The Best Solution for Pursuing Server Performance and Business Sustainable Development

Humanity faces several pressing challenges: global warming, environmental pollution, extreme weather, energy shortage, and the health and socioeconomic repercussions brought on by COVID-19. Organizations private and public across the world are working together toward a more sustainable future. Efforts in the public sector can be seen in the Kyoto Convention in 1999, the 2015 Paris Agreement, and the Glasgow Climate Pact in 2021. In the private sector, in order to contribute to the goal of “net zero by 2050”, enterprises often engage in programs related to CSR (corporate social responsibility), ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance), and SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).

To elaborate, the concept of net zero is to minimize the emission of greenhouse gases. Emissions can also be controlled with methods such as “carbon capture and storage” (CCS) and “carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration” (CCUS). Forests and oceans may also be used as “carbon sinks”. All these are ways of reducing humanity’s carbon footprint.

In the modern digital world, there are many groundbreaking technological innovations: 5G, the metaverse, extended reality, autonomous vehicles—to name a few! All these inventions rely to a degree on data centers—whether it is for data storage or cloud computing. The process is exacerbated by the growing number of enterprises and private persons engaged in cloud migration, and the acceleration of the world’s overall digitization process. According to a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency, EIA, data centers consume 1% of all the world’s electricity, and made up 0.3% of the world’s carbon emissions in 2020. Since energy requirements are expected to increase, how to facilitate business growth without pumping out more carbon has become an issue that all enterprises are facing.

The introduction of immersion cooling to server solutions is an innovative way for data centers to engage in a low carbon transformation while enhancing performance and energy conservation. A data center has a lot to gain by incorporating immersion cooling technology: namely, scalability, faster computing, better performance, lower costs, and better overall reliability.

Immersion cooling involves submerging the servers directly into a bath of nonconductive dielectric fluid. Heat generated by the components is conducted directly into the liquid without the need of fans, heatsinks, or other peripheral parts. Immersion cooling can be further categorized as either single-phase or two-phase; the difference lies in how the heated coolant dissipates the thermal energy. Single-phase immersion cooling uses an outside unit, called a coolant distribution unit (CDU), to remove heat from the coolant before it is piped back into the tank. Two-phase immersion cooling relies on a natural recurring cycle of vaporization and condensation within the same sealed tank to get rid of the heat. The vapors are chilled by a lid or coil condenser at the top of the tank, which allows the condensation to flow back into the coolant bath to restart the cycle.

Learn More:
《How to Pick a Cooling Solution for Your Servers? A Tech Guide by GIGABYTE》
《GIGABYTE Tech Guide: Two-phase and Single-phase Liquid Immersion Cooling》
《Glossary: What is Immersion Cooling?》

GIGABYTE Technology participated into Japanese telecom leader KDDI’s project to build a new class of data centers that employ single-phase immersion cooling. The “container-type immersion cooling small data centers” is fit for both edge computing and green computing. During operation, heat generated by the servers is absorbed by the coolant, which is then piped to the CDU installed in an outward-facing closet partitioned into one end of the container. This is more energy-efficient than standard air cooling. By KDDI’s estimates, when the data center is operating at its maximum capacity, the servers will use 50kVA of power, while the data center’s total power consumption will only be around 53.5kVA—therefore lowering the PUE below 1.07, which is a 43% reduction in electricity use when compared with air-cooled data centers that may have an average PUE of around 1.7.

Learn More:
《Japanese Telco Leader KDDI Builds Immersion Cooling Small Data Center with GIGABYTE》
《See It Now! GIGABYTE Provides Single-Phase Immersion Cooling with GRC》
《Glossary: What is PUE?》

A world-renowned semiconductor giant dedicated to achieving CSR and ESG goals has made great strides in achieving sustainability, which is why it is a role model that leads the sector in carbon neutrality. GIGABYTE’s two-phase immersion cooling solution helped to reduce the data center’s power consumption by 30%, which pushed the PUE below 1.08. The two-phase immersion cooling solution has a high cooling capacity of 100KW, which is recommended for the powerful processors used in high performance computing (HPC); it also helped the client achieve the twin goals of sustainable development and carbon reduction. These are just two examples of the advanced system cooling solutions provided by GIGABYTE. Whether it is single-phase or two-phase immersion cooling, or even if an existing data center wishes to adopt direct liquid cooling (DLC), GIGABYTE has the solutions and the ecosystem partners that can help customers to achieve their goals.

Learn More:
《Semiconductor Giant Selects GIGABYTE’s Two-Phase Immersion Cooling Solution》
《Glossary: What is HPC?》
《Glossary: What is TDP?》

GIGABYTE Technology’s motto is “Upgrade Your Life”. This is in line with GIGABYTE’s long-term CSR, ESG, and SDGs-related efforts. The case studies in which Japan’s telecom leader KDDI and a world-famous IC foundry giant were able to achieve better performance and power conservation with GIGABYTE’s aid are just a few examples of how “net zero” and “carbon neutrality” can be achieved in a sustainable manner. These visionary, energy-efficient data centers are glimpses of a better future. GIGABYTE will continue to work with clients and partners to create a brighter tomorrow that is greener, cleaner, and more sustainable.