IBM Pushing Water-Cooled Servers, Meeting Resistance

judgecorp writes "IBM has said that water-cooled servers could become the norm in ten years. The company has lately been promoting wider user of the forty-year-old mainframe technology (e.g., here's a piece from April 2008), which allows faster clock speeds and higher processing power. But IBM now says water cooling is greener and more efficient, because it delivers waste heat in a form that's easier to re-use. They estimate that water can be up to 4,000 times more effective in cooling computer systems than air. However, most new data center designs tend to take the opposite approach, running warmer, and using free-air cooling to expend less energy in the first place. For instance, Dutch engineer Imtech sees no need for water cooling in its new multi-story approach which reduces piping and saves waste."

Comments

Any prediction over ten years is null and void

[Meshach]

These kind of predictions always remind me of Bill Gates asserting that "640 K should be enough for anybody."

Hardware and software faces change so fast; who has any idea what will be required or available in even ten years?

Re:4000 times?

[Chrisq]

Just try this. See how long you can stand naked (OK wear some running shorts) in air at 5 degrees centigrade. Probably fifteen minutes standing still or indefinitely if running.

Now see how long you can stay in water at 5 degrees centigrade. For most people it would be less than a minute - you may not even be able to get in.

Re:Not for all

[stephanruby]

I think for now, many companies are perfectly ok with air cooling solutions. Besides, it's much safer to have air-conditioning and fans than some liquid flowing.

If some companies can make fridges that do not leak coolant. I'm pretty sure IBM can make mainframes that do not leak their coolant either.