SoftBank Corp., ZutaCore, and Foxconn team up for design and creation of an integrated rack solution.
**Revolutionary Two-Phase Direct Liquid Cooling Technology Transforms AI Data Centres**
A groundbreaking collaboration between SoftBank, Foxconn, and ZutaCore has resulted in a highly efficient cooling system for AI servers, aiming to improve operational efficiency and reduce power consumption. This innovation, known as two-phase Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) technology, is set to revolutionise the AI industry.
The system, which uses ZutaCore's innovative 2-phase DLC cooling system, cools chipsets by bringing them into contact with a cold plate and circulating a special insulating heat transfer fluid with a low boiling point. This direct-to-chip cooling method involves a pumped two-phase liquid system where the dielectric liquid coolant absorbs heat by boiling directly on the chip surface, changing from liquid to vapor (the two phases).
The vapor is then transported to condensers, often located on the roof or outside the data center, where it releases heat and condenses back to liquid. The cooled liquid is then recirculated to the chips to repeat the cycle. This process is a closed-loop system and often uses gravity or pumps for liquid delivery, with no water involved, thus avoiding risks of water leakage and conserving water resources.
This technology offers significant benefits for efficiency and power savings. It can reduce AI data center cooling energy use by up to 82% compared to traditional air cooling solutions, which can consume up to 40% of a data center’s total energy. Moreover, it efficiently manages high heat densities generated by AI chips without overheating or throttling.
The collaboration between the three companies aims to strengthen cooperation with AI server and rack design companies to improve the efficiency and low power consumption of AI data centres using NVIDIA accelerated computing. The goal is to commercialize this solution and deploy it in the global market.
SoftBank, ZutaCore, and Foxconn have already implemented this technology in an AI server using NVIDIA H200 GPUs, making it the world's first implementation of this technology. The rack developed by SoftBank, compatible with 21-inch servers and conventional 19-inch servers compliant with the ORV3 standard, is designed to provide a "Plug & Play" solution for easy and simple installation in AI data centres.
Hironobu Tamba, the vice president and the head of the data platform strategy division at SoftBank Corp., stated that improving the energy efficiency of data centres is essential for accelerating AI development and realizing a sustainable society. Erez Freibach, the co-founder and CEO at ZutaCore, expressed that the collaboration highlights the transformative potential of ZutaCore's waterless DLC cooling technology.
As the global demand for AI servers and other computing resources continues to grow, this innovative cooling technology is poised to play a crucial role in addressing the increasing power consumption at data centres, promoting sustainability, and supporting the rising computational and thermal demands of AI servers.
The revolutionary two-phase Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) technology, developed by SoftBank, Foxconn, and ZutaCore, has the potential to revolutionize not only the AI industry but also the broader field of data-and-cloud-computing, as it addresses the rising computational and thermal demands. This technology, by improving operational efficiency and reducing power consumption, could significantly impact the finance and energy sectors, as AI data centers may consume less energy, contributing to lower operational costs and reduced carbon footprint.
