For IT managers, the time to consider or revisit liquid cooling in the data center is now. That's because the latest generation of cooling technology aims to aid deployments of all sizes. In fact, according to industry experts Global Market Insights, the market for cooling-related hardware was already $2 billion in 2022 and is forecasted to grow to $12 billion by 2032. Liquid cooling is on the verge of becoming a tool for the masses.
It's Time to Redefine Cooling
The term 'liquid' or 'immersion' cooling may conjure images of huge facilities housing the world's largest supercomputers. While these types of facilities leverage a version of liquid cooling, the technology offered by today's vendors is smaller and more targeted to the size of each data center.
Seven Reasons to Consider Liquid Cooling in the Data Center
1. Better Than Ever Cooling
The first reason liquid cooling will become a significant factor in data center design everywhere will be cooling itself. Liquids can conduct heat up to 1000 times better than air, allowing data centers to handle hotter CPUs and GPUs in less space and eliminate older cooling equipment.
2. Improved Sustainability
One of the primary benefits of using a more effective cooling medium is that less energy is required. With liquid cooling, data centers can reduce their energy consumption by up to 90%, streamlining their power usage effectiveness (PUE). And that's just in time to meet stricter government and local sustainability standards.
3. Increased Performance
Hardware can run cooler, cleaner, and perform better. By not running hot, operators can overclock their CPUs and run them longer without hitting thermal thresholds that automatically slow down performance. Therefore, a given set of CPUs and GPUs in liquid-cooled data centers can run with significantly less heat and process more data faster.
4. Higher Density
While it's true that liquid-cooled racks take up more floor space, they enable the running of more processors in a given area, effectively allowing space-starved facilities to support greater productivity while preserving their investment in their current data center facility.
5. Improved Scalability
The day is nearing when data center operators will struggle to increase capacity due to heat and space limitations. Due to expanding applications like AI and machine learning, liquid cooling enables data center designers to plan for today's growth.
6. Flexibility in design
Contrary to prior generations of liquid cooling tech, the latest systems don't necessarily require complex water exchange systems. They also reduce or eliminate the need for raised floors and containment aisles. As a result, hardware can be located on the data center floor based on power delivery without concern for airflow.
7. Operational Improvements
Often overlooked is the fact that liquid cooling can make the data center a better workplace. The buildup of dust on sensitive equipment is minimal, thanks to the reduction of forced air. At the same time, the entire facility runs quieter without larger and larger air-cooled systems.
What Liquid Cooling is Not
In sealed systems, modern cooling systems use non-conductive fluids, offering little to no opportunity to damage servers. What's more, these systems provide the true potential for payback because while energy costs go up, the power requirements of liquid cooling equipment go down. Therefore, the drawback for many data center operators is that they are not converting to liquid cooling but are not reaping its benefits.
The Source of Liquid Cooling Misperceptions: Older Systems
Liquid cooling is often considered unnecessary, expensive, or dangerous, but these concerns stem from older systems. The water-cooled methods in some older installations sometimes leak, leading to equipment damage, short-circuiting, and corrosion. Also, if installed incorrectly, they were prone to distribute cooling unevenly, which could ultimately lead to equipment damage and failure. Fortunately, today's systems use non-conductive fluids with multiple redundancies and monitoring systems to ensure safe operation.
For Modern Liquid Cooling Expertise, Look No Further than UNICOM Engineering
UNICOM Engineering is proud to be recognized as a Dell Technologies OEM Titanium Partner and Intel Titanium Level OEM partner. Our team has vast experience helping organizations leverage AI advancements and innovative technology to optimize the performance of their solutions with our unparalleled access to the latest Dell Technologies and Intel solutions and deep relationships with the manufacturer's product and engineering teams.
To learn more about how we can help you bring your solution to market and gain a competitive edge, visit our website to schedule a consultation today.