On the Floor: Rear-Door Liquid Cooling

Cooled water from the absorption chillers is pumped through pipes beneath the floor to IBM “Cool Blue” heat exchangers (see video demo ^[1]) built into the rear door of each cabinet. Because it doesn’t require server fans, the IBM rear door cooling unit earned bragging rights in a head-to-head vendor “chill off” ^[2] that tested the energy efficiency of vendor cooling products.

The Syracuse data center also incorporates a direct current (DC) power distribution system using technology from Validus DC Power ^[3]. In a typical data center, alternating current (AC) electricity is delivered by a central power plant through the local utility’s electric grid and then converted to DC to power the servers. This conversion process results in power loss. By directly generating DC power on site, transmission and conversion losses are streamlined.

• Microturbines Provide Heat, Power and Cooling ^[4]
• Absorption Chillers: Heat Into Cooling ^[5]
• Reusing Waste Heat in Nearby Buildings ^[6]
• On The Floor: Rear-Door Liquid Cooling

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URL to article: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/inside-ibms-greenest-data-center/on-the-floor-rear-door-liquid-cooling/

URLs in this post:

[1] video demo: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/04/14/a-closer-look-at-rear-door-cooling/

[2] vendor “chill off”: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/06/27/ibm-cool-blue-shines-in-vendor-chill-off/

[3] Validus DC Power: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/06/30/validus-equips-ibmsyracuse-with-dc-power/

[4] Microturbines Provide Heat, Power and Cooling: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/microturbines-provide-heat-power-and-cooling/

[5] Absorption Chillers: Heat Into Cooling: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/absorption-chillers-heat-into-cooling/

[6] Reusing Waste Heat in Nearby Buildings: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/reusing-waste-heat-in-nearby-buildings/

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