News in the Channel - issue #33

DATA CENTRE COOLING

approach, combining air cooling for standard servers with liquid cooling for high-density racks. This may be the best mid-term option in terms of cost efficiency. “Where sustainability and environmental commitments are a priority, systems can be designed to make use of renewable energy and to re-use heat generated by the data centre.” Tim says that air cooling alone is not enough in most high-density environments. “The most effective solutions are liquid-based – whether direct-to-chip, cold plate, or full immersion systems. These approaches are far more efficient at capturing and dissipating heat directly at the source,” he says. “Hybrid systems are also gaining traction, where traditional chilled water systems are supplemented with liquid cooling at hotspots. “Whatever the cooling mechanism, the by-product is heat, which need not be wasted. This heat can be captured and recycled using district heating systems adjacent to urban developments, including housing developments, manufacturing facilities, hospitals and leisure centres. As well as helping with the decarbonisation effort, this approach also uses less energy than releasing heat into the atmosphere, improving the efficiency of the data centre and lowering bills.” VimalRaj agrees that liquid cooling is proving to be the most effective route, particularly for AI-driven workloads. “By transferring heat away directly from the chip, it avoids the inefficiencies of simply pumping more cold air through a hall,” he says. “AI itself also has a role to play, with intelligent algorithms already being used to monitor conditions, predict workload surges, and dynamically adjust cooling in real time. Some providers are pairing these methods with geographic strategies, such as locating facilities in cooler climates to reduce reliance on mechanical cooling.”

head at ManageEngine, agrees that AI is putting data centres under immense strain. “Operators are already reporting unprecedented demand for high-density racks, which significantly raises power draw and the heat that needs to be managed. “Cooling is now one of the most critical challenges. High-density workloads generate far more heat than traditional ones, and all of it must be managed continuously. Many legacy cooling systems were never designed for this intensity, which leaves operators facing efficiency losses, higher costs, and in some cases real risk of downtime. One third of a data centre’s energy bill can be cooling alone, so the stakes are high.” Jeremy notes that conventional air- cooling was designed for racks drawing 10–15kW. “In contrast, AI workloads now frequently demand 30–80kW per rack, with some exceeding 100kW,” he adds. “Resulting in overheating, throttled performance and significant efficiency losses across legacy environments. “Most existing systems are not prepared to handle the sustained thermal demands of AI. To unlock AI at scale, operators must rethink their approach, exploring liquid-assisted and direct liquid cooling as essential strategies to maintain performance, reliability and efficiency.” Options There are options for finding the optimal cooling strategy for data centres. “The best option will depend on the scale of the data centre, the age and efficiency of the equipment in use, and the workloads it supports,” notes Markus Rex, general manager at SYNAXON Services. “Advanced air cooling with hot/cold aisle containment is still widely used but quickly reaches the limits of its capabilities with AI. Liquid cooling is much more efficient at removing high-density heat loads and it’s increasingly being adopted in next-generation facilities. “Many data centres are taking a hybrid

Most existing systems are not prepared to handle the sustained thermal demands of AI. “ ”

Contributors

Tim Mitchell

klima-therm.co.uk

Jeremy Issacs

ricoh.co.uk

VimalRaj Sampathkumar

manageengine.com

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