Vertiv CoolPhase Flex is an innovative hybrid cooling solution for new-age data centers that handle mission critical applications and AI workloads
Vertiv, the leading provider of power and cooling products & systems, and the US-headquartered Compass Datacenters, which designs, builds and operates data centers round the globe, have collaborated to develop a hybrid air and liquid cooling solution for supporting high-density computing. Named Vertiv CoolPhase Flex, this new hybrid solution enables future deployments of AI workloads with the ability to flex between air and liquid cooling to support mission-critical data center operations.
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 center 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.
“The field of AI is not only bringing change to data centers, it is also changing how key industry players work together to enable growth. Data center operators, customers, chip manufacturers, infrastructure providers, utility companies and others must work together to innovate and reduce barriers to AI adoption,” says Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi, CEO, Vertiv.
The engineers of Compass Datacenters and Vertiv have 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 center 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.
Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi
CEO
Vertiv
“The engineers of Compass Datacenters and Vertiv have 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 center 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,” elaborates Albertazzi.
Chris Crosby, CEO, Compass Datacenters, comments, “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.”
“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,” elaborates Crosby.
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,” adds Crosby.
Key benefits of Vertiv CoolPhase Flex:
• 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 minimized, reducing time to deploy, as well as associated costs and downtime.
• Efficiency uncompromised: 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 & Space Savings: The self-contained packaged system is installed outside the data center, freeing up valuable data center space. Compass’ modular data centers 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.
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