Rittal: #OCPSummit24: Rittal Launches 1 MW Cooling Solution

Rittal has announced the development of a modular Cooling Distribution Unit (CDU) capable of delivering over 1 MW of cooling power. This new technology, designed with Open Compute Project (OCP) principles in mind, uses water-based direct liquid cooling, making it well-suited for AI-driven workloads in hyperscale data centers. Rittal's new CDU is set to be the focus of their booth at the 2024 OCP Global Summit in San Jose. The company worked closely with hyperscalers and server OEMs to ensure the solution meets the requirements of modern data centers.While the CDU offers a powerful liquid-to-liquid cooling solution, Rittal also offers alternatives for data centers without facility water connections. These liquid-to-air options cool processors with water but dissipate heat into the air, making them easier to deploy in existing facilities. Although less efficient than liquid-to-liquid systems, these versions allow data centers to begin using direct liquid cooling with minimal changes, enabling the adoption of AI and high-performance computing (HPC) technologies in various environments.Rittal expects that liquid-to-liquid cooling will become a new standard for hyperscalers, with many colocators quickly following suit to meet the growing demand for AI and HPC applications. Lars Platzhoff, Head of Rittal's Business Unit Cooling Solutions, remarked: "This kind of set-up will be used mainly by hyperscalers and other operators of large data centers. The approaches taken by international hyperscalers after extensive testing will quite probably set the standards in the medium term."Key points:• Rittal unveils a modular Cooling Distribution Unit (CDU) with 1 MW cooling capacity.• The system uses water-based direct liquid cooling for AI and hyperscale data centers.• Liquid-to-air alternatives available for data centers without facility water connections."To put the technology into practice, it is not enough to simply provide the cooling capacity and integrate the solution into the facility - which also still poses challenges," says Lars Platzhoff, Head of Rittal's Business Unit Cooling Solutions: "Despite the new technology, the solutions must remain manageable by the data center team as part of the usual service. At best, this should be taken into account already at the design stage."#OCPSummit24: Rittal Launches 1 MW Cooling Solution