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In the datacenter world, one of the biggest challenges and one of the greatest opportunities is heat.
Traditionally, organizations have relied on air cooling, typically using fans to manage this heat.
However, air cooling is both inefficient and energy-intensive.
At a fundamental level, this approach makes sense.
As anyone who has flown a kite knows, air can be tricky to direct and manage.
Research and Development Engineer, OVHcloud.
What is direct-to-chip (DTC) cooling?
DTC is the most common form of water cooling and has been used by datacenters and gamers for decades.
Dry coolers are units that sit outside the datacenter.
They feature radiator-like, finned heat exchangers through which the heated liquid is circulated.
This liquid is then fed back into the system and the process is repeated.
In warmer months or locations evaporative cooling is used alongside dry coolers.
Hot air is drawn through wet pads, evaporating water and cooling the air.
This air is then used to cool the liquid from the datacenter through the dry coolers.
These dissipation methods can be used across most types of liquid cooling.
Its also more efficient, thanks to physics, because liquids typically possess higher thermal conductivity than gases.
The ratio of air- to water-cooling is usually in the region of 30%/70%.
Immersion cooling
In immersion cooling, the entire server is immersed in fluid.
However, immersion cooling is a lot more complex than DTC and maintenance is a more involved process.
There are two forms of immersion cooling single phase and dual phase.
In single phase cooling, the liquid stays liquid throughout the cycle (i.e.
it keeps its phase constant).
In dual phase cooling, it does not.
A separate coolant in a loop is then used to dissipate the heat.
The fluid can then flow back down into the system to be re-used.
This is a big challenge for datacenters, particularly ones that have been around for a while.
Additionally, some datacenters face limitations that hinder their ability to reuse waste heat.
However, its important to keep pushing forward.
As an industry, we must continue to advance this innovation.
When new datacenter sites are built, organizations should consider heat reuse from the outset.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc.
