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Keep Your Data Centres Cool with Liquid Cooling!
Liquid cooling was initially introduced in the 80s as a way to cool down mainframe infrastructures. However, most data centers have stayed away from this cooling strategy in the past two decades. The liquid cooling system involves the use of water-cooled racks in order to reduce the server’s temperatures. Since water is a conductor of electricity, it is kept away from getting into direct contact with any of the server’s electronic components. In fact, the water is funneled through pipes, contained in basins and pumped through tower pumps.
The liquid immersion cooling system is a variant of the traditional liquid cooling system. However, rather than allowing the liquid coolant to flow across the server components, this new strategy involves immersing servers directly into the coolant. The coolant is a dielectric fluid and does not conduct electricity. This is a very delicate procedure, as certain parts of the system might get damaged if the fluid is not used correctly.
Recent studies have shown that liquid cooling is a lot more efficient than traditional air cooling methods. It is no wonder that the experts at Nortek Air Solutions data center cooling recommend liquid cooling for data centers. With the added efficiency of the liquid cooling system, it makes it possible for data centers to increase their processing
in the available space, thereby increasing the capacity of the data center. Additionally, liquid cooling systems are also cost-efficient when compared to traditional methods of cooling down data centers.
While it is not exactly an easy process to convert to a liquid-based cooling system it is not exactly impossible. During the switch over, the data centers will have to manage two cooling systems at the same time in order to achieve a seamless transition. The switch needs to be handled by experts and professionals as it is a delicate and expensive procedure.
With artificial intelligence on the rise, it is necessary for organizations to switch to liquid cooling. Since AI requires Graphics Processing Units, it produces more heat compared to traditional CPUs. Blockchain-based applications and high-frequency trading systems also require ultra-high performance GPUs and CPUs. In order to cope with this demand, it is essential to have a cooling system in place that can meet the thermal output of these high-performance server components.
Liquid cooling in data centers is configured in different ways based on the layout and the infrastructure of the center. While enclosed systems like the liquid immersion cooling system can cool chips and components directly, there are devices that can be placed in the airflow outlet of a server rack to cool down the components. This device
forces the air in the data center to exchange heat with the circulating water from a cooling tower or chiller, thereby resulting in cooler air. In fact, this system will work better for a data center that already has an air cooling system in place. At the end of the day, it is essential to have an optimal cooling system in place inside data centers to prevent overheating and damage of server components that could lead to the loss of tons of data.
Harper Harrison is a reporter for The Hear UP. Harper got an internship at the NPR and worked as a reporter and producer. harper has also worked as a reporter for the Medium. Harper covers health and science for The Hear UP.
