AMD, Intel & Nvidia Reveal Next-Gen Server Hardware at Supermicro Innovate
Peter Donnell / 1 year ago
Cooling and computing go together in a big way, and typically, as power levels of computers increase, the heat they generate goes up. Obviously, there are many advancements that improve efficiency too, but largely, all computers generate heat. The faster you can remove that heat from the system and the cooler you can keep it, the more performance, stability and reliability you can achieve. Well, this year, it looks like Supermicro is taking liquid cooling to the next level!
Of course, while most of us are more than familiar with custom loop cooling, especially when it comes to modern gaming PCs, the benefits it has for system performance can be pretty amazing. Allowing modern graphics cards, processors and other devices such as memory, storage and more to run cooler, and in many cases even add some aesthetic flair, with RGB fans, LCD pumps and the like. However, Supermicro are pushing the limits in an even more demanding workspace, servers!
Supermicro
One of the biggest complaints with GPU servers, rackmount workstations and storage boxes is the sheer level of heat and noise that they tend to generate. If something is hot, it needs cooling, and cooling hardware typically creates noise, not to mention that heat needs to be transferred away from the system, or you just end up with a very hot room too.
If you’ve ever been in a server room or near a rack mount, you’ll know what I’m talking about, as they often feature racks of small fans, typically 80mm, to fit the slimmer 1U trays, but can often operate at around 6000 RPM to push the required airflow through the whole tray. The end result is that they sound like a jet engine and the rooms can typically get quite warm without additional cooling and airflow being added.
Now typically while liquid cooling means that you can swap those noisy fans out for quieter ones that run at a lower RPM, Supermicro have gone one step further by literally pumping in your commercial mains supply directly into the server, yes, you read that right. They are hooking the systems up to the tap.
With a unique design that uses Supermicro’s special in-house manifold, it can distribute the fluid directly to the cold plates of the CPUs and GPUs in your rack. When it comes to dealing with heat and noise, this solution really does mean that noisy and hot servers are a thing of the past.
The system utilises quick-connect compression fittings, which means that maintenance is also super easy, allowing for plug-and-play hardware changes without having to drain fluid from the system. With the next generation of NVIDIA GPUs and Xeon workstation processors set to use over 1000W and 400W respectively, it seems Supermicro is looking to the future in a big way, using a liquid cooling system.
