Motivair Cool News

February 20th, 2024

Future-Ready Data Centers: Elevating Your Cooling Needs

In the dynamic landscape of the data center market, these facilities have transformed into mission-critical entities, shaping society's daily needs and pioneering groundbreaking innovations. However, the surge in popularity of artificial intelligence-led applications has intensified the challenges faced by data centers, particularly in the realm of cooling modern processors.

Air Cooling vs. Liquid Cooling in the Data Center
Now, the physics of data center cooling has taken center stage, distinguished between air cooling and liquid-cooling approaches.

Air cooling involves the strategic use of CRAHs and CRACS, with the possibility of enhancing it through rear-door heat exchangers to meet varying demands.

In the liquid cooling realm, data center operators can choose from options like:

  • Single-phase immersion cooling
  • Two-phase immersion cooling
  • Single-phase direct liquid cooling
  • Two-phase direct liquid cooling

Liquid Cooling for Rising Rack Densities
The average rack power density today is around 15 kW/rack, but AI workloads, according to industry reports, will command upwards of 60 – 120 kW/rack.

With the accelerating pace of high-density workloads, direct liquid cooling technology will be the bridge for data centers in the AI era. Why?

  • Energy efficiency: Single-Phase DLC uses less energy compared to other data center cooling methods.
  • Peak performance: Single-Phase DLC offers the best performance and ability to scale out to at least 1,500 watts per processor.
  • Safety: Single-Phase DLC utilizes a water-based fluid, making it a safer option for employees and the environment.

Liquid Cooling Innovations for Data Centers
How can you make your data center cooling infrastructure future-ready? Here’s how:

  • Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs): Designed to enable the latest advances in AI from NVIDA and AMD processors. Our CDU portfolio has seven models, ranging in cooling capacity from 105kW to 2.3MW.
  • Rear door heat exchangers (RDHx) in an air-assisted liquid cooling system: Ideal for air-cooled, high-wattage processors like NVIDIA’s H100, Intel’s Ice Lake, and Sapphire Rapids, Motivair's ChilledDoor allows for on-demand cooling on a per rack, row or room level ensuring peak performance.
  • Cold Plates: Scalable technology that delivers thermal performance up to +1,500 watts per processor. Our patented technology is available for the following processors: AMD SP5 Genoa and SP3 Milan, Intel Sapphire Rapids and Ice Lake, and NVIDIA H100, and customer-specified FPGAs, or custom silicon.
  • In-Rack Manifolds: Custom stainless-steel manifold that’s the interface between the cold plate loops in the servers and the CDU.

Evaluating Future Infrastructure Needs
The accelerating pace of change in data centers serves as a call to evaluate infrastructure needs promptly. Coolant distribution units, rear-door heat exchangers, cold plates, and in-rack manifolds have emerged as critical components to consider now and into the future.

To maintain consistent thermal performance at the chip level, a holistic evaluation of cooling technology is essential. This ensures that data centers not only capture improved returns on capital but also reduce environmental impacts while enhancing system reliability and overall performance.

Embracing the future of data center cooling is no longer a one size fits all approach, but a strategic blend of innovation, efficiency, and responsibility.


Connect with your local Motivair product specialist today.

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