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Supercomputing Cluster Immersed In Oil Yields Extreme Efficiency
1sockchuck writes: A new supercomputing cluster immersed in tanks of dielectric fluid has posted extreme efficiency ratings. The Vienna Scientific Cluster 3 combines several efficiency techniques to create a system that is stingy in its use of power, cooling and water. VSC3 recorded a PUE (Power Usage Efficiency) of 1.02, putting it in the realm of data centers run by Google and Facebook. The system avoids the use of chillers and air handlers, and doesn't require any water to cool the fluid in the cooling tanks. Limiting use of water is a growing priority for data center operators, as cooling towers can use large volumes of water resources. The VSC3 system packs 600 teraflops of computing power into 1,000 square feet of floor space.
... but rubbing them with cheetah blood makes them even faster.
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This is fine when the application is high-end and the organization can justify employing expensive, highly-trained staff to maintain the equipment, but for the average business, even one with a fairly extensive datacenter, there is no practical way to do this. Too many staff do double-duty (ie, take care of software applications and occasionally do hardware maintenance) or are too reliant on software/systems vendors that are themselves locked in to hardware incompatible with such an environment for this to be practical. It's cool, but it's definitely a niche within a niche.
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I'm all for saving the environment :)
Would not oil start dissolving all the parts as it would be harsh on glues and plastics that most components are made up of?
The Cray-2 was a much earlier large-scale use of computational elements immersed in inert cooling liquid.
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Note, this was pointed out to the professor in an Electrical Properties of Materials class by a classmate.
There have been plenty of 'submerge cooling' stories online, but most of the time the 'liquid coolants' turned out to be some exotic chemicals (flourine or something) which are very expensive and some are actually very bad for the environment
Has anyone here run any kind of 'comparison test' on those liquid, on the level of their efficiency, cost, and whether or not they are environmentally safe or not?
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I worked with a company that did a proof of concept for these "oil bath systems" It was just like in the photo, a rack on its' back immersed in a tank of oil.
From a cooling standpoint, it was great, from a parts replacement, it's a disaster waiting to happen. It's not how hard it is to replace the part. We installed a small crane above the rack to make it easier to lift the server up out of the bath, so we could lay it down and replace mem/cards/SSD etc. A 1RU server can weigh anywhere between 30-40lbs, and a 2RU server can weigh almost 70lbs.
We had to surround the bath will a perforated rubber mat, as oil+typical datacenter floor is a huge slip hazard.
You've also got to install pumps and a heat-exchanger. Reminds me of the old water cooled mainframes. Just with way more plumbing.
Presumably it uses a closed loop cooler, rather than evaporative cooling. Evaporative cooling is very energy efficient, but sacrifices water for those energy savings.
Presumably another benefit is that due to the improved heat transfer from components to the cooling oil, not only are the components cooler but you can run the cooling system at a much higher temperature and skip the fans besides.
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Wouldn't the Cray turn off at the same time?
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I once herd a story from a real old timer about fixing these memories. When they were new there was a problem with small metal particles left over from manufacturing floating around and shorting out the core stacks. In those days IBM field engineers always wore white shirts and a tie. When they had to fix these things, they would take off their tie, but just leave their shirts on and pull the core out with their hands, because they knew that they would get covered in oil no matter what they did.
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Didn't Cray and others do this decades ago?
Presumably it uses a closed loop cooler, rather than evaporative cooling. Evaporative cooling is very energy efficient, but sacrifices water for those energy savings.
Presumably another benefit is that due to the improved heat transfer from components to the cooling oil, not only are the components cooler but you can run the cooling system at a much higher temperature and skip the fans besides.
Use of water is not a big deal everywhere. Nice in deserts and such, but here I can look at all the river water that just flows by. And all the unwanted rain. You can get (untreated) river water for free. You don't water your lawn, you drain it to prevent it turning into a swamp. And still the shops market low-flush toilets and water saving diswashers that are only useful in other countries. Some idiots thinks it is a "greener way", failing to see how that only applies to places with actual water shortages.
No, keep using cheap water. When the population is food-limited instead of water-limited, water saving is senseless.
Maybe pure water, but handling pure water is a pain in the butt and the slightest contamination will make it conductive.