Driving Innovation in Precision Liquid Cooling Through our Iceotope Collaboration
Innovation in cooling is critical for data applications. As heat loads continue to rise and next generation IT requires more cooling power, data centers need to solve the challenge of how to cool equipment effectively without using extreme amounts of power.
Today, only about five percent of data centers are liquid cooled. But that is changing. If data centers want to scale and support activities like AI, machine learning and smart infrastructure, they need faster processors, and that technology must be liquid cooled.
Data centers are notorious for consuming a lot of energy, and power and cooling solution providers like nVent can help address this issue by offering energy-efficient solutions. This can include solutions such as efficient power supplies and cooling solutions that use less energy compared to traditional air-cooling methods. It makes sense from both a financial and environmental sense to prioritize cooling efficiency.
Reducing energy consumption can reduce the environmental impact of data centers. Additionally, for data applications, every bit of electricity that needs to be used on cooling is electricity that cannot be put towards computing. And since computing is how telecom and data center companies make money, more efficient cooling makes financial sense.
Liquid cooling is more efficient than air cooling and can be deployed to varying degrees throughout a data center. From bringing liquid cooling into the existing infrastructure of air-cooled data centers through rear door cooling, to precision direct-to-chip cooling, liquid cooling can be deployed in a variety of ways and to different degrees in modern data centers.
One the most efficient of these options is immersion cooling. In immersion cooling, electronic components are fully submerged in an electrically insulated liquid solution. This liquid solution conducts heat out of the IT but does not damage electrical components. Immersion cooling can be contrasted to water cooling, where liquid is circulated inside closed loop lines. Immersion cooling is an emerging technology in the data solutions industry and offers strong cooling power even when compared to other forms of efficient liquid cooling. Immersion cooling can also offer strong physical protection from dust and other contaminants.
nVent has collaborated with Iceotope to deliver immersion cooling solutions for applications that require advanced cooling technology. Iceotope’s precision liquid cooling solutions offer extreme cooling performance while isolating and protecting critical IT systems from the surrounding environment and atmosphere. These solutions can easily accommodate the increasing heat loads from the latest processors while enabling ultra-low power usage to help customers achieve their energy reduction and sustainability goals.
“True innovation emerges when technology and solutions unite, and that is exactly what happened when nVent and Iceotope started collaborating in 2021,” said Marc Caiola, VP of Global Data Solutions at nVent. “By combining our expertise and respective product portfolios, we have created an integrated precision immersion cooling solution that has the potential to enhance high-performance computing. It showcases that progress can be achieved when technology and solutions come together in a coordinated manner.”