Embracing the Future of Data Centers: The Journey Towards Sustainable Liquid Cooling Solutions | Part 3
Rolf Brink
Driving the global growth and adoption of liquid cooling technologies for data centers
This is the third article of a five-part series, in which I am exploring the various aspects of immersion cooling and its potential to revolutionize the data center industry. The previous articles have set the stage for a green future (Part 1) and highlighted the challenges (Part 2) which the immersion industry is facing. This article highlights the role of the Open Compute Project Foundation in advancing immersion cooling. The upcoming articles will emphasize the opportunities that lie ahead and how stakeholders can contribute to a greener and more sustainable future.
Part 3: The Role of Open Compute Project in Advancing Immersion Cooling
The Open Compute Project (OCP) is a collaborative initiative launched by Meta (formerly Facebook) in 2011, which aims to redefine the data center and hardware industry by embracing open source principles. The project brings together a diverse community of engineers, developers, and data center professionals who work together to create, share, and promote innovative and efficient data center designs and technologies. By fostering collaboration and the exchange of ideas, OCP aims to accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge solutions across the industry.
Open Compute Project: A Platform for Collaboration
In the context of immersion cooling, OCP plays a pivotal role by providing a platform for stakeholders to collaborate on advancing this technology. The OCP community encourages the sharing of knowledge, best practices, and experiences to improve immersion cooling techniques and designs. Through various workstreams, project groups, and events, OCP enables industry players to address the challenges of integrating immersion cooling systems and scaling them to meet growing demands.
Under the OCP Cooling Environments umbrella project, all liquid cooling activities closely collaborate with each other. The project includes, Advanced Cooling Facilities (ACF), Door Heat Exchangers, Cold Plate, Immersion Cooling and Heat Reuse, all led by passionate industry experts, including myself.
Immersion Project Leadership Team and Workstreams
As the leader of the immersion project, I have been focused on fostering collaboration among industry experts to advance immersion cooling technology. To facilitate this advancement, it is essential to identify its challenges. The dedicated workstream Immersion Hurdles, led by David G. and Raúl álvarez (independents), focuses on addressing these challenges and risks. This community creates base collateral that serves as the foundation for new workstreams incubated within the project. Other workstreams which are already operational are already well underway with resolving various identified challenges.
The Immersion project volunteer leadership is listed on the bottom of this article.
All workstreams and their leading OCP volunteers are playing a crucial role in addressing the challenges faced by the immersion cooling community and driving the development of industry standards.
Contributions and Materials Produced by the Immersion Project
The immersion project has produced numerous materials to date, including requirements documents, compliancy checklists, specifications, whitepapers and design guidelines related to immersion cooling. Additionally, the project has released fluid specifications aimed at facilitating optimization and testing of IT equipment.
With all these communities, the Open Compute Project Foundation plays a crucial role in driving the development of industry standards and addressing practical challenges in the immersion cooling community. By promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing, OCP accelerates the adoption of immersion cooling technologies, contributing to a more sustainable and efficient data center industry.
Question: Reflecting on the role of the Open Compute Project in advancing immersion cooling, what do you believe is the most significant contribution OCP has made to the industry thus far? Are there specific challenges or barriers you think should be prioritized by the OCP immersion project?
Share your thoughts in the comments below, and stay tuned for the next article, where we'll discuss embracing change and seizing opportunities in this rapidly evolving sector.
About Promersion
As a company that is at the forefront of the immersion cooling industry, Promersion is well-positioned to support you and provide strategic business support to companies looking to engage with liquid cooling technologies. As part of the on-going commitment to ecosystem collaboration, Promersion collaborates with industry stakeholders and promotes best practices and innovation within the immersion cooling community.
The full Immersion project volunteer leadership team consists of:
Rolf Brink ( Promersion ), John Bean ( Green Revolution Cooling ), David G. (independent), Raúl álvarez (independent), Punith Veeralinga Shivaprasad ( 壳牌 ), Peter Cooper ( Submer ), Rick M. ( Rosseau Immersion ), Harry Soin ( Artesyn Embedded Power ), Oriol Chavanel Bonet ( Submer ), Eduard Roytman ( 英特尔 ), Allison Boen ( Alcatex, Inc. - Data Center Services ), Rich Lappenbusch ( Supermicro ), Michael Cordle ( 希捷科技 ), Wang A ( 英特尔 ), Andy Young ( Asperitas ), Michael Jones ( Vertiv ), Cheng Chen ( Meta ), Jessica Gullbrand ( 英特尔 ), Steve Mills ( Meta ).
Driving the global growth and adoption of liquid cooling technologies for data centers
1 年I'm excited to share that the full "Embracing the Future of Data Centers: The Journey Towards Sustainable Liquid Cooling Solutions" series is now published! ??The series provides an in-depth exploration of the current landscape and future potential of immersion cooling technologies in the data center industry. ???Here's a summary of what each part covers: ???Setting the Stage for a Green Future: Introduces the promise of immersion cooling for sustainability and efficiency in data centers. ???Addressing Challenges in the Immersion Cooling Market: Examines the hurdles immersion cooling faces and the importance of cross-industry collaboration to address these challenges. ???The Role of Open Compute Project in Advancing Immersion Cooling: Spotlights the significant contribution of the Open Compute Project (#OCP) in the advancement of immersion cooling technology. ???Embracing Change and Seizing Opportunities: Highlights the need to adapt and seize new opportunities that come with technological advances in the industry. ???Leading by Example and Collaborating for a Sustainable Future: Ends on an inspiring note, emphasizing the importance of leading by example and collaborating for a sustainable future. All links in next comment!
Driving the global growth and adoption of liquid cooling technologies for data centers
1 年Thank you all for your keen interest in immersion cooling technologies and for engaging in these enriching discussions! ?? If you're keen to dive deeper and continue these conversations, the Open Compute Project (OCP) community and its varied workstreams provide a platform for active engagement, learning, and contribution. To become part of the Immersion Community, simply subscribe to our main mailing list through the following link: ?? https://ocp-all.groups.io/g/OCP-ACS-Immersion-Cooling By subscribing, you'll automatically receive all invitations for main Immersion project calls!
Senior Principal @ Supermicro
1 年the fluid spec has to be the #1 all time to date, that in my opinion is the best contribution. My answer will change at the end of this year of course.... once our work goes final. https://www.opencompute.org/wiki/Cooling_Environments/Immersion https://www.opencompute.org/documents/ocp-base-specification-for-immersion-fluids-20221201-pdf
Principal Architect at Vertiv Co
1 年Another great article Rolf Brink. It still amazes me how much the OCP LC/IC OrgTree has expanded in the last 12 months. So many smart people with a common goal.
Immersion Cooling Advisor & Influencer ?? 30 Years Infrastructure Power & Cooling@ Alcatex ?? Shell Immersion Cooling Fluid Brand Ambassador?? SVP @ DatanovaX - ????OCP Immersion Community Outreach Lead
1 年As always.. this is an excellent article and topic for #immersioncooling ???????? I’m always learning on Open Compute Project Foundation calls and find it vital to the growth of this amazing technology! I’m so proud to be just a tiny part of the team! Thank you Rolf Brink for all you’re collaborative efforts.