The rapid growth of deep learning, machine learning, IoT, smart cities, artificial intelligence, and blockchain is responsible for the rapid expansion witnessed in data centers and high-performance computing (HPC). These new trends require processing large amounts of data, which translates into a demand for greater computing power. The result is greater energy consumption, making data centers a less “green” industry.
Data centers and cloud providers, by 2025, are estimated to consume 20% of the world’s electricity.
Considering these numbers, data centers need to rethink their strategies to become smarter, more productive, and more sustainable (the fourth most pressing issue for data centers today, alongside energy efficiency, operational costs, and security).
What can be done?
From a thermal management perspective, one solution is liquid immersion cooling. This is the practice of submerging computer components (or entire servers) in a conductive liquid (dielectric coolant) with heat but no electricity.
This approach is becoming popular in innovative data centers around the world. IT hardware or servers cooled in this way do not require fans, and the heat exchange between the warm coolant and the chilled water circuit usually takes place through heat exchangers (i.e., heater cores or radiators).
The fluid must have a low enough electrical conductivity to avoid interfering with the normal operation of the computer. If the fluid is somewhat conductive, it may be necessary to insulate certain parts of the components that are susceptible to electromagnetic interference, such as the CPU. For these reasons, it is preferable for the fluid to be insulated.
What’s more, if you are interested in immersion cooling, take a look at our boxtechy immersion cooling products and choose the one that’s right for you!
