The Big Chill: Liquid Cooling’s Forecast for Data Efficiency

Duncan Clubb

Authors

The online world has grown to be completely entwined with our day-to-day activities. It determines how we work, communicate, play and learn. Although the rapid pace of technological change has become normalised, the statistics are still staggering: since 2010, the number of global internet users has more than doubled and internet traffic has surged a staggering 20-fold. This explosive growth in active internet users, surpassing global population growth rates by more than four times, represents a post-industrial revolution.

As we approach this new horizon, the data cloud industry is taking centre stage, continuously expanding to keep up with new developments and demand—from AI to Edge and 5G. With data centres forming the architecture of our online world, the need to maintain the IT kit in optimal conditions within these facilities is paramount .

While air cooling has been the conventional choice for many years, a new variant is emerging to meet the growing demands of the industry: liquid cooling. In simple terms, it works in a in the opposite way to a radiator, using liquid to take heat away from the servers so that they can be kept at an acceptable temperature.

But it’s not just about keeping things chill. “Data centres account for 1% of the world’s electricity consumption and about 0.5% of CO2 emissions” and as the industry is tasked with finding more eco-friendly solutions to manage these facilities and changes, liquid-cooling offers an exciting potential lever in the industry’s sustainability profile.

Increasing Density in the Data Cloud Industry

The data centre industry is experiencing a data deluge like never before, and the adoption of liquid cooling is a cost-effective means of tackling the sizzling heat generated by the ever increasing density of hardware.

Over the years, advancements in technology have led to the development of more powerful servers, storage systems, and GPUs, all of which generate higher levels of heat. As a result, data centres are becoming more densely packed with hardware, making it increasingly challenging to effectively cool them using traditional air-cooling methods.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) is going to drive the need for increased density inside data centres even further. Enter liquid cooling, which offers a compelling solution to the challenges of energy consumption and exciting opportunities for the industry. By intimately connecting with the hardware and whisking heat away, it ensures that data centres can increase without breaking a sweat: "the cooling fluid captures 100% of the server heat, as opposed to 30% in air-cooled solutions”. This improved capability allows data centre providers to maximise their hardware utilisation without compromising on performance or the risk of overheating.

Energy Efficiency: Liquid Cooling's Competitive Edge

One of the most significant advantages of liquid cooling over air cooling is its superior energy efficiency. Air cooling relies on fans and air circulation, which require a substantial amount of energy to maintain the required airflow. In contrast, liquid cooling systems, when properly designed and implemented, can significantly reduce energy consumption.

Liquid cooling achieves this efficiency through several mechanisms. Firstly, the high thermal conductivity of liquids ensures that heat is rapidly absorbed from the components, preventing them from overheating. Secondly, liquid cooling systems can be designed to be more precise in cooling specific areas, eliminating the need to cool an entire data centre uniformly. This targeted cooling approach saves energy by not overcooling or undercooling certain areas. Servers that are liquid cooled no longer require internal fans, so the amount of electricity consumed directly also goes down.

Furthermore, liquid cooling allows data centre facilities to operate at higher ambient temperatures, reducing the need for extensive air conditioning. This not only results in lower energy consumption but also lowers operational costs, making it a financially attractive option for data centre operators. It is also much more straightforward to utilise the heat captured in liquid cooling systems and reuse that energy in district heating networks, for example.

Green Horizons: Environmental Insights

Being conscious of your carbon footprint is now a legally binding target in the UK and the stated goal of many other countries. Traditional air-cooling methods are less efficient and rely on fans and other hardware that consume higher amounts of energy.

By transitioning to liquid cooling, data cloud facilities take steps towards a greener future. A liquid-cooled data centre's energy consumption is only about 35% of that of an equivalent-sized traditional centre. When operating with 100,000 servers, it can annually save approximately 235 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 200,000 tonnes.

Additionally, the heat extracted from data centre hardware can be repurposed for other applications, such as heating nearby buildings, thus maximising resource utilisation.

The future of liquid cooling in the data cloud industry is promising, driven by the industry's growing density and the remarkable energy efficiency it offers. As data centres continue to evolve and scale to meet the demands of the digital age, liquid cooling stands as a viable and sustainable solution.

By reducing energy consumption, lowering operational costs, and minimising environmental impact, liquid cooling could revolutionise the way data cloud facilities operate. As the industry increasingly adopts this innovative technology, we can expect to see more efficient and eco-friendly data centres powering the digital world of tomorrow.

About Cambridge Management Consulting

Cambridge Management Consulting (Cambridge MC) is an international consulting firm that helps companies of all sizes have a better impact on the world. Founded in Cambridge, UK, initially to help the start-up community, Cambridge MC has grown to over 150 consultants working on projects in 20 countries.

Our capabilities focus on supporting the private and public sector with their people, process and digital technology challenges.

For more information visit www.cambridgemc.com or get in touch below.

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