GlobalConnect, a European digital infrastructure provider, now offers submerged cooling to its colocation clients, which can reduce data center power consumption for cooling by up to 90%. This new cooling technology will be introduced to all remaining data centers following client demand and has already been deployed in the company's data center in Denmark.
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In addition to decreasing power consumption, servers can operate at a 25% higher efficiency rate without overheating, making it an excellent option for large enterprises that require significant capacity. Luke Davies, Managing Director of Datacenters at GlobalConnect Group, said that submerged cooling is a game-changer that will help the company achieve its climate goals while assisting customers in achieving their own green objectives.
The cooling tanks used in this new technology use a fifth of the area needed by conventional air-cooling technology, and the servers' ability to work at higher temperatures makes it easier to transmit waste heat to nearby district heating systems. Clients will have the option of using this technology at sixteen additional GlobalConnect data centers located across the Nordics and Germany, depending on customer need.
It took GlobalConnect and submerged cooling technology supplier GRC fourteen months to create a new version of the current submerged cooling technology that satisfies the redundancy criteria of colocation data centers. Currently, the biggest Danish data center for GlobalConnect uses the new technology, whereas, in the coming year, the district heating system of the adjacent municipality will be linked to the waste heat produced by GlobalConnect's data center in Copenhagen.
Despite the record-low PUE and the possibility of increasing rack power, data centers did not consider liquid cooling technology, but with the imminent rise in processor power consumption, they will have to evaluate such systems. Liquid cooling is not a recent IT fashion trend, but rather an old classic that has been around for over fifty years. The first liquid cooling systems were used in conjunction with IBM System/360 mainframes during the 1960s, when it was the primary cooling technology employed in computing centers. Customers trusted it because it was utilized for IT systems that served mission-critical purposes.
However, low-power servers dominated the market and air-cooling was sufficient to cool their non-energy-consuming chips, leading liquid cooling to be almost forgotten, except for high-performance computing clusters and supercomputers. Air cooling is a typical solution for heat removal from IT equipment in modern data centers, using either cabinet or in-row air conditioners to supply cold air. With thermal loads up to 20 kW, this is the maximum that air-cooling systems can handle before becoming either technically impossible or impractical.
Liquid cooling is classified into two main categories based on whether the fluid comes into direct contact with the cooled electronics or not. Conductive liquids, such as water or its solutions, are typically used in contact technologies, while dielectric liquids, like mineral, synthetic oils, or special engineering fluids, are utilized in immersion technologies. Liquid cooling technologies can also be classified by whether the coolant undergoes a phase transition during heat transfer - single-phase if no phase transition occurs, and two-phase if a liquid evaporates.
GlobalConnect is a company that has developed a game-changing submerged cooling technology. This innovative solution takes advantage of the natural cooling properties of water to improve the efficiency and performance of data centers.
Traditionally, data centers use air-based cooling systems, which consume a significant amount of energy. In contrast, GlobalConnect's submerged cooling technology submerges the servers directly into a non-conductive liquid, typically mineral oil or dielectric fluid. This liquid absorbs the heat generated by the servers, allowing them to function at lower temperatures without the need for air conditioning.
There are several advantages to this approach. Firstly, because liquid conducts heat much more efficiently than air, submerged cooling enables higher heat dissipation rates, improving overall server performance. This can lead to higher processing speeds and increased computing power.
Secondly, submerged cooling significantly reduces energy consumption. By eliminating the need for air conditioning, the technology reduces electricity usage, resulting in substantial cost savings. Moreover, since less energy is consumed for cooling, there is a reduced carbon footprint, making it an environmentally friendly solution.
Another benefit of submerged cooling is its ability to reduce noise levels. With servers immersed in a liquid, there is no need for traditional cooling fans, which are a significant source of noise in data centers. This creates a more pleasant working environment for operators and reduces noise pollution.
Furthermore, the use of a non-conductive liquid ensures the safety of the servers. The liquid acts as a barrier between the electronic components and any potential electrical faults, minimizing the risk of damage from short circuits or electrical malfunctions.
GlobalConnect's submerged cooling technology has gained considerable attention from the industry due to its potential to revolutionize data center efficiency. It offers a sustainable, cost-effective, and reliable solution for cooling high-performance computing systems. As demand for data centers continues to grow, innovative technologies like submerged cooling will play a crucial role in meeting the increasing computational needs while reducing energy consumption.