passively cooled data centers (weec 2009)
DESCRIPTION
Presented to the World Energy Engineering Conference on November 5th, 2009.TRANSCRIPT
Passively Cooled Data Centers
Jamil Scott
Data CenterData
Center
Key Cause & Effect RelationshipsData Center
Data Processing
Energy Consumption
Profits
Key Cause & Effect RelationshipsData Center (Beneficial Effects Only)
Electricity
Processors
Data
Data Processing
Power Supply
Processor Power
Ease of Manufacturin
g
Profits
Lower Cost Servers
Key Cause & Effect RelationshipsData Center (With Harmful Effects)
Electricity
Processors
Data
Data Processing
Excessive Heat In
Processors
Power Supply
Processor Power Excessive
Heat Near Processors
Processor Damage
Ease of Manufacturin
g
Profits
Lower Cost Servers
Close Proximity
Key Cause & Effect RelationshipsData Center (With Harmful Effects & Counteractions)
Electricity
Processors
Data
Data Processing
Excessive Heat In
Processors
Processor Damage
Power Supply
Processor Power Excessive
Heat Near Processors
HVAC
Cooling
Low Density Cooling
Electricity Consumption For Cooling
Ease of Manufacturin
g
Profits
Lower Cost Servers
Cooled Air
Close Proximity
CoolingCooled
Air
Data Processing
Ease of Manufacturin
g
Power Supply
Key Cause & Effect RelationshipsData Center (Full System View)
Electricity
Processors
Data
Excessive Heat In
Processors
Processor Damage
Processor Power Excessive
Heat Near Processors
HVAC
Electricity Consumption For Cooling
Low Density Cooling
Profits
Lower Cost Servers
Close Proximity
Data Processing
Power Supply
CoolingCooled
Air
Ease of Manufacturin
g
Cooling Mechanism Cooling is provided to counteract excessive heat, but
requires consumption of electricity Current cooling methods rely on cool air for cooling. Air is
significantly less dense than processor materials. The disparity between materials makes air cooling relatively inefficient.
Form Factor Power supplies are placed in close proximity to processors
to provide ease of manufacturing & installation Power supplies generate (and can operate in conditions
of) heat in excess of processor limits Processor Construction
Current processor construction allows the processor to generate sufficient heat to damage itself.
Key System Contradictions
Page 7
Find an alternative way to obtain: Cooling that offers the following: Eliminates, reduces, or prevents High Heat Near Processors and Excess Heat in
Processors Does not cause Additional Electricity Consumption Does not require HVAC and Air Is not influenced by Low Density Cooling.
Proposed Resolutions Eliminate HVAC
Use a dense cooling material (water, oil, etc..) Use a dense thermal transfer material (metal, concrete, etc…) Use conduction to move heat away from processor boards
Then forced convection with flows other than air Find a beneficial use for the excess heat
Power generation power via sterling engine
Key System Contradictions(Cooling Mechanism)
Page 8
Find an alternative way to provide Processor Power without causing High Heat Near Processors.
Proposed Resolution Separate the power supply from the processor boards Provide power through a standardized power bus Provide data through a standardized data bus
Find a way to eliminate Rack-based Server. Proposed Resolution
Redesign processor boards for: Flush mounting against processor surface Machine (e.g. robot) handling
Standardize power and data connections for machine handling Make the data center the ‘rack’
Use the thermal transfer structure to provide the mounting surface Minimize space between walls to provide dense processing capacity
Key System Contradictions(Form Factor)
Page 9
Convection Concept
Page 10
What changes will be required? Redesign Processor boards Standardize power connections Standardize data connections Design machine-based board management system Re-engineer data centers
Redesign spaces to provide optimum environment for processing components, not humans
Data Center becomes the server Walls become the rack and heat transfer mechanism Reuse waste heat
Making Passive Cooling a Reality
Page 11
Current Processor Board Design
Page 12
Ease of Manufacturin
g
Power Supply
Key Cause & Effect Relationships (Revisiting the Full System View)
Data Processing
Ease of Manufacturin
g
Power Supplyb
ElectricityClose
Proximity
Processors
Data
Excessive Heat In
Processors
Processor Damage
Processor Power Excessive
Heat Near Processors
HVAC
Low Density Cooling
Electricity Consumption For Cooling
Profits
Lower Cost Servers
Close Proximity
Data Processing
Power Supply
CoolingCooled
Air
Ease of Manufacturin
g
Passive Coolin
g
Key Cause & Effect Relationships(Improved Ideality)
Electricity
Processors
Data
Data Processing
Excessive Heat In
Processors
Processor Damage
Power Supply
Processor Power
Passive Coolin
g
Profits
Lower Cost Servers
Close Proximity
Ease of Manufacturin
g
Separating the power supply from the processors allows each to operate in their own optimized environment
Flush mounting the processor boards allows natural convection to remove excess heat without electricity consumption
Redesigning processor boards for flush mounting & machine handling allows re-thinking board design High speed inter-board communications (optics, etc…)
Redesigning processor boards allows re-thinking of data center architecture Data Center is the server Significant increase in processor density in proportion to floor space Dynamic reallocation of processing capacity Enhanced security by optimizing the environment for systems rather
than people Very tight tolerances between boards Elimination of air (to reduce thermal radiation) Reuse thermal energy
Benefits
Page 15
Rethinking data center, processor, and server designs will open up a new and exciting period in information processing.
Meeting the processing needs of the future requires new thinking Future data centers must be designed to host
processors, not people. Future processors must use less energy and
produce less heat Processing components must operate in optimized
environments
Conclusion
Page 16
Jamil ScottPrincipal Information Systems [email protected](703) 983-5709
Dr. Thomas J. HeimanSenior Information Systems [email protected](703) 983-2951
Team Members
Page 17
Questions
Page 18