Liquid Cooling

In the two-part series for the publication EdgeIR, Linn Gowen, vice president of business development at 1623 Farnam, begins by explaining how edge data centers could benefit from adopting liquid cooling as an efficient, sustainable alternative to traditional air cooling. The problem, as Linn points out, is that some risk-averse edge data centers have been slow to adopt liquid cooling. The prevailing paradigm, he notes, has been that “liquid cooling was only for hyperscale facilities that needed to fit more density into a smaller space.” But Linn points out that there is one pressing reason why edge centers should consider liquid cooling. Liquid cooling is much more efficient than air cooling. [...]

The data center industry continues to drive innovation, and the forward-thinking providers will embrace new technologies to meet the complex requirements of their customers. One trend that is heating up is liquid cooling. It was estimated that the market size for liquid-based cooling techniques will grow from $1.5B in 2020 to $6.5B in 2027. These deployments signify that high-density racks are a trend that’s here to stay. In 2020, about 29 percent of data centers reported an average density of 10 kW or higher, but by 2025 some anticipate a density of 15 to 20 kW per rack will be the norm. What dynamics are driving rack density increases?  There [...]