UK Firm: Cool Servers in Oil Bath

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

RELATED POSTS:

• Will Rooftop Shrubs Cool Your Data Center?
• Using Outside Air to Cool Data Centers
• Heat vs. Hype in the Data Center
• The Power-Saving Secrets of Google Servers
• HP Promises Savings with New Blade System

About Rich Miller

Rich Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Data Center Knowledge, and has been reporting on the data center sector since 2000. He has tracked the growing impact of high-density computing on the power and cooling of data centers, and the resulting push for improved energy efficiency in these facilities.