First-of-its-kind cooling solution integrates air and liquid cooling technologies to meet the evolving and mixed cooling needs of data centres supporting AI.
Data centre operators face the challenge of supporting rapidly evolving environments in which established IT applications increasingly co-exist alongside the high-density computing being deployed to support AI. Vertiv, a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions and Compass Datacentres, which designs, builds and operates data centre campuses for some of the world’s largest technology companies, have collaborated to develop a first-of-its-kind solution that enables future deployments of AI with the ability to flex between air and liquid cooling to support high-density computing. Vertiv and Compass engineers collaborated on this vision for a future-forward cooling solution, with Vertiv developing and manufacturing the technology solution. The initial units will be deployed at a Compass facility in 1Q 2025 as part of a planned multi-year, multi-billion dollar supply arrangement.
The Vertiv CoolPhase Flex, the next generation of the high-efficiency Vertiv Liebert DSE Packaged System, integrates liquid cooling capabilities with refrigerant-based air-cooling technologies and heat rejection in a single packaged system. As data centre customers plan their growth strategies, Vertiv CoolPhase Flex can be used initially as a direct expansion (DX) cooling system with integrated economization to support reliable and efficient air cooling and then as more high-density computing is deployed, the liquid cooling capabilities can be simply and quickly engaged to support liquid cooling applications.
“Our customers are looking for fast, practical and energy-efficient ways to introduce liquid cooling to support AI and other high-density applications, but want the flexibility to leverage air-cooling and support mixed loads in those same facilities,” said Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass. “We had a vision for a future in which we could be prepared to quickly deploy air or liquid cooling to meet changing customer requirements and Vertiv brought that vision to life in a very innovative way. The Vertiv CoolPhase Flex provides a level of flexibility that is unparalleled in the marketplace and that is highly valuable to us and to our customers.”
“AI is not only bringing change to data centres, it is also changing how key industry players work together to enable growth. Data centre operators, customers, chip manufacturers, infrastructure providers, utility companies and others must work together to innovate and reduce barriers to AI adoption,” said Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi, CEO of Vertiv. “Compass Datacentres and Vertiv engineers worked together to make this important project a reality. Vertiv CoolPhase Flex makes it possible to support today’s IT and quickly enable the data centre of the future. With our deep expertise and understanding of the complexities of AI applications, Vertiv was uniquely able to bring this solution to market.”
Key benefits of the Vertiv CoolPhase Flex include:
- Faster, simpler deployment of high-density computing: With the packaged hybrid design of the Vertiv CoolPhase Flex, the complexity associated with liquid cooling adoption is minimised, reducing time to deploy, as well as associated costs and downtime.
- Uncompromised efficiency: For air cooling, the solution uses pumped refrigerant economization (PRE) technology that automatically switches to free cooling whenever external conditions are suitable. When IT loads are better served by liquid cooling, the same system is designed to easily convert for liquid fluid distribution and heat removal and is compatible with liquid cooling solutions that include Vertiv XDU 1350.
- Cost and space savings: The self-contained packaged system is installed outside the data centre, freeing up valuable data centre space. Compass’ modular data centres and equipment yards are designed for flexibility and scale so that it can adapt to evolving requirements and new technologies. This means customers will be able to upgrade to the Vertiv CoolPhase Flex with little impact to operations and without high costs associated with rebuilding or extensive retrofitting.
Compass has also deployed the Vertiv Next Predict service platform, leveraging predictive analytics to enable the company to shift from reactive to proactive maintenance on select cooling units. The platform provides visibility into equipment operations and uses historical and operating data to pinpoint when maintenance is required.
“A predictive tool that lets us know when equipment needs maintenance ahead of time as opposed to waiting until there is a potential availability issue is just a massive game changer for cooling equipment,” said Crosby. “It’s been awesome to have Vertiv leading the way alongside us.”
