air flow. When every equipment upgrade brings a faster, more powerful system to a rack already crowded with high-power computers running at full capacity, the lack of airflow becomes an issue. 

We all know how excessive heat damages hardware. Servers, network hardware, storage drives, and any other equipment in close proximity to a source of high heat can fail under stress. 

Though upgrading your cooling method may seem expensive and inconvenient, those costs are nothing compared to the costs of unplanned downtime, replacement of damaged equipment, and unhappy customers. Even if your data center suffers no obvious effects from inefficient cooling, it’s likely that your hardware has a much shorter lifespan than it would have if it were maintained under controlled temperatures. Failing to make an investment in cooling on the front end inevitably leads to higher, unexpected costs over the long term.

What is the current state of data center cooling?

Since each data center has unique needs, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The best choice will depend on your energy efficiency needs, the amount of your budget allocated to cooling, and on the configuration within the data center (wide versus narrow spaces between equipment, raised racks versus racks at floor level, etc.). Even the ambient, outdoor air temperature can have an effect on data center cooling methods that use air piped in from outside as part of the process. 

Traditional air-cooling versus traditional liquid cooling methods

Air cooling systems have the benefit of simplicity and, in most cases, cost-effectiveness up front.

If a data center can get away with a simple air cooler and vent system, it can be tough to justify a more complex and expensive solution. 

Although liquid cooling systems cost more up front, the increases in efficiency and scalability—not to mention the fact that liquid cooling saves valuable data center space in comparison to bulky air conditioning systems—often pay big dividends over time.

If liquid cooling makes sense for your data center, then it’s worth exploring some of the newer, cutting-edge developments that can make liquid cooling data centers more energy- and cost-efficient. Especially if your data center operates high-powered computers within high-density racks, the newer liquid cooling techniques can help you preserve your equipment and “future-proof” your data center. 

New developments in liquid cooling methods

Though liquid cooling already has advantages over air cooling, this is especially true when you stop to consider the advances in liquid cooling technology that further improve efficiency and effectiveness. Air cooling techniques have also evolved over the years, but they simply cannot keep up with the increases in rack power density. Once a data center passes the point of no return where air is insufficient for proper thermal transfer, liquid cooling becomes a necessity instead of a high-end option. 

Newer liquid cooling techniques provide targeted cooling to the areas where it is most needed. This is known as direct cooling. Prime examples of direct cooling include direct-to-chip and immersion cooling. Direct cooling, as you might imagine from the name, is more energy-efficient than air cooling methods that disperse chilled air in the general vicinity, without the capability of focusing on a specific target. 

Liquid cooling also takes advantage of the far greater thermal conductive properties of liquids over air. Advanced thermally conductive liquids draw heat from the source much more effectively than chilled air and can often reach tiny nooks and crannies that air might breeze past. 

Increasing rack power densities have spurred development of many new liquid cooling techniques, but the following are a few of the most promising options you’ll want to keep your eye on. 

Direct-to-Chip Cooling

Direct-to-chip cooling places liquid coolant on the motherboard’s chips, CPUs, GPUs, memory chips, and any other “hot spots” that need extra attention. 

In one version of direct-to-chip cooling, a cold plate covered in coolant siphons heat away from the chips and into a closed circuit that returns the heated liquid to a system that chills and re-distributes it. Cold plates may use a few different liquids, each with benefits and drawbacks. 

Water draws heat from the server effectively, but flows too easily for optimal pumping efficiency. To increase viscosity and cut down on back flow, you can add glycol to the water. This is a trade-off, because with increased viscosity comes lower heat transfer. You can experiment to find a mixture that works well within your cooling system. 

The largest downside of water-based cooling is that a leak in the system could spell disaster. To mitigate the risk of leaks, some data centers replace the water or water/glycol mixture with a dielectric fluid that won’t damage equipment if it drips onto a vital component. This, too, is a trade-off, because dielectric fluid has the least thermally conductive properties of the group. 

Another way to use direct-to-chip cooling is to set up an evaporation unit that uses the heat from servers to boil dielectric fluid and disperse the vapor away from the server rack. 

Either method can remove up to 75 percent of a server rack’s heat, but can fall short on cooling areas such as power supplies and capacitors that can’t be covered with a cold plate or an evaporation unit. For this reason, most data centers will need to use direct-to-chip cooling with another cooling method. Luckily, some traditional air cooling systems can be retrofitted to work with a direct-to-chip setup. By combining these methods, you can boost cooling efficiency without having to gut and rebuild your cooling infrastructure. 

Immersion Cooling

Immersion cooling holds promise for high-end data centers that require top-of-the-line solutions. Entire servers can be submerged into dielectric cooling substances, which is the fastest way to cool overheated systems. It’s also the most energy-efficient cooling method.

Since the entire server can be submerged, there is no need for fans, coils, cold plates, or other complicated components. You will, however, need a coolant distribution unit (CDU) to remove heat from the dielectric fluid and return that fluid to the tanks. This process is not dissimilar to most other liquid cooling methods, which also require a CDU. 

One alternative to the traditional CDU method is to use a two-phase immersion setup that harnesses evaporation as a heat removal technique and condensation as a way of returning the dielectric fluid to the tank without the use of pumps. This setup requires coils at the top of the tank that promote condensation, but simple gravity takes care of the rest of the process. 

The biggest drawback of immersion cooling is the up-front cost of the infrastructure. Plus, you will need to have enough space in your data center to accommodate the tank setups, as well as a reliable way to submerge and retrieve servers from those tanks. 

Be careful to minimize vapor loss in the case of two-phase systems, and prevent leaks or drips when using a single-phase system. Dielectric fluid is expensive and can have negative health impacts. Additionally, it’s difficult to dispose of it in an environmentally friendly way. 

Rear-Door Heat Exchangers

If your data center has racks of varying densities and you aren’t sure whether it would be worthwhile to take the leap toward full, direct liquid cooling techniques, rear-door heat exchangers could be the answer.

在一个 rear-door heat exchanger setup, a liquid passive or active heat exchanger takes the place of the rack’s rear door, keeping the thermal transfer as close to the server as possible without actually being a direct cooling technique. 

A liquid-filled coil sits in the rear door and absorbs heat as fans draw hot air from inside the racks and expel it into the general atmosphere of the data center. 

Conveniently, if your data center already has liquid cooling infrastructure installed, you should be able to modify your existing system fairly easily to take advantage of rear-door cooling. It is also feasible to use rear-door heat exchangers as part of a hybrid technique, utilizing both air and liquid cooling infrastructure to match your data center’s needs. 

Thermosyphons

Experiments testing the use of thermosyphons in data centers have shown promise in recent years, but thermosyphons are not yet widely deployed. If the technology takes off in data centers, it will use the tried-and-true method of convection to remove unwanted heat using passive heat transfer. Because thermosyphons are not electrical, mechanical, or fluid-containing devices, they should require very little upkeep, if any, and could change the way we think about data center cooling entirely. Look for further developments in this area over the coming years. 

Where should you begin?

If your data center can afford to spring for the newer, advanced cooling methods, you will appreciate making the change as time passes. If not, you can still feel comfortable choosing any of the tried-and-true methods data centers have used for years. 

Thankfully, rearranging your data center’s setup doesn’t have to be as daunting as it sounds. ServerLIFT® can provide data center lifts for purchase or rental, so you can move things around effortlessly whenever the need arises. 

For more information, or if you need assistance rearranging your data center’s servers or racks to accommodate a new cooling system, 联系ServerLIFT®. Check out our blog to stay up to date on the latest data center trends and innovations.   

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