As the performance of CPUs and GPUs continues to increase, the heat that these processors generate continues to grow as well. While the work (operations per second) performed per watt also increases, the density of these new generations of servers that contain multiple CPUs and the latest generation of GPUs is also growing.
Air cooling, which brings cooler air over the hot CPUs, relies on the temperature of the inlet air and the amount of air passed over the hot chips. To keep the CPUs within designed thermal envelopes, the inlet temperature and the capacity of the fans to move air (CFM) are critical elements of maintaining a server running at desired clock rates. Air cooling requires high energy usage computer room air conditioning as well as server fans running constantly. To reduce OPEX, liquid cooling is a viable alternative to CRAC and will become more prevalent in the future as CPUs will generate more heat with each new generation.
To learn about Liquid Cooling solutions, get your own copy of this whitepaper from SuperMicro and Intel.
