Liquid cooled servers: a new choice in the era of big data
The hottest topic in 2023 is undoubtedly the AI big model, and behind it lies the improvement of computing power. The power consumption of processors is also increasing, and in order to maximize their performance, higher heat dissipation efficiency is required. In the case of concurrent computing power, traditional air-cooled technology is prone to machine failure, causing irreversible problems to data. Liquid cooling technology has entered everyone's field of vision, and it has become a cost-effective and efficient temperature control method in AI servers with high computing power density.
Liquid cooling is a technology launched against the background of solving the high density heat dissipation of servers. It was born in the 1980s, but before that, it was mainly used by some large-scale Internet users and high power consumption computing users. The "inflection point" of its industrial explosion occurred in the last two or three years. The liquid cooled server is a product developed under this technology to solve the problems of a large number of users. Liquid cooled server refers to a type of server that injects liquid into the server and takes away the server's heat through cold and hot exchange. Generally speaking, the industry divides liquid cooling into direct cooling and indirect cooling. At present, direct cooling is mainly achieved through immersion liquid cooling technology, which can be divided into phase change and non phase change. Indirect cooling is mainly achieved through cold plate liquid cooling technology.
Immersion liquid cooling:
Immersion liquid cooling submerges all heating components of IT equipment in the coolant to achieve heat dissipation. It is divided into single-phase liquid cooling and phase change liquid cooling based on whether the working fluid undergoes phase change. The cooling liquid after heat absorption is circulated or condensed through methods such as air cooling or water cooling.
Spray liquid cooling:
Spray type liquid cooling relies on pump pressure or gravity drive to accurately spray cooling liquid to the IT equipment circuit board from top to bottom according to the heating element requirements. The heat absorbing cooling liquid is circulated and cooled through methods such as air or liquid cooling.
Cold plate liquid cooling:
Cold plate liquid cooling is non-contact liquid cooling, and the cooling liquid does not directly contact the heating device. Cold plate liquid cooling leads the coolant to the cold plate in contact with the heating element of the IT equipment through a flow channel to export heat. The absorbed coolant is circulated and cooled through methods such as air or liquid cooling.
Compared to air cooling, liquid cooling has advantages such as low energy consumption, high thermal performance , low noise, and low TCO. The cooling capacity of liquid is 1000-3000 times that of air. Liquid cooling technology can achieve advantages such as high density, low noise, low heat transfer temperature difference, and universal natural cooling. Compared with air cooling technology, it has incomparable technological advantages and is an excellent heat dissipation solution that can be applied to scenarios that require significant improvements in computing power, energy efficiency, and deployment density.
With the rise of artificial intelligence, the power of servers is increasing. In order to consider power consumption and environmental requirements, air-cooled servers have reached the limit of heat dissipation in terms of economy and limitations. The emergence of liquid cooled servers has greatly solved user problems, not only achieving efficient heat dissipation efficiency and environmental protection, but also greatly improving server performance. In the future, liquid cooled servers will definitely be the preferred choice for users.
