Industry leaders collaborate to cool down AI’s heat wave
Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) affects countless aspects of daily life, from how we shop for clothes to how we save lives in the operating room. That’s why NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang believes, “Every industry will become a technology industry.” But while breakthroughs in AI are revolutionizing how we work and play, the power required to sustain this proliferation of AI applications has data centers feeling the heat.
Data centers are expected to consume as much as eight percent of the world’s electricity if no action is taken. Therefore, industry and government leaders are coming together to develop new thermal management solutions that can balance global demand for AI and other high-performance computing (HPC) applications while mitigating environmental impact.
In 2023, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) developed its COOLERCHIPS awards program for companies pursuing innovative and highly efficient cooling technologies for data centers. The program led to a partnership between Vertiv and NVIDIA that will help support an innovative, more efficient future of AI.
Developing never-before-seen liquid cooling technology
NVIDIA collaborated with Vertiv and several industry leaders from universities, startups, and other vendors to design a cooling system that helped NVIDIA and its partners secure a $5 million grant from the COOLERCHIPS program. The advanced cooling system project will take place over three years and aims to help solve future data center efficiency and cooling challenges by combining two data center liquid cooling technologies into a single system.
The COOLERCHIPS application will brings together direct-chip liquid cooling and immersion cooling. According to NVIDIA, “First, chips will be cooled with cold plates whose coolant evaporates like sweat on the foreheads of hard-working processors, then cools to condense and re-form as liquid. Second, entire servers, with their lower power components, will be encased in hermetically sealed containers and immersed in coolant. They will use a liquid common in refrigerators and car air conditioners, but not yet used in data centers.”
This approach has the capacity to cool a containerized data with racks 25X times as dense as today’s server racks and operating in an environment with outside temperatures up to 40° C (104° F). The innovative solution would also cost less and run up to 20% more efficiently than conventional approaches.
“We have combined our leadership in power and cooling solutions with NVIDIA’s cutting-edge platforms to help meet the demands of the most compute-intensive applications and support the deployment of AI infrastructure across the globe.” - Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi, CEO at Vertiv.
A partnership driving the future of AI-supporting technology
In March 2024, Vertiv became a Solution Advisor: Consultant partner in the NVIDIA Partner Network (NPN), providing wider access to Vertiv’s experience and full portfolio of power and cooling solutions. Vertiv is the only large physical infrastructure vendor in the NPN and was selected to provide consultation services and expert advice to customers implementing NVIDIA-based solutions.
NPN is a global program for technology partners who offer solutions built on or powered by NVIDIA technologies. Among leading software vendors, cloud service providers, solution providers and system integrators, Vertiv joins the network to offer its expertise in addressing the unique infrastructure challenges presented by accelerated computing. NPN provides access to a range of benefits, including technical support, training, and collaboration opportunities, helping partners deliver innovative solutions to their customers.
According to Barron’s, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang directly citied the company’s partnership with Vertiv as a way to create effective cooling solutions for customers dealing with the increased power demands of new AI GPUs entering the market.
Future-proofed AI solutions
Vertiv’s high-density power and cooling solutions are designed to support the next generation of GPUs running the most compute-intensive AI workloads safely, at optimal performance and with high availability. Vertiv’s portfolio of liquid cooling technology includes:
- Vertiv™ Liebert® XDU coolant distribution units: Designed to support liquid cooling within high density environments, the Liebert® XDU Coolant Distribution Units are suitable for chip and rear-door cooling applications that offer easy, cost-effective deployment in any data center.
- Vertiv™ Liebert® DCD rear-door heat exchangers: By delivering cooling directly at the source, the DCD Rear Door Heat Exchanger provides highly efficient cooling to produce a room-neutral environment.
- Vertiv™ Geist™ rack power distribution units (PDUs): The Vertiv™ Geist™ Rack PDU family has been extended to accommodate higher power draw within the rack, minimizing footprint while maintaining high efficiency.
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Vertiv™ Liebert® AFC Inverter Screw Chiller Range with Low-GWP Refrigerant: Utilizing a new low-GWP refrigerant and inverter screw technology, it offers an innovative solution that aims to drastically reduce direct and indirect CO₂e emissions into the atmosphere and limit the carbon footprint of the data center.
Powering the AI revolution
By continuing to solve the most complex power and hybrid cooling challenges, Vertiv is helping make widespread AI adoption possible. We’re equipped with the expertise and global scale to meet rapidly evolving demands of AI by offering the most complete portfolio of power and cooling solutions and a vast global service network with engineers ready to support AI transformations.
Through decades of experience leading innovation, and pioneering advances in critical digital infrastructure, we are powering AI needs today, and where AI will go tomorrow. To learn more about how Vertiv is supporting the AI revolution, click here.
