The Power of Citizen Journalism
 
News» Top News» Latest News» Post News ($) Blogs» Top Blogs» Latest Blogs» Post Blog» Images» Top Images» Latest Images» Upload Images» TV» Groups» View Groups» Create a Group» Live Events» Alerts» Create an Alert» Manage Alerts» How do I ...» Get paid to report news» Post blogs» Upload images» Embed video» Join/create groups» Vote on news & images» Comment & debate»
 

article imageIBM Unveils Watercooled Super Computer 'Hydro Cluster'

Posted Apr 8, 2008 by  Chris V. (cgull) in Technology | 3 comments | 612 views
Join our team to voice opinions, share images, get paid to report news and more!
Email Print Share
Subscribe to author

Email this article

Recipient email:
Your email:
optional
Message:
optional
IBM has unveiled a new supercomputer called Hydro-Cluster that uses water to cool the hardware instead of the conventional air cooling. This method will reduce energy consumption by 40 per cent and use 80 per cent fewer air conditioners.
The main hindrance in having a large vast data center is the amount of heat generated from the computer servers. If you run the unit faster than it can handle, too much heat is generated. Previously, fans and air conditioners were used to cool the servers down but they consume a lot of energy and are not very efficient.

The new Hydro-Cluster, on the other hand, uses water as a primary coolant and a faster microprocessor, IBM Power six, which smashes the 5 GHz barrier for the first time. In comparison, home computers use 2 to 4 GHz microprocessors.

The Hydro-Cluster has 448 processors and is capable of performing 252 trillion operations per second. When you process data at this speed, the servers will generate tremendous heat that needs to be cooled immediately.

How the water cooling system works

The water is circulated via small pipes that traverses through the entire data network. Copper plates placed close to the chips are cooled by the water as the heat is conducted from the chip to the water via the plate. The hot water can then be used to heat other areas, and once it transfers the heat, it comes back again and cools the plate and the cycle continues.

As domain-b explains: This is a unique approach where instead of treating the heat as their enemy it is treated like a precious commodity; piping hot water is carried off the chip and out of the systems where it can be used in other areas like homes, kitchens,etc.

IBM researchers are also working on computers that would allow water to go directly to the chip without the need for copper plates. Thus, the heat can be transferred directly to the water from the chip and the heated water can then be used in other areas.

Hydro-Cluster is expected to be available beginning May 6.
article:252867:6::0
4 subscribers
Subscribe to this thread
  • avatar Posted Apr 8, 2008 by  Saikat Basu (Maverick)
    #1
    Water for cooling chips as a concept has been used before too. But IBM I guess is taking it into supercomputers I guess. Here is an article on water filled chips for advanced PCB's. Though unrelated, it shows the use of water for cooling electronic components.
  • atroxodisse Posted Apr 8, 2008 by  atroxodisse
    #2
    The current problem with revving up the speed of microchips is cooling. Within the next few years they'll stop using silicon for microchips and then they'll be able to make chips that don't even require a heatsync or any kind of cooling at all. Until the clock speeds get too high again. Back in the good ol' days when CPU clock speeds were low there was no cooling.
  • avatar Posted Apr 8, 2008 by  Chris V. (cgull)
    #3
    @ atroxodisse
    The current problem with revving up the speed of microchips is cooling. Within the next few years they'll stop using silicon for microchips and then they'll be able to make chips that don't even require a heatsync or any kind of cooling at all. Until the clock speeds get too high again. Back in the good ol' days when CPU clock speeds were low there was no cooling.
    Yes, now there is dual core, quad core and all sorts of combinations.

Add a Comment

You have to Login or Register to comment


Email:
Password:
Remember meForgot password?