Moderating the Impact of Integrating Water-Cooled Servers Into Data Centres

Water-cooled IT equipment represents a new paradigm for datacom centre operators. As with any new approach to doing things, education will play a large role in the successful implementation of water cooling. Although most of the general rules for current air-cooled implementations apply, datacom centre operators should have cooling contingency plans; implement cooling system redundancy; deploy critical subsystems, such as pumps that have high reliability and availability; and one should place subsystems such as pumps (water, refrigerant, dielectric) and rack-based cooling systems on uninterruptible power supply (UPS). There are, however, some areas of water cooling that require special attention: temperature control, prevention of condensation, TCS water cleanliness, wetted material requirements and water chemistry.

This article was originally printed in the July 2019 edition of the ASHRAE Journal. Go here to purchase a copy.