Air Cooling vs Liquid Cooling

Air Cooling vs Liquid Cooling

While both air cooling and immersion cooling use a medium (air or liquid) to remove heat from components, there are huge differences in mechanical capabilities, cost-effectiveness, and the amount of computing power that can be supported.

Air cooling pushes air from the outside through a range of devices, including air handlers and computer room air conditioners (CRAC). Cooled air travels through the raised floor into the cold aisle, then through the servers, where it draws heat, and then into the hot aisle. From there, the air returns to the air handler to restart its journey.

In contrast, immersion liquid cooling requires the server to be directly immersed in a fluid that transfers heat more than a thousand times more efficiently than air. This liquid is circulated through a cooling distribution unit (CDU), which dissipates heat through a heat exchanger that returns the liquid to its start-up state.

Air cooling pushes heat through complex mechanisms that cost a lot in money and space. This is in stark contrast to soaking in a non-evaporating liquid. Because the heat in the liquid cooling system is handled by the facility's coolant, the waste heat can even be reused to heat the building's water and air.

The liquid immersion method has a simpler mechanism, requiring only three moving parts. This greatly helps with all aspects of running a data center. Building liquid-cooled data centers is easier, less expensive, equipment fails less frequently, and supports higher computing densities.

performance

In terms of performance, air cooling tops out at around 30 kilowatts per rack, with an efficiency loss of about half that. In contrast, liquid cooling can handle more than 100 kilowatts per rack, and in some cases twice as much. Data centers are increasingly running energy-intensive loads such as artificial intelligence and encryption. These typically employ specialized processors with exponentially increased power consumption.

Location

Air cooling restricts data centers to certain locations where air filtration and other infrastructure fit, while liquid cooling has fewer requirements and can be installed anywhere.

prevent environmental hazards

Server equipment often experiences environmental wear and tear that gradually reduces reliability. Data centers exposed to these elements, such as edge computing sites, face additional pressure. The air contains moisture and small particles that can interfere with the integrity of the system. Immersion coolant packs electronics in "armor" to counter these threats. The oil in an immersion cooler acts as a protective enclosure against dust, oxidation, corrosion, vibration and many other risks. Computer equipment remains safe, and coolant acts continuously to keep operating temperatures low.

In contrast, air cooling introduces air with contaminants that can neutralize IT equipment. Due to the lack of protective fluid, the mean time between failures (MTBF) of conventional systems is shortened. Expensive humidity control systems, maintenance, and other resources provide limited coverage. Air cooling puts servers at risk of compromising stability, while liquid cooling provides environmental protection.

Summarize

Air cooling cannot keep up with growing data center demands. Liquid cooling is coming in to fix things. Not only does it solve all the critical problems with air, but it goes well beyond that. Liquid cooling handles higher server density while reducing noise and power consumption. In addition to its superior cooling capacity, liquid cooling offers several other advantages, such as location independence and low cost. All in all, liquid cooling has enough advantages over air cooling to make it an unbalanced comparison.