HP has announced new power management and cooling technologies that include a modular chilled water-cooling system, a universal rack that standardizes HP server and storage platforms, and a power distribution unit management module that monitors data center environments to provide customers with a more reliable power infrastructure.

The new technologies support the HP ProLiant, BladeSystem, Integrity, Integrity NonStop, and HP 9000 server families as well as HP StorageWorks MSA, EVA, and XP arrays. The HP 10000 G2 Series Rack is a standardized, unified rack that replaces seven previously incompatible racks to accommodate all HP rack-mounted server and storage products. The HP Modular Cooling System is a self-cooled rack that attaches to the HP10000 G2 Series rack, uses any data center’s chilled water supply, and distributes air consistently across the entire front of the rack to cool up to 30 kilowatts of heat. The HP Power Distribution Unit Management Module provides remote monitoring of a rack PDU and offers centralized SNMP control of all individual power distribution units via HP Systems Insight Manager and other software. These offerings represent some of the latest efforts of HP’s Smart Cooling program, which the company states has been realizing annual power savings of 25%. The HP Modular Cooling System, HP 10000 G2 Series Racks, and HP Power Distribution Unit Management Module are expected to be available February 6. The Modular Cooling System starts at $30,500, the 42U 10000 G2 Series Rack at $1,249, and the 36U rack at $1,199; the HP Power Distribution Unit Management Module starts at $199.

Those who are long in tooth will undoubtedly remember the esoteric plumbing required for a vintage mainframe to be adequately cooled through a liquid heat exchange regimen. In fact, the early advancement of air-cooled mainframes was one of the key differentiators that allowed Amdahl to compete in this space against Big Blue. Since that time, we have witnessed advances in computing technologies that reduced the space and energy required to effect computing solutions. Ironically, this ability to cram more and more circuits into an ever decreasing amount of CPU real estate is bringing us back to the point where even the most creative air-cooling will not handle the task: we have hit the limits of thermodynamics. Given that the performance being cranked out by Industry Standards chips such as the x86 architecture has been largely driven by astonishing increases in clock rates, there would seem to be no end in sight in the increased generation of heat, and the commensurate increase in performance. Combined with the propensity to package computing solutions into ever denser form factors such as racks, blade centers, etc., it is clear that alternatives to air will be necessary, lest the data center servers begin a China Syndrome meltdown.

But in all seriousness, we applaud HP’s tenacity in seeking a solution to this issue that will not only meet the needs of today but for a while into the future as well. HP’s decision to standardize its multitudes of incompatible racks into a single one with optional liquid cooling and remote monitoring to us is, simply, cool. Customers will likely enjoy the standardization of the racks, which could bring them some operational efficiency and standardization, and aesthetically bring some continuity to their HP-deployed wares. For those constrained by data center real estate and air cooling limitations, the water-cooled rack attachment is worthy of consideration and may prove to be a practical, if not time-tested, approach to solving the limits of data center HVAC. While 10kw racks are not uncommon today, the 30kw limits of this latest endeavor should provide some breathing, or make that cooling, room for the future. Therefore, while retro-focused remarks about water-cooled databases are certain to be made, we are happy to see serious efforts being applied against the trauma of heat generation in the datacenter and observe that others in the industry are as well taking note.