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• UK Firm: Cool Servers in Oil Bath

  • By: Rich Miller
    April 11th, 2007
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  A British company has announced plans to cool servers by submerging computer chips in oil to make them more energy efficient, according to New Scientist. The article draws a comparison to deep-fried servers, while Nicholas Carr has dubbed the new approach “bathtub computing.” The technique can cut power consumption in half, according to Peter Hopton, managing director of Very-PC. “You don’t need to drive inefficient fans, or the usual air conditioning,” he told New Scientist. Some details on their unsuual methodology:

  In tests, server racks were immersed in tanks of oil normally used to keep machinery cool. A refrigeration unit positioned below was used to create convection currents that draw heat away from the electronics, which is much more energy efficient than using fans. “Using oil we could chill down to -20

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