Liquid CoolingBenefitsImplementationPotential

Our group

Dorina Veselinova

Paul Lammers

Bogdan Kovachev

Haidy El-Shershaby Ivan Krumov Bashir Bare

Bidar

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The goal of the project• Vision

– Make the ICT sector more sustainable and efficient

• Mission– Making companies aware of alternative

cooling options– Liquid cooling implemented

• Implementation– Using natural resources in the Netherlands to

decrease energy usage, maximize equipment efficiency and increase its density in datacenters

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The context• Amount of IT

equipment predicted to triple

• Energy consumption also predicted to triple

• As a result energy cost predicted to increase by a factor of 9

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Power usage divisionPower usage is divided between:

•Server load and computing operations

•Power conversions and distribution

•Cooling equipment

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Why is cooling needed?

• Datacenters want an uptime of 100%• It is recommended that data center ambient air is

kept between 10 and 32° C (defined in SLAs)• Safe operating temperatures go up to 60° C

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Liquid vs. Air• Air cooling uses roughly

the same energy as equipment itself

• Liquid cooling may reduce energy used by cooling systems by 90%

• Liquids have great heat capacity and thermal conductivity

• Water absorbs 3500 times more heat than air does, and it does it 25 times faster

Heat capacity of this much air

=

Heat capacity of this much liquid

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Power Usage Efficiency (PUE)

=

Heat capacity of this much liquid

PUE has been accepted by vendor consortiums like the Green Grid, the U.S. EPA, ASHRAE and Microsoft

“Even if you pick the wrong metric - as long as you improve it - you can drive tremendous changes!“

- Pitt Turner, president of Computer Site Engineering Inc.

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Traditional cooling with air• The most common

cooling method is air cooling

• Air is blown into the cooling block

• Optional cooling for the chipset

• Airflow must not be obstructed

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How does liquid cooling work?

Components

•Cooling block (copper)•Water pump•Radiators (with fans)•Reservoir•Hoses

•Timmy

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Direct water cooling

• A holistic approach for cooling

• Server has cooling blocks

• The rack itself provides direct connection to cool water

• No fans needed

• Liquid cooled 3D processors

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Submerged servers• Using dielectric liquid• Total submergence of the

server for better coverage• Can accommodate

theoretically up to 100KW per rack

• Low running cost• Low purchase cost• Higher temperature capacity• Up to 95% improved

efficiency• By Green Revolution Cooling

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Tapping into natural resources

• Using cold water from the sea

• Constant temperature• Used for water cooling• Used for air cooling• Bigger initial investment• Much cheaper to run• Water pumps consume less

energy than CRAC units• Google implemented it• Average surface

temperature of 11°C

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• A long-term investment with many benefits• Excellent efficiency• Low cooling power overhead and CO2 emissions

• No vibrations• Efficient heat transportation and storage• Improves data center scalability and profitability

per square meter

The potential of liquid cooling

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• Power density levels are on the rise again, the need for very efficient cooling emerges

• Economic conditions may change in the future, to research liquid cooling is prudent

• The natural resources in the Netherlands provide many opportunities for easy implementation of liquid cooling and for energy reuse

The potential of liquid cooling

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What do professionals think?

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• A costly solution

• Difficult retrofitting

• People claim the need for liquid cooling is still relatively small

• Clients and providers have to realise to greenify is costly but not necessarily bad for business and definitely good for our children

What do professionals think?

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• What modern data centers need

• What liquid cooling solutions can provide

• Using ocean water for cooling

• The public opinion on liquid cooling

• Why it is unwise to exclude this method as an option for optimising sustainability

To summarise

The end

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Feel free to ask questions.

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Water cooling white paper by Coolcentric:http://whitepapers.datacenterknowledge.com/index.php?option=com_categoryreport&task=viewabstract&title=8884&pathway=no

42U Data Center liquid cooling article:http://www.42u.com/liquid-cooling-article.htm

Web Host Industry Review article by Roko Nastic:http://www.thewhir.com/article-central/060710_Liquid_Cooling_and_Datacenters_A_Perfect_Match

Iceotope liquid cooling implementation article by Rich Miller:http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/11/17/iceotope-a-new-take-on-liquid-cooling/

References

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Rack door liquid cooling (Over IP Group):http://www.overip.com.au/goto/product/name/20kw_water_cooled_door

Article about Google’s data center in Finland:http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/09/15/googles-mega-data-center-in-finland/

Article about GRC submerged servers by Rich Miller: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2010/03/17/submerged-servers-green-revolution-cooling/

Industry Perspectives article:http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2010/07/02/the-advantages-of-liquid-cooling/

References

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