IBM has launched its Cool Blue cooling technology, which it claims can reduce server heat emissions in data centres by up to 55%.
Werner Lindemann, systems and technology group executive of IBM South and Central Africa, says the cooling technology component uses the existing chilled water supply for air-conditioning systems already located in most data centres.
"Cool Blue can be deployed on any server, enabling customers to ease the burden on existing air-conditioning units and potentially lower energy costs by up to 15%," he says in a statement.
Designed to fit on the IBM eServer Enterprise rack, Cool Blue (officially termed IBM eServer Rear Door Heat eXchanger) has been created to help customers whose data centres have reached the limits of cooling capacity, but still have space to add racks of systems, Lindemann explains.
The improved cooling from the Heat eXchanger, he says, enables customers to fully populate individual racks, freeing valuable floor space without the need to purchase additional air-conditioning units. The Heat eXchanger can also alleviate the issues caused by other vendors` servers in a data centre where the customer might have cooling challenges.
Bevan Lock, IBM xSeries product manager, says a big need for this technology exists in SA.
"During the last 10 years, there has been a massive growth in the amount of servers installed and thus the heat produced by them. We solved the physical space problem and needed to focus on heat, which has become a critical issue in the last two or three years," Lock says.
He states that IBM sees the Heat eXchanger as creating a "fair-sized" opportunity within the South African market.
"IBM has been addressing the cooling needs of customers` data centres for years and Cool Blue technology is a giant leap forward in overcoming previously insurmountable air-conditioning limitations," Lindemann points out.
"As customers try to incorporate more processing power into the same data centre footprint, this breakthrough technology will help them win the war on heat."
He explains that, inside the door of the Heat eXchanger, sealed tubes filled with chilled water effectively remove up to 55% of the heat generated in a fully populated rack and dissipate it so it is not released into the data centre. He says the Heat eXchanger can remove up to 50 000 BTU of heat generated by a full server rack, based on total rack output.
The updated IBM eServer Cluster 1350 system will be one of the first eServer technologies to deliver support for the Heat eXchanger. Using the new technology, the Cluster 1350 will enable high-performance customers to overcome heat challenges in high-density IT environments and better use existing facilities, Lindemann says.
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