Data Center Cooling Techniques that Startups Must Adapt to in 2023
Data center facilities need to work on standard temperatures and humidity levels to deliver better and more efficient outputs. This requirement is fulfilled by the use of data center cooling techniques.
Data cooling, in common terminology, refers to the collective equipment, techniques, tools, and processes that facilitate ideal functional temperature within a data center facility.
According to the thermal guidelines of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), it is recommended that the ideal temperature for server inlets should be between 64.4° F and 80.6° F and relative humidity between 40% and 60%.
Excess heating and humidification can lead to damaged and malfunctioned equipment, which, in turn, would lead to economic losses for businesses.
In order to counteract this risk, data center cooling technologies are adopted, which replace the heated air with cooler air, thereby protecting the delicate electrical components and appliances.
In recent times, the data center cooling market has been experiencing growth, and various innovations are taking place in the industry. Major companies, such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, are integrating data center cooling technologies to facilitate seamless operations.
With a boost in the data center vertical, the need for more data cooling solutions arises. This is a great opportunity for startups to invest in the data center cooling market.
The data center cooling market has seen significant growth throughout the years. Innovations in data center cooling have made these technologies more efficient and cost-effective.
According to a report by BIS Research, the global data center cooling market accounted for $17.82 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.99% and reach $44.52 billion by 2027.
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Types of Data Center Cooling Techniques
Data center cooling techniques or solutions are of the following three types: -
· Air cooling, which includes air conditioners, air handling units, chillers, and cooling towers
· Liquid cooling, which envelopes direct (cold plate and immersion cooling) and indirect cooling (in-rack and in-row cooling) techniques
· Free cooling (ventilation)
Traditional data centers still use air conditioning for data center cooling purposes. On the other hand, modern data center units integrate innovative immersion cooling or liquid cooling techniques, which are also more sustainable and more efficient than older techniques.
Modern Data Center Cooling Techniques Trending in 2023
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Automatic Cooling
Data center cooling operations can now be automatically controlled and managed by AI. This AI-driven system collects data points from sensors every five minutes.
AI algorithms predict the negative and positive effects on energy usage with different types of actions or system operations.
AI-assisted automatic cooling also saves energy expenditure, earlier used for cooling in other techniques. It can also recognize faults in the cooling systems that may prevent system collapse or failure.
In 2010, Google implemented AI for data center cooling purposes, which now also involves the use of neural networks.
Thus, AI integration in data center cooling has become the need of the hour.
2. Calibrated Vector Cooling (CVC)
Calibrated vector cooling (CVC) is an air-cooling technique that replaces heated air with cooler air. This data center cooling technique was first developed and implemented by IBM in 2005 to be used with the blade server series.
CVC is an efficient air-cooling technique that provides an optimized flow of cool air in computer and server systems.
CVC improves the efficiency of highly component-dense systems by replacing the heated air with refrigerated air, even in the most delicate and intricate parts of such systems.
This, in turn, decreases the device temperatures, which increases the life and efficiency of the device and limits the required number of internal cooling fans.
3. Geothermal Cooling
Geothermal cooling is a cost-effective and sustainable air-cooling technology. Although the technique resembles traditional air conditioning, the ground is used as its heat sink.
The geothermal cooling system uses closed-loop piping filled with water or coolant that flows through vertical underground wells with a heat- transferring fill. An important architecture of the system includes an indoor handling unit and underground water pipes.
The components within the system are activated by pumping and circulating water through a heat exchanger and then returning the water to the same water source.
Geothermal cooling is considered to be a cost-effective and energy-saving technology as the operating costs are lowered, and no fuels are burned, which ultimately saves electricity.
It is more long-lasting than traditional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) technology and has thus become a need of the modern world.
4. Direct-to-Chip Cooling
Liquid data cooling techniques have revolutionized the data center cooling sector. Direct-to-chip cooling is one of the umbrella techniques covered under liquid data center cooling.
Direct-to-chip cooling involves passing liquid coolant to chips through tubes. This coolant absorbs and removes heat directly from processors, providing ideal temperatures for the data processors and chips.
Direct-to-chip cooling reduces energy consumption as the liquid cooling technique decreases the airflow rate involved in the air-cooling process.
Through the direct-to-chip cooling technique, the equipment can support higher chip densities as cooling is more precise and specifically targeted.
5. Two-Phase Immersion Cooling
Two-phase immersion cooling is a new and innovative data center cooling technology.
In a two-phase immersion cooling system, electronic components are immersed in a bath of dielectric heat transfer liquid, which is a better conductor of heat than air, water, or oil.
At a low boiling point of 50°C, the fluid forms vapor on interaction with heated elements; this vapor handles heat transfer passively.
Two-phase immersion cooling is an efficient, sustainable, and reliable cooling technology. Additionally, it provides higher computing densities with lesser space occupied by devices, as there is no requirement for traditional heat sinks or cooling fans.
Devices being closely placed increase computing power up to 10 times while utilizing the same space.
6. Micro-Convective Cooling
Micro-convective cooling is an innovative liquid data center cooling developed by JetCool, a U.S.-based company, in 2019.
Micro-convective liquid cooling involves the use of minuscule fluid jets in compact cooling modules, which leads to more efficient and targeted cooling. The turbulent flow of the jets is highly effective as the heat generated is removed through perpendicular flow over the device.
The technology aims to improve the performance of the densest computing profiles.
This increases the rate of heat transfer and eliminates the use of thermal interface materials.
This data center cooling technology could revolutionize the cooling techniques in the electronics powering aerospace, electric vehicles, and AI data centers.
Conclusion
There are ample opportunities that emphasize the need for data center facilities with the integration of new cooling technologies. Improved and optimized cooling methods can make data center infrastructure management (DCIM) easier.
Modern data center cooling technologies will, in turn, increase the number of edge data centers. Customers’ preference for liquid data center cooling and immersion cooling technology is changing the global market perspective. Emerging innovations that are cost-effective and environment-friendly are being incorporated by data centers.
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