As Server Racks Become Denser, Data Centers Search For A ‘Gold Standard For Data Center Cooling’

The U.S. data center market saw inventory surge by nearly 25% from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024 — a signal the sector is filled with promise. 

This upward trend is projected to continue, fueled by increased demand for public cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform, and artificial intelligence. 

But even though the sector is one of the hottest commercial real estate markets of 2024, data center owners must look to the future. How will data centers, and their systems and equipment, keep pace with such elevated demand?

“Everybody knows more server densification is real,” said Charley Brown, CEO at Global IFS, a provider of raised access flooring solutions. “Nobody quite knows how much it will be, and they're not sure when they're going to get there. The design requirements are difficult to meet because it's an unknown and moving target in terms of how much heat will be generated. Engineers need to solve for the worst-case scenario.”

One of the most important systems in a data center is HVAC, Brown said. Servers are not only constantly running and emitting heat but also running at different rates, creating a significant cooling capacity design challenge. 

Modern data centers use about 40% of their power consumption on air conditioning. Traditional air conditioning units, fans and vents are set up to cool the entire building at once, often leaving what Brown called “hot spots” where air isn’t circulated well. This cooling strategy can be costly and energy-inefficient, even in colder climates, Brown said. 

Global IFS’ new under-floor rack cooler, or UFRC, sits beneath each server rack, cooling servers on a more local level, eliminating the need for large air handlers. 

“We decided to take those large cooling units and break them up into small pieces that fit underneath the server rack,” he said. “These small units are physically linked together to eliminate any under-floor plenum or any need to handle air throughout the entire data hall. All cooling is provided and controlled at the pod level.” 

When hot air is emitted from the back of the servers, Global IFS’ new under-floor rack cooler pulls this air down, pushes it across a cooling coil and then circulates the air back in front of the server. The air rotates in a local contained zone, as opposed to being used to try to cool the whole room. 

“Cooling systems in today’s data centers are often unable to quickly react to changes in server loads and heat loads,” he said. “Multiple of our UFRC units will work together to keep the cold air delivered exactly where and when it is needed.”

A major benefit to this cooling solution is that because there is no need to line the data hall with large air conditioning units, about 15% of the total floor space is freed, Brown said. This gives data center owners much more flexibility — they can lease out 15% more floor space and have a more favorable economic return or construct a building that is 15% smaller, creating considerable cost savings.  

“We can also retrofit a much wider variety of existing buildings and take advantage of power that already exists, since power availability is a major obstacle in this industry,” Brown said. “You can go out and find old factories that have a lot of power already available to them with good bones and reconfigure. You don't care that it's not the standard rectangle data center hall because you're handling the air in a totally different way.”

In addition to this unique cooling design, Global IFS’ UFRC units can easily be scaled up or down as needed as heat loads change — something that isn't standard in the industry, Brown said. 

“Our system allows you to increase your cooling capacity in small steps, rather than having to predict exactly how much you will need in the future,” he said. 

As the data center industry continues to grow and consumes more energy, liquid cooling will become more prevalent due to its superior performance, Brown said. 

While only about 40% of the industry uses liquid cooling in some capacity, this technology is expected to become a major player in the cooling space. The liquid cooling market for data centers is expected to grow 27% annually until 2030. 

“As you scale into higher cooling requirements, you're going to need liquid cooling at some point,” Brown said. “Our UFRC allows you to use chilled water with air cooling until you actually need the liquid cooling, acting as the bridge between air and liquid cooling.”

Another important point is that with direct-to-chip or plate liquid cooling, there is still a requirement for some air cooling, with anywhere from 10% to 25% of the load needing to be handled by air, Brown added. 

“We pair very nicely with a direct-to-chip solution because we still provide whatever air cooling is needed while leveraging the same plumbing infrastructure serving the pod,” he said. “There will be ongoing operational cost savings, too, including a 35% to 40% reduction in fan-related energy consumption.”

Looking forward, as server racks become increasingly denser, Brown predicted this more energy-efficient and dynamically responsive cooling system will become dominant in the space. Brown said Global IFS’ UFRC is the solution the industry is looking for.

“I see it as a very bright future for our product line because it accommodates the present and the future, and that's why we call it a better approach to data center cooling,” he said. “It's the gold standard for data center cooling.”

Global IFS will be at the 7x24 Exchange International Conference in Phoenix as a Marquis partner plus sponsor. 

This article was produced in collaboration between Global IFS and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.