IBM Unveils Cooling Technology for Servers
IBM introduced the "Cool Blue," a water-based cooling technology aimed to reduce the heat produced by large x86 server racks.
The "Cool Blue," a technology component that can use the existing chilled water
supply for air conditioning systems already located in the majority of customer
datacenters to reduce server heat emissions by up to 55 percent.
"Cool Blue" can be deployed on any server, enabling customers to ease the burden on existing air conditioning units and potentially lower energy costs by up to 15 percent.
Designed to easily fit on to the IBM eServer Enterprise rack, "Cool Blue," or the IBM eServerTM Rear Door Heat eXchangerTM as it is officially termed, is designed to help customers whose datacenters have reached the limits of cooling capacity, but still have space to add racks of systems. The improved cooling from the Heat eXchanger enables customers to fully populate individual racks, freeing valuable floor space without the need to purchase additional air conditioning units. The Heat eXchanger can also alleviate the issues caused by other vendors' servers in the datacenter where the customer might have cooling challenges.
"IBM has been addressing the cooling needs of customer datacenters for years and the new 'Cool Blue' technology is a giant leap forward in overcoming previously insurmountable air conditioning limitations," said Rod Adkins, vice president of development, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "As customers try to incorporate more processing power into the same datacenter footprint, this breakthrough technology will help them win the war on heat."
HypoVereinsbank, the second largest bank in Germany, selected the Heat eXchanger to reduce heat temperature in their High Performance Computing environment.
Inside the door of the Heat eXchanger, sealed tubes filled with circulating chilled water effectively remove up to 55 percent of the heat generated in a fully populated rack and dissipate it so it is not released into the datacenter. In fact, the Heat eXchanger can remove up to 50,000 BTU of heat generated by a full server rack, based on total rack output.
The updated IBM eServer Cluster 1350 system will be one of the first eServer technologies to deliver support for the Heat eXchanger.
The Heat eXchanger can be easily installed by customers and moved to different racks to address changing cooling requirements. Its design uses standard fittings and couplings and, because there are no moving or electrical parts, helps increase reliability. It can be opened like any rear cover, so serviceability of racks fitted with a Heat eXchanger is as easy as a standard air cooled rack.
Pricing and availability
The IBM eServer Heat eXchanger is generally available today, with pricing starting at $4,299 in the United States. The Heat eXchanger is also available as part of the Cluster 1350, with prices varying per the configuration of the cluster.
"Cool Blue" can be deployed on any server, enabling customers to ease the burden on existing air conditioning units and potentially lower energy costs by up to 15 percent.
Designed to easily fit on to the IBM eServer Enterprise rack, "Cool Blue," or the IBM eServerTM Rear Door Heat eXchangerTM as it is officially termed, is designed to help customers whose datacenters have reached the limits of cooling capacity, but still have space to add racks of systems. The improved cooling from the Heat eXchanger enables customers to fully populate individual racks, freeing valuable floor space without the need to purchase additional air conditioning units. The Heat eXchanger can also alleviate the issues caused by other vendors' servers in the datacenter where the customer might have cooling challenges.
"IBM has been addressing the cooling needs of customer datacenters for years and the new 'Cool Blue' technology is a giant leap forward in overcoming previously insurmountable air conditioning limitations," said Rod Adkins, vice president of development, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "As customers try to incorporate more processing power into the same datacenter footprint, this breakthrough technology will help them win the war on heat."
HypoVereinsbank, the second largest bank in Germany, selected the Heat eXchanger to reduce heat temperature in their High Performance Computing environment.
Inside the door of the Heat eXchanger, sealed tubes filled with circulating chilled water effectively remove up to 55 percent of the heat generated in a fully populated rack and dissipate it so it is not released into the datacenter. In fact, the Heat eXchanger can remove up to 50,000 BTU of heat generated by a full server rack, based on total rack output.
The updated IBM eServer Cluster 1350 system will be one of the first eServer technologies to deliver support for the Heat eXchanger.
The Heat eXchanger can be easily installed by customers and moved to different racks to address changing cooling requirements. Its design uses standard fittings and couplings and, because there are no moving or electrical parts, helps increase reliability. It can be opened like any rear cover, so serviceability of racks fitted with a Heat eXchanger is as easy as a standard air cooled rack.
Pricing and availability
The IBM eServer Heat eXchanger is generally available today, with pricing starting at $4,299 in the United States. The Heat eXchanger is also available as part of the Cluster 1350, with prices varying per the configuration of the cluster.
