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“ We had the budget to install 600 nodes ,” said Tommy Minyard , Ph . D ., TACC ’ s Director of Advanced Computing Systems .
“ But we didn ’ t have the corresponding cooling capacity for it . We evaluated several different vendors and cooling technologies and cost was a huge consideration .”
For both environmental and cost considerations TACC also wanted to minimise the extent of modifications to the data centre , which was another reason the organisation opted for the GRC solution . That and GRC ’ s historical willingness to partner with TACC and Dell Technologies to problem solve and create ideal solutions .
Immersion cooling delivers impressive results
Thanks in no small part to single-phase immersion cooling , TACC ’ s Lonestar6 supercomputer delivers three times the performance than its predecessor – with less space , power and expense . That level of productivity has proven itself critical to TACC ’ s ability to continue extending the boundaries of scientific discoveries .
“ When running parallel simulations , you need to squeeze every bit of performance out of these computers ,” said Dan Stanzione , Associate Vice President for Research at The University of Texas at Austin , and TACC ’ s Executive Director . “ The only other option would be to run air cooling at hurricane speed , or else slow the chips down .”
The latter was not really feasible , considering that doing so would add to project lead times , reduce the number of projects that can be completed , increase costs due to longer run times and be a very inefficient use of Lonestar6 ’ s processors .
“ GRC ’ s immersion cooling solution has given us the ability to use the densest servers from Dell Technologies and hottest chips from AMD ,” Minyard said . “ These chassis have 280 W CPUs that run so hot they cannot be cooled by air .”
Other key benefits :
Sustainability
For all its raw power , TACC ’ s new Lonestar6 supercomputer scores highly when it comes to sustainability , too and is playing a huge role in helping The University of Texas at Austin meet its ESG4 goals .
Cost-efficiency
When it comes to cost-efficiency , TACC banked on its favourable experiences with earlier GRC immersion cooling systems and could not have chosen a better way to cool Lonestar6 ’ s servers ( core processing ). The organisation knew that GRC ’ s ICEraQ systems have been proven to cut data centre cooling energy consumption by up to 95 %, increasing compute without increasing power .
Minyard continued : “ The fact that we didn ’ t have to worry about additional infrastructure improvements saved us a significant amount of upfront costs .” Down the road , TACC can look forward an overall TCO5 reduction of up to 44 % based on data gleaned from GRC ’ s immersion cooling installations worldwide .
Reliability and safety
Starting with its immersion cooling prototype back in 2009 , TACC has found that single phase cooling reduces the failure rate of immersed equipment , due largely to the fact that the system runs at a relatively constant temperature .
What ’ s more , the ICEraQ system itself is highly reliable because it has fewer moving parts than other cooling technologies . GRC ’ s ElectroSafe fluids serve as an excellent insulator and protectant .
Flexibility
The innovative , flexible design of the ICEraQ Series 10 Quad makes it ideal for data centre refreshes because it helps make the best use of existing infrastructure . In fact , the Lonestar6 installation required no retrofitting whatsoever . Although raised floors are not a requirement , the Series 10 easily rests atop TACC ’ s existing raised floor with no reinforcement required beneath it . The system is also very compact .
Servicing and convenience
GRC ’ s ICEraQ Series 10 Quad has made maintenance easy for TACC . Servers are simply pulled from the rack , coolant is allowed to drip back into the rack and they are then serviced just like any other type of IT equipment . The system also includes new and improved switch mounting , along with more integrated cabling and power distribution . Plus , as Minyard remarked : “ The containment is located inside the racks , so it all fits very nicely and looks very neat .”
Helping Texas researchers eclipse the competition
For reasons of reliability , sustainability , servicing , flexibility and sheer cooling power , TACC has been very pleased with GRC ’ s ICEraQ Series 10 Quad system for Lonestar6 . “ The users have been happy and the performance has been fantastic ,” said Minyard .
TACC continues working closely with GRC , developing new strategies to reliably cool ever-increasing power density needs . Not surprisingly , TACC ’ s continued track record of performance has translated into more funding .
What the future holds
Data centre hardware typically has a fiveyear lifespan due to changing technology and advancements in energy efficiency . While it is always difficult to predict the future , the recent past can be very instructive : performance and sustainability demands on data centres are unlikely to decrease , which means power density per server must keep climbing .
One thing is for certain : GRC will rise to the challenge by relentlessly innovating while working closely with Dell Technologies and other Tier I and Tier II technology providers .
GRC will continue being a dedicated partner to support TACC as it continues pushing the limits of supercomputing . � www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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