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Hardcore Computer is preparing to introduce its patented total liquid submersion technology for blade servers as a way to cut data center power, cooling, and floor space costs.
Hardcore Computer’s Liquid Blade server platform consists of a low-cost blade server chassis which is filled with a proprietary dielectric liquid into which dual-socket server blades are submerged, said Chad Attlesey, CTO of the Rochester, Minn.-based system builder.
Those blades, which are powered by one or two Intel 5500 or 5600 Xeon series processors running on an Intel S5500HV reference motherboard, run at full power with all the heat drawn away by the liquid.
Hardcore’s technology is unlike the current liquid-cooled technology adopted in some servers and desktops which use water cooling on specific components, Attlesey said. In such systems, water can leak on the components and destroy a system or even cause a fire.
“In the past, I had a $10,000 workstation with water cooling that spot-cooled certain components,” he said. “Once it got a crack in the cooling system and dripped water, causing the workstation to catch on fire. If I hadn’t gotten home in time, it might have burned my house.”
Hardcore prevents that problem by submerging the entire server blade in its liquid, which Attlesey said provides about 1,350 times the cooling capability of air.
Next: How The Technology Cuts Data Center Costs
