DownUnder GeoSolutions (DUG) has four data centres have been recently upgraded and DUG’s global compute power now exceeds 50 PF (single-precision petaflops).
Petaflop supercomputers generate a lot of heat and need efficient cooling technology. Installations such as these are traditionally air-cooled, which is inefficient, expensive, and environmentally unfriendly. DUG has developed (Patent Publication WA 2017/091862 A1) an advanced, flexible, and modular dielectric-fluid cooling solution which greatly reduces energy usage and costs and increases the life and efficiency of the hardware.
The cooling system fully submerges standard, high-performance computing (HPC) servers into specially-designed tanks that are filled with polyalphaolefin dielectric fluid. The fluid is non-toxic, non-flammable, biodegradable, non-polar, has low viscosity, and most importantly, will not conduct electricity. The unique part of this design is that the heat exchangers are very simple and submerged in the tank with the computer equipment, meaning that no dielectric fluid ever leaves the tank. A water loop runs through the rooms and to each heat exchanger.
Petaflop supercomputers companies need to spend half of their revenue on their compute centers. Energy use can be a significant expense in a conventional data centre. With DUG Cool, the thermal qualities of the fluid mean that condensed water-cooling chillers can be used rather than refrigeration. This saves 25%-30% of total power usage. Removing all server fans, which aren’t needed in a fluid-immersion system, reduces power consumption by a further 20%. That’s a total saving of up to 45%.
The di-electric fluid is over 1000 times more thermally effective versus air cooling. It provides far greater thermal stability and prevents runaway heat events.
The initial DUG McCloud data hall has 15 MW of power, which will house a 250 petaflop (single-precision) machine once fully installed. Power, room, and plans are in hand to expand the facility beyond an exaflop.
The DUG McCloud data hall is one of the greenest computer rooms on earth with a PUE of 1.03 thanks to DUG’s patented cooling solution, DUG Cool.
UG’s HPC achieves an average power density across the effective Data Hall space in excess of 8,500 Watts/sq m (910 W/sq ft) making it seven times more dense than conventional high-density data center space.
SOURCES- DUG Technology
Written By Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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The need to dump heat makes Toronto a good place for a supercomputer center, though anyplace beside a deep lake in a region that gets real winter would also do.
http://buildipedia.com/aec-pros/engineering-news/torontos-deep-lake-water-cooling-system