To cool data center servers, Microsoft is turning to boiling liquids

Translation: Song Yuanyuan
Proofreading: Liu Haifeng

At this data center on the east bank of the Columbia River, emails and other communications sent between Microsoft employees are literally making liquid boil inside a steel holding tank packed with computer servers.

Emails and other communications sent betweenMicrosoft employees are literally making liquid boil inside a steel holdingtank packed with computer servers at this datacenter on the eastern bank of theColumbia River.

Unlike water, the liquid in the couch-shaped tank is harmless to electronic equipment and designed to boil at 122 degrees Fahrenheit, 90 degrees lower than the boiling point of water.

Unlike water, the fluid inside the couch-shapedtank is harmless to electronic equipment and engineered to boil at 122 degreesFahrenheit, 90 degrees lower than the boiling point of water.

The boiling effect generated by the work the servers are doing carries heat away from the computer processors. This low-temperature boiling allows the servers to run continuously at full power without risk of overheating failure.

The boiling effect, which is generated by thework the servers are doing, carries heat away from laboring computerprocessors. The low-temperature boil enables the servers to operatecontinuously at full power without risk of failure due to overheating.

Inside the tank, vapor rising from the boiling fluid contacts a cooled condenser in the tank lid. This causes the vapor to turn into liquid and rain back onto the immersed servers, creating a closed-loop cooling system.

Inside the tank, the vapor rising from the boilingfluid contacts a cooled condenser in the tank lid, which causes the vapor tochange to liquid and rain back onto the immersed servers, creating a closedloop cooling system.

Husam Alissa, principal hardware engineer on the Microsoft data center advanced development team in Redmond, Washington, said, "We are the first cloud provider to run two-phase immersion cooling in a production environment."

"We are thefirst cloud provider that is running two-phase immersion cooling in aproduction environment, said Husam Alissa, a principal hardware engineer onMicrosoft 's team for datacenter advanced development in Redmond, Washington.

 

Moore's Law for the Data Center

Moore 's Law for the datacenter

With the reliable development of air-cooled computer chip technology slowing, Microsoft's next step in its long-term plan is deploying two-phase immersion cooling in a production environment to meet the demand for faster, more powerful data center computers.

The production environment deployment oftwo-phase immersion cooling is the next step in Microsoft 's long-term plan tokeep up with demand for faster, more powerful datacenter computers at a timewhen reliable advances in air-cooled computer chip technology have slowed.

For decades, chip advancements came from the ability to pack more transistors onto the same size chip, roughly doubling the speed of computer processors every two years without increasing their power demands.

For decades, chip advances stemmed from theability to pack more transistors onto the same size chip, roughly doubling thespeed of computer processors every two years without increasing their electricpower demand.

This doubling phenomenon is called Moore's Law, a trend observed in 1965 and predicted to last at least a decade. It continued into the 2010s and is now slowing down.

This doubling phenomenon is called Moore 's Lawafter Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, who observed the trend in 1965 andpredicted it would continue for at least a decade. It held through the 2010sand has now begun to slow.

This is because transistor widths have shrunk to the atomic level and are reaching their physical limits. Meanwhile, Alissa points out that the demand for faster computer processors for high-performance applications like artificial intelligence is accelerating.

That 's because transistor widths have shrunk tothe atomic scale and are reaching a physical limit. Meanwhile, the demand forfaster computer processors for high performance applications such as artificialintelligence has accelerated, Alissa noted.

To meet performance needs, the computing industry has turned to chip architectures that can handle more power. For example, central processing units, or CPUs, have increased from 150 watts to over 300 watts per chip. Graphics processing units (GPUs ) have increased to over 700 watts per chip.

To meet the need for performance, the computingindustry has turned to chip architectures that can handle more electric power.Central processing units, or CPUs, have increased from 150 watts to more than300 watts per chip, for example. Graphics processing units, or GPUs, haveincreased to more than 700 watts per chip.

The more power these processors use, the hotter the chips get. This increased heat has increased cooling requirements to prevent chip failure.

The more electric power pumped through theseprocessors, the hotter the chips get. The increased heat has ramped up coolingrequirements to prevent the chips from malfunctioning.

Christian Belady, distinguished engineer and vice president of Microsoft's data center advanced development group in Redmond, said, "Air cooling isn't enough. That's why we're using immersion cooling, where we can directly boil the chip surfaces."

"Air cooling is not enough, said ChristianBelady, distinguished engineer and vice president of Microsoft 's datacenteradvanced development group in Redmond. That 's what 's driving us to immersioncooling, where we can directly boil off the surfaces of the chip.

He noted that heat transfer in liquid is more efficient than in air.

Heat transfer in liquids, he noted, is orders of magnitude more efficient than air.

He added that, in addition, the shift to liquid cooling brings a Moore's Law-like mindset to the entire data center.

What 's more, he added, the switch to liquid cooling brings a Moore 's Law-like mindset to the whole of the datacenter.

He said: "Liquid cooling enables us to go denser, and thus continue the Moore's Law trend at the data center level."

"Liquid cooling enables us to go denser, and thus continue the Moore 's Law trend at the datacenter level, "he said.

Lessons learned from cryptocurrency miners

Lesson learned from cryptocurrency miners

Belady pointed out that liquid cooling is a proven technology. Today, most cars on the road rely on it to prevent engines from overheating. Several technology companies, including Microsoft, are experimenting with cold plate technology, which cools servers by piping liquid through metal plates.

Liquid cooling is a proven technology, Belady noted. Most cars on the road today rely on it to prevent engines from overheating. Several technology companies, including Microsoft, are experimenting with cold plate technology, in which liquid is piped through metal plates, to chill servers.

Participants in the cryptocurrency industry pioneered liquid immersion cooling for computing equipment, using it to cool the chips that log digital currency transactions.

Participants in the cryptocurrency industry pioneered liquid immersion cooling for computing equipment, using it to cool the chips that log digital currency transactions.

Microsoft investigated liquid immersion as a cooling solution for AI and other high-performance computing applications. Among other things, the investigation showed that two-phase immersion cooling could reduce the power consumption of any given server by 5% to 15 %.

Microsoft investigated liquid immersion as a cooling solution for high-performance computing applications such as AI. Among other things, the investigation revealed that two-phase immersion cooling reduced power consumption for any given server by 5% to 15%.

These findings prompted the Microsoft team to work with data center IT system manufacturer and designer Wiwynn to develop a two-phase immersion cooling solution. The first solution is now running at Microsoft's data center in Quincy.

The findings motivated the Microsoft team to work with Wiwynn, a datacenter IT system manufacturer and designer, to develop a two-phase immersion cooling solution. The first solution is now running at Microsoft 's datacenter in Quincy.

The couch-shaped tank is filled with a specially engineered fluid from 3M. 3M's liquid coolant has dielectric properties that make it an effective insulator, allowing the servers to operate normally while fully immersed in the liquid.

That couch-shaped tank is filled with an engineered fluid from 3M. 3M 's liquid cooling fluids have dielectric properties that make them effective insulators, allowing the servers to operate normally while fully immersed in the fluid.

According to Marcus Fontoura, a technical fellow and corporate vice president at Microsoft who is the chief architect of Azure compute, This shift to two-phase liquid immersion cooling enables increased flexibility for the efficient management of cloud resources, according to Marcus Fontoura, a technical fellow and corporate vice president at Microsoft who is the chief architect of Azure compute.

This shift to two-phase liquid immersion cooling enables increased flexibility for the efficient management of cloud resources, according to Marcus Fontoura, a technical fellow and corporate vice president at Microsoft who is the chief architect of Azure compute.

For example, software that manages cloud resources can allocate sudden spikes in data center compute demand to servers in liquid-cooled tanks. This is because these servers can operate at higher power levels

For example, software that manages cloud resources can allocate sudden spikes in datacenter compute demand to the servers in the liquid cooled tanks. That - a process called overclocking –a process called overclocking –without risk of overheating.

Fontoura said: "For example, when you get to 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock, there will be a huge spike in Teams because people are joining meetings at the same time." "Immersion cooling gives us more flexibility to handle these sudden workloads."

"For instance, we know that with Teams when you get to 1 o 'clock or 2 o 'clock, there is a huge spike because people are joining meetings at the same time, "Fontoura said. "Immersion cooling gives us more flexibility to deal with these burst-y workloads. ”

 

Sustainable data centers

Sustainable datacenters

Fontoura added that adding two-phase immersion-cooled servers to the mix of available computing resources will also allow machine learning software to manage these resources more efficiently across the data center ( from power and cooling to maintenance personnel).

Adding the two-phase immersion cooled servers to the mix of available compute resources will also allow machine learning software to manage these resources more efficiently across the datacenter, from power and cooling to maintenance technicians, Fontoura added.

He said: "We will not only have a huge impact on efficiency, but also a huge impact on sustainability, because you need to ensure that there is no waste, and that every piece of IT equipment we deploy is well utilized." “We will have not only a huge impact on efficiency, but also a huge impact on sustainability because you make sure that there is not wastage, that every piece of IT equipment that we deploy will be well utilized,”

“We will have not only a huge impact on efficiency, but also a huge impact on sustainability because you make sure that there is not wastage, that every piece of IT equipment that we deploy will be well utilized, "he said.

Liquid cooling is also a waterless technology, which will help Microsoft achieve its commitment to replenish more water than it consumes by the end of this century.

Liquid cooling is also a waterless technology, which will help Microsoft meet its commitment to replenish more water than it consumes by the end of this decade.

The cooling coils that run through the tank and enable the vapor to condense are connected to a separate closed-loop system that uses fluid to transfer heat from the tank to a dry cooler outside the tank container. Because the fluid in these coils is always warmer than the surrounding air, there is no need to spray water to condition the air for evaporative cooling, Alissa explained.

The cooling coils that run through the tank and enable the vapor to condense are connected to a separate closed loop system that uses fluid to transfer heat from the tank to a dry cooler outside the tank ’s container. Because the fluid in these coils is always warmer than the ambient air, there ’s no need to spray water to condition the air for evaporative cooling, Alissa explained.

Microsoft, together with infrastructure industry partners, is also researching how to operate the tanks in ways that mitigate fluid loss and have little to no impact on the environment.

Microsoft, together with infrastructure industry partners, is also investigating how to run the tanks in ways that mitigate fluid loss and will have little to no impact on the environment.

Azure Ioannis Manousakis, Principal Software Engineer “If done correctly, two-phase immersion cooling will simultaneously meet all our cost, reliability, and performance requirements, with essentially a fraction of the energy consumption compared to air cooling,”

“If done right, two-phase immersion cooling will attain all our cost, reliability and performance requirements simultaneously with essentially a fraction of the energy spend compared to air cooling, ”said Ioannis Manousakis, a principal software engineer with Azure.

 

‘We brought the sea to the servers’

‘We brought the sea to the servers ’

Microsoft’s in-depth research into two-phase immersion cooling is part of the company’s multi-pronged strategy to make data centers more sustainable and efficient to build, operate, and maintain.

Microsoft ’s investigation into two-phase immersion cooling is part of the company ’s multi-pronged strategy to make datacenters more sustainable and efficient to build, operate and maintain.

For example, the data center advanced development team is also exploring the potential to use hydrogen fuel cells instead of diesel generators for backup power generation at data centers.

For example, the datacenter advanced development team is also exploring the potential to use hydrogen fuel cells instead of diesel generators for backup power generation at datacenters.

The liquid cooling project is similar to Microsoft’s Project Natick, which is exploring the potential of underwater data centers that are quick to deploy and can operate for years on the seabed sealed inside submarine-like tubes without any on-site maintenance by people.

The liquid cooling project is similar to Microsoft ’s Project Natick, which is exploring the potential of underwater datacenters that are quick to deploy and can operate for years on the seabed sealed inside submarine-like tubes without any onsite maintenance by people.

Instead of an engineered fluid, the underwater data center is filled with dry nitrogen air. The servers are cooled with fans and a heat exchange plumbing system that pumps piped seawater through the sealed tube.

Instead of an engineered fluid, the underwater datacenter is filled with dry nitrogen air. The servers are cooled with fans and a heat exchange plumbing system that pumps piped seawater through thesealed tube.

From Project Natick A key finding from Project Natick is that the servers on the seafloor experienced one-eighth the failure rate of replica servers in a land data center. Preliminary analysis indicates that the lack of humidity and corrosive effects of oxygen were primarily responsible for the superior performance of the servers underwater.

A key finding from Project Natick is that the servers on the seafloor experienced one-eighth the failure rate of replicaservers in a land datacenter. Preliminary analysis indicates that the lack of humidity and corrosive effects of oxygen were primarily responsible for the superior performance of the servers underwater.

Alissa Alissa anticipates that the servers in the liquid immersion tank will experience similar superior performance. “We brought the sea to the servers, rather than putting the data center under the sea,” he said.

Alissa anticipates the servers inside the liquid immersion tank will experience similar superior performance. “We brought the sea to the servers rather than put the datacenter under the sea, "he said.

 

The future

The future

If the servers in the immersion tank experience reduced failure rates as anticipated, Microsoft could switch to a model where components are not immediately replaced when they fail. This would limit vapor loss and allow tank deployment in remote, difficult-to-service locations.

If the servers in the immersion tank experiencereduced failure rates as anticipated, Microsoft could move to a model where components are not immediately replaced when they fail. This would limit vapor loss as well as allow tank deployment in remote, hard-to-service locations.

Furthermore, Belady noted that the ability to densely pack servers in the tank enables a re-envisioned server architecture that is optimized for low-latency, high-performance applications and low-maintenance operation.

What ’s more, the ability to densely pack servers in the tank enables a re-envisioned server architecture that ’s optimized for low-latency, high-performance applications as well as low-maintenance operation, Belady noted.

For example, such a tank could be deployed under a 5G cellular communications tower in the middle of a city for applications such as self-driving cars.

Such a tank, for example, could be deployed under a 5G cellular communications tower in the middle of a city for applications such as self-driving cars.

To date, Microsoft There is only one tank running workloads in a hyperscale data center. Over the next few months, the Microsoft team will conduct a series of tests to prove the viability of the tank and this technology.

For now, Microsoft has one tank running workloads in a hyperscale datacenter. For the next several months, the Microsoft team will perform a series of tests to prove the viability of the tank and the technology.

Belady Said: "The first step is to make people comfortable with this concept and show that we can run production workloads."

"This first step is about making people feel comfortable with the concept and showing we can run production workloads," Belady said.

At this data center on the east bank of the Columbia River, emails and other communications sent between Microsoft employees are literally making liquid boil inside a steel holding tank packed with computer servers.

Emails and other communications sent betweenMicrosoft employees are literally making liquid boil inside a steel holdingtank packed with computer servers at this datacenter on the eastern bank of theColumbia River.

Unlike water, the liquid in the couch-shaped tank is harmless to electronic equipment and designed to boil at 122 degrees Fahrenheit, 90 degrees lower than the boiling point of water.

Unlike water, the fluid inside the couch-shapedtank is harmless to electronic equipment and engineered to boil at 122 degreesFahrenheit, 90 degrees lower than the boiling point of water.

The boiling effect generated by the work the servers are doing carries heat away from the computer processors. This low-temperature boiling allows the servers to run continuously at full power without risk of overheating failure.

The boiling effect, which is generated by thework the servers are doing, carries heat away from laboring computerprocessors. The low-temperature boil enables the servers to operatecontinuously at full power without risk of failure due to overheating.

Inside the tank, vapor rising from the boiling fluid contacts a cooled condenser in the tank lid. This causes the vapor to turn into liquid and rain back onto the immersed servers, creating a closed-loop cooling system.

Inside the tank, the vapor rising from the boilingfluid contacts a cooled condenser in the tank lid, which causes the vapor tochange to liquid and rain back onto the immersed servers, creating a closedloop cooling system.

Husam Alissa, principal hardware engineer on the Microsoft data center advanced development team in Redmond, Washington, said, "We are the first cloud provider to run two-phase immersion cooling in a production environment."

"We are thefirst cloud provider that is running two-phase immersion cooling in aproduction environment, said Husam Alissa, a principal hardware engineer onMicrosoft 's team for datacenter advanced development in Redmond, Washington.

 

Moore's Law for the Data Center

Moore 's Law for the datacenter

With the reliable development of air-cooled computer chip technology slowing, Microsoft's next step in its long-term plan is deploying two-phase immersion cooling in a production environment to meet the demand for faster, more powerful data center computers.

The production environment deployment oftwo-phase immersion cooling is the next step in Microsoft 's long-term plan tokeep up with demand for faster, more powerful datacenter computers at a timewhen reliable advances in air-cooled computer chip technology have slowed.

For decades, chip advancements came from the ability to pack more transistors onto the same size chip, roughly doubling the speed of computer processors every two years without increasing their power demands.

For decades, chip advances stemmed from theability to pack more transistors onto the same size chip, roughly doubling thespeed of computer processors every two years without increasing their electricpower demand.

This doubling phenomenon is called Moore's Law, a trend observed in 1965 and predicted to last at least a decade. It continued into the 2010s and is now slowing down.

This doubling phenomenon is called Moore 's Lawafter Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, who observed the trend in 1965 andpredicted it would continue for at least a decade. It held through the 2010sand has now begun to slow.

This is because transistor widths have shrunk to the atomic level and are reaching their physical limits. Meanwhile, Alissa points out that the demand for faster computer processors for high-performance applications like artificial intelligence is accelerating.

That 's because transistor widths have shrunk tothe atomic scale and are reaching a physical limit. Meanwhile, the demand forfaster computer processors for high performance applications such as artificialintelligence has accelerated, Alissa noted.

To meet performance needs, the computing industry has turned to chip architectures that can handle more power. For example, central processing units, or CPUs, have increased from 150 watts to over 300 Watts or more. Graphics processing units (GPUs) have increased to over 700 watts per chip.

To meet the need for performance, the computingindustry has turned to chip architectures that can handle more electric power.Central processing units, or CPUs, have increased from 150 watts to more than300 watts per chip, for example. Graphics processing units, or GPUs, haveincreased to more than 700 watts per chip.

The more power these processors use, the hotter the chips get. This increased heat has increased cooling requirements to prevent chip failure.

The more electric power pumped through theseprocessors, the hotter the chips get. The increased heat has ramped up coolingrequirements to prevent the chips from malfunctioning.

Christian Belady, distinguished engineer and vice president of Microsoft's data center advanced development group in Redmond, said, "Air cooling isn't enough. That's why we're using immersion cooling, where we can directly boil the chip surfaces."

"Air cooling is not enough, said ChristianBelady, distinguished engineer and vice president of Microsoft 's datacenter advanced development group in Redmond. "That's what's driving us to immersion cooling, where we can directly boil off the surfaces of the chip."

He noted that heat transfer in liquid is more efficient than in air.

Heat transfer in liquids, he noted, is orders of magnitude more efficient than air.

He added that, in addition, the shift to liquid cooling brings a Moore's Law-like mindset to the entire data center.

What 's more, he added, the switch to liquid cooling brings a Moore 's Law-like mindset to the whole of the datacenter.

He said: "Liquid cooling enables us to go denser, and thus continue the Moore's Law trend at the data center level."

"Liquid cooling enables us to go denser, and thus continue the Moore 's Law trend at the datacenter level, "he said.

 

Lessons learned from cryptocurrency miners

Lesson learned from cryptocurrency miners

Belady pointed out that liquid cooling is a proven technology. Today, most cars on the road rely on it to prevent engines from overheating. Several technology companies, including Microsoft, are experimenting with cold plate technology, which cools servers by piping liquid through metal plates.

Liquid cooling is a proven technology, Belady noted. Most cars on the road today rely on it to prevent engines from overheating. Several technology companies, including Microsoft, are experimenting with cold plate technology, in which liquid is piped through metal plates, to chill servers.

Participants in the cryptocurrency industry pioneered liquid immersion cooling for computing equipment, using it to cool the chips that log digital currency transactions.

Participants in the cryptocurrency industry pioneered liquid immersion cooling for computing equipment, using it to cool the chips that log digital currency transactions.

 

Microsoft investigated liquid immersion as a cooling solution for AI and other high-performance computing applications. Among other things, the investigation showed that two-phase immersion cooling could reduce the power consumption of any given server by 5% to 15 %.

Microsoft investigated liquid immersion as a cooling solution for high-performance computing applications such as AI. Among other things, the investigation revealed that two-phase immersion cooling reduced power consumption for any given server by 5% to 15%.

These findings prompted the Microsoft team to work with data center IT system manufacturer and designer Wiwynn to develop a two-phase immersion cooling solution. The first solution is now running at Microsoft's data center in Quincy.

The findings motivated the Microsoft team to work with Wiwynn, a datacenter IT system manufacturer and designer, to develop a two-phase immersion cooling solution. The first solution is now running at Microsoft 's datacenter in Quincy.

The couch-shaped tank is filled with a specially engineered fluid from 3M. 3M's liquid coolant has dielectric properties that make it an effective insulator, allowing the servers to operate normally while fully immersed in the liquid.

That couch-shaped tank is filled with an engineered fluid from 3M. 3M 's liquid cooling fluids have dielectric properties that make them effective insulators, allowing the servers to operate normally while fully immersed in the fluid.

According to Marcus Fontoura, a technical fellow and corporate vice president at Microsoft who is the chief architect of Azure compute, This shift to two-phase liquid immersion cooling enables increased flexibility for the efficient management of cloud resources, according to Marcus Fontoura, a technical fellow and corporate vice president at Microsoft who is the chief architect of Azure compute.

This shift to two-phase liquid immersion cooling enables increased flexibility for the efficient management of cloud resources, according to Marcus Fontoura, a technical fellow and corporate vice president at Microsoft who is the chief architect of Azure compute.

 

For example, software that manages cloud resources can allocate sudden spikes in data center compute demand to servers in liquid-cooled tanks. This is because these servers can operate at higher power levels

For example, software that manages cloud resources can allocate sudden spikes in datacenter compute demand to the servers in the liquid cooled tanks. That 's because these servers can run at elevated power - a process called overclocking –without risk of overheating.

Fontoura said: "For example, when you get to 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock, there will be a huge spike in Teams because people are joining meetings at the same time." "Immersion cooling gives us more flexibility to handle these sudden workloads."

"For instance, we know that with Teams when you get to 1 o 'clock or 2 o 'clock, there is a huge spike because people are joining meetings at the same time, "Fontoura said. "Immersion cooling gives us more flexibility to deal with these burst-y workloads."

Sustainable data centers

Sustainable datacenters

Fontoura added that adding two-phase immersion-cooled servers to the mix of available computing resources will also allow machine learning software to manage these resources more efficiently across the data center ( from power and cooling to maintenance personnel).

Adding the two-phase immersion cooled servers to the mix of available compute resources will also allow machine learning software to manage these resources more efficiently across the datacenter, from power and cooling to maintenance technicians, Fontoura added.

He said: "We will not only have a huge impact on efficiency, but also a huge impact on sustainability, because you need to ensure that there is no waste, and that every piece of IT equipment we deploy is well utilized." “We will have not only a huge impact on efficiency, but also a huge impact on sustainability because you make sure that there is not wastage, that every piece of IT equipment that we deploy will be well utilized,”

“We will have not only a huge impact on efficiency, but also a huge impact on sustainability because you make sure that there is not wastage, that every piece of IT equipment that we deploy will be well utilized, "he said.

 

Liquid cooling is also a waterless technology, which will help Microsoft achieve its commitment to replenish more water than it consumes by the end of this century.

Liquid cooling is also a waterless technology, which will help Microsoft meet its commitment to replenish more water than it consumes by the end of this decade.

The cooling coils that run through the tank and enable the vapor to condense are connected to a separate closed-loop system that uses fluid to transfer heat from the tank to a dry cooler outside the tank container. Because the fluid in these coils is always warmer than the surrounding air, there is no need to spray water to condition the air for evaporative cooling, Alissa explained.

The cooling coils that run through the tank and enable the vapor to condense are connected to a separate closed loop system that uses fluid to transfer heat from the tank to a dry cooler outside the tank ’s container. Because the fluid in these coils is always warmer than the ambient air, there ’s no need to spray water to condition the air for evaporative cooling, Alissa explained.

Microsoft, together with infrastructure industry partners, is also researching how to operate the tanks in ways that mitigate fluid loss and have little to no impact on the environment.

Microsoft, together with infrastructure industry partners, is also investigating how to run the tanks in ways that mitigate fluid loss and will have little to no impact on the environment.

Azure Ioannis Manousakis, Principal Software Engineer “If done correctly, two-phase immersion cooling will simultaneously meet all our cost, reliability, and performance requirements, with essentially a fraction of the energy consumption compared to air cooling,”

“If done right, two-phase immersion cooling will attain all our cost, reliability and performance requirements simultaneously with essentially a fraction of the energy spend compared to air cooling, ”said Ioannis Manousakis, a principal software engineer with Azure.

 

‘We brought the sea to the servers’

‘We brought the sea to the servers ’

Microsoft’s in-depth research into two-phase immersion cooling is part of the company’s multi-pronged strategy to make data centers more sustainable and efficient to build, operate, and maintain.

Microsoft ’s investigation into two-phase immersion cooling is part of the company ’s multi-pronged strategy to make datacenters more sustainable and efficient to build, operate and maintain.

For example, the data center advanced development team is also exploring the potential to use hydrogen fuel cells instead of diesel generators for backup power generation at data centers.

For example, the datacenter advanced development team is also exploring the potential to use hydrogen fuel cells instead of diesel generators for backup power generation at datacenters.

The liquid cooling project is similar to Microsoft’s Project Natick, which is exploring the potential of underwater data centers that are quick to deploy and can operate for years on the seabed sealed inside submarine-like tubes without any on-site maintenance by people.

The liquid cooling project is similar to Microsoft ’s Project Natick, which is exploring the potential of underwater datacenters that are quick to deploy and can operate for years on the seabed sealed inside submarine-like tubes without any onsite maintenance by people.

Instead of an engineered fluid, the underwater data center is filled with dry nitrogen air. The servers are cooled with fans and a heat exchange plumbing system that pumps piped seawater through the sealed tube.

Instead of an engineered fluid, the underwater datacenter is filled with dry nitrogen air. The servers are cooled with fans and a heat exchange plumbing system that pumps piped seawater through thesealed tube.

From Project Natick A key finding from Project Natick is that the servers on the seafloor experienced one-eighth the failure rate of replica servers in a land data center. Preliminary analysis indicates that the lack of humidity and corrosive effects of oxygen were primarily responsible for the superior performance of the servers underwater.

A key finding from Project Natick is that the servers on the seafloor experienced one-eighth the failure rate of replicaservers in a land datacenter. Preliminary analysis indicates that the lack of humidity and corrosive effects of oxygen were primarily responsible for the superior performance of the servers underwater.

Alissa Alissa anticipates that the servers in the liquid immersion tank will experience similar superior performance. “We brought the sea to the servers, rather than putting the data center under the sea,” he said.

Alissa anticipates the servers inside the liquid immersion tank will experience similar superior performance. “We brought the sea to the servers rather than put the datacenter under the sea, "he said.

Azure Ioannis Manousakis, principal software engineer A blade server is removed from a two-phase immersion cooling tank at a Microsoft datacenter. By Gene Twedt Photographed for Microsoft.

Ioannis Manousakis, a principal software engineer with Azure, removes a server blade from a two-phase immersion cooling tank at a Microsoft datacenter. Photo by Gene Twedt for Microsoft.

 

The future

The future

If the servers in the immersion tank experience reduced failure rates as anticipated, Microsoft could switch to a model where components are not immediately replaced when they fail. This would limit vapor loss and allow tank deployment in remote, difficult-to-service locations.

If the servers in the immersion tank experiencereduced failure rates as anticipated, Microsoft could move to a model where components are not immediately replaced when they fail. This would limit vapor loss as well as allow tank deployment in remote, hard-to-service locations.

Furthermore, Belady noted that the ability to densely pack servers in the tank enables a re-envisioned server architecture that is optimized for low-latency, high-performance applications and low-maintenance operation.

What ’s more, the ability to densely pack servers in the tank enables a re-envisioned server architecture that ’s optimized for low-latency, high-performance applications as well as low-maintenance operation, Belady noted.

For example, such a tank could be deployed under a 5G cellular communications tower in the middle of a city for applications such as self-driving cars.

Such a tank, for example, could be deployed under a 5G cellular communications tower in the middle of a city for applications such as self-driving cars.

To date, Microsoft There is only one tank running workloads in a hyperscale data center. Over the next few months, the Microsoft team will conduct a series of tests to prove the viability of the tank and this technology.

For now, Microsoft has one tank running workloads in a hyperscale datacenter. For the next several months, the Microsoft team will perform a series of tests to prove the viability of the tank and the technology.

Belady Said: "The first step is to make people comfortable with this concept and show that we can run production workloads."

"This first step is about making people feel comfortable with the concept and showing we can run production workloads," Belady said.

 

Source: CDCC

 

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