3 ms·

I would like to see more data centers make use of large-scale Oil Immersion-Cooling. I feel like the fresh water use for cooling is a huge issue. https://par.n

• carunenjoyerlp 1y ago
  Isn't water just the transfer medium between the server and the heat exchangers outside? How would changing that to oil help?
  • chneu 1y ago
    It wouldn't really help. Oil might be able to carry more heat but it's more expensive to use. Oil immersion is something nerds like to think is amazing but it's just a pain in the ass for negligible benefits. Imagine the annoyance of doing maintenance.
    • asdff 1y ago
      Wouldn't it be no different but your hands get a little oily? Say you take out a ram stick, oil goes into the empty dimm slot, but so what because its displaced again when you put in the new ram stick.
  • emushack 1y ago
    True, but water, especially fresh water, is used in so many applications. I don't have hard numbers on this because I'm not THAT big of a nerd, but intuitively, I would think that if we can find alternatives to water, that would free up some fresh water resources, for I don't know, growing food? This is actually a major issue in my area - A data center is being built right now, and competing with municipalities for fresh water. Maybe they don't have to?
• lxgr 1y ago
  There are various data center cooling techniques, and not all of them use water. As a result, water usage, and water usage efficiency, vary wildly: https://dgtlinfra.com/data-center-water-usage/ https://dgtlinfra.com/data-center-water-usage/ https://datacenters.microsoft.com/sustainability/efficiency/ https://datacenters.microsoft.com/sustainability/efficiency/