Coolant Distribution Units (CDU) for Data Center Cooling
Coolant distribution units (CDUs) cool, distribute, and regulate fluid within a liquid cooling system. By optimizing both individual components and how they work together, Boyd builds efficient, high capacity CDUs in dense volumes.
Greener Cooling
Data center carbon emissions reduce 30% on average when switching to liquid cooling
Industrial Technology Systems
Extend equipment lifetimes with smart, reliable liquid cooling
Medical Equipment
Ensure reliable medical diagnostic and test equipment performance
Lower Data Center Operating Cost
More efficient liquid cooling systems reduce data center energy demand and cost
Artificial Intelligence and Data Center Cooling
Accelerate reliable, sustainable, advanced performance with denser, higher performing liquid cooling systems
Maximize Compute Density
Compact, high thermal density data center cooling systems open up more design space for more equipment
How to Cool a Data Center with an In-rack Liquid Cooling System
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How to Cool a Data Center? Liquid Cooling System Solutions
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What is a Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU)?
Coolant distribution units, also called cooling distribution units, are devices used in cooling systems to distribute coolant, such as water or other fluids, to different parts of a machine or process that require cooling. They are typically found in large cooling systems that need to regulate temperature in a variety of different components.
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What Does a Coolant Distribution Unit Do?
Coolant distribution units are essential components that ensure liquid cooled systems meet or exceed lifetime expectations. Operation logic integrated into intelligent controllers combined with smart controls manage server and data center cooling system performance. Smart controls respond to peak demands while remaining economical and efficient during non-peak operation and prevent problems before they occur. Blind mate quick disconnects with 360 swivel fittings make servicing data center cooling systems fast to minimize maintenance downtime.
How Does a Coolant Distribution Unit Work?
A coolant distribution unit contains a pump that circulates coolant through a network of pipes or channels, distributing it to various components like servers, processors, or other high heat components in large, high power devices that need cooling. CDUs may also contain valves, filters, and other components to control and monitor coolant flow.
Why Use a Coolant Distribution Unit?
As computing chip power increases, liquid cooling becomes the necessary cooling technology to replace conventional air cooling. Boyd’s CDUs are state-of-the-art cooling systems that maximize cooling capability with greater power and compute density in given volume with more energy efficiency. A liquid cooled server negates the need for bulky heat sinks and loud fan trays in data center cooling systems that create significant environmental noise pollution and consume more energy, so CDUs remove excessive noise and vibration from data centers to improve data integrity and data center workplace safety, while reducing energy use. CDUs increase IT equipment’s safe packaging density into a rack.
Coolant Distribution Unit Challenges
Liquid cooling provides responsive, high-capacity cooling, but comes with additional design and project challenges. From leak-proofing, additional capital expense, installation and training costs, system architects must weigh performance and sustainability benefits against these project requirements above air cooling. Boyd’s coolant distribution units are designed and manufactured to mitigate potential risk to enable the fullest benefit of liquid cooling.
Why Use Boyd’s Coolant Distribution Units?
Boyd’s CDUs lower data center total cost of ownership and energy demand. CDUs right-sized and custom configured for specific applications mean hyperscale compute systems get the exact, optimal cooling performance the system needs, when it needs it in data centers that are more environmentally sustainable.
Full Liquid Cooling Systems: Integrating CDUs with Other Thermal Technologies
Integrate CDUs in server rack cooling systems with cold plates custom designed to maximize interface with CPUs and GPUs through machined custom geometries and skylines for maximum heat transfer to the liquid cooling system. Leverage high reliability manifolds to safely direct liquid throughout a server rack.
Boyd’s Coolant Distribution Unit Flexibility and Space-Saving Benefits
In a server cooling system, integrated CDUs enable greater processing power density meaning more servers can fit in each data center rack. Integrate CDUs directly into facility water or facility-level cooling systems for direct rack server cooling or design self-contained cooling that offers the next level of flexibility for liquid cooled servers. Leverage CDU cooling capacity to cool the rack, chassis, blade, or even down to the processor or silicon. CDUs can be designed to integrate into existing data center or chassis configurations and infrastructure.
Denser Processing or Smaller Equipment with Reliable Boyd CDUs
Flexibility and space-saving benefits may enable data center and server rack designers to completely rethink footprint configuration opportunities to maximize power density. Boyd CDUs are designed to meet IEC62368-1 and tested to withstand 3X maximum working pressure. All new subcomponent designs undergo harsh maximum pressure testing to destruction to ensure reliable data and server cooling systems. Reliability testing incudes thermal cycling, min /max storage, and packaging testing.
Enterprise Solutions
Delve into the breadth of Boyd’s solution portfolio for data centers, hyperscale computing, and other rack-based solutions in our interactive 3D tool.
Reliable Boyd CDU Field Performance
Decades of reliable field performance have enabled Boyd to fine tune system design in liquid cooled servers with validated thermal reliability and leak-free performance for optimal data center cooling. CDUs feature redundancy pump design, dynamic condensation-free control, automatic coolant replenishing, a bypass loop for stand-by operation and automatic leak detection.
Standard Boyd Cooling Distribution Units
| System | Type | Nominal Cooling Capacity | Standard Process Temp. | Temperature Stability | Ambient Temperature Range | Dimensions (L x W x H) | Typical Industry | Datasheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2U CDU | Liquid to Liquid | 15 kw | 5°C to 45°C (41° to 113°F) | +/- 1 °C | 5°C to 50°C (41° to 122°F) | 918 x 480 x 85.5mm (36.14 x 18.89 x 3.37in) | Enterprise | 2U L2L CDU Datasheet |
| 4U CDU | Liquid to Liquid | 80 kW | 25° to 60°C (77° to 140°F) | +/- 1.5 °C | 5°C to 45°C (41° to 113°F) | 982 x 450 x 175 mm (38.66 x 17.72 x 6.89in) | Enterprise | 4U L2L CDU Datasheet |
| 10U CDU | Liquid to Air | 32 kW | 25° to 50°C (77° to 122°F) | +/- 1 °C | 10° to 45°C (50° to 113°F) | 982 x 538 x 440mm (38.66 x 21.18 x 17.32in) | Enterprise | 10U L2A CDU Datasheet |
| In-Row CDU | Liquid to Liquid | 305 kW | 20° to 49°C (68° to 120°F) | +/- 2 °C | 5°C to 40°C (41° to 104°F) | 600 x 1885 x 1000mm (38.66 x 21.18 x 17.32in) | Enterprise | |
| MCS20 – Stand Alone | Liquid to Air | 1.3 kW | 55°C (131°F)max | 15.5°C to 27°C (60°F to 80°F) | 439 x 384 x 338mm (17.3 x 15.1 x 13.3in) | Industrial | MCS20 Datasheet | |
| MCS30 – Stand Alone | Liquid to Air | 2.1 kW | 55°C (131°F)max | 15.5°C to 27°C (60°F to 80°F) | 439 x 384 x 338mm (17.3 x 15.1 x 13.3in) | Industrial | MCS30 Datasheet | |
| MCS40 – Stand Alone | Liquid to Air | 2.4 kW | 55°C (131°F)max | 5°C to 40°C (41° to 104°F) | 381 x 381 x 610mm (15 x 15 x 24in) | Industrial | MCS40 Datasheet | |
| MCS50 – Stand Alone | Liquid to Air | 3.5 kW | 55°C (131°F)max | 5°C to 40°C (41° to 104°F) | 381 x 381 x 610mm (15 x 15 x 24in) | Industrial | MCS50 Datasheet | |
| LCS20 | Liquid to Liquid | 20 kW | 10°C to 60°C | +/- 0.5 °C | 5°C to 40°C (41°F to 104°F) | 543 x 705 x 810mm (21.4 x 27.8 x 31.9in) | Industrial |
High Impact Cooling with Facility Water
Liquid to Liquid CDUs require facility water to remove heat from rack and row equipment but come with a battery of benefits to offset added system complexity. Fully liquid cooled data centers maximize energy efficiency from the higher heat capacity of liquid throughout the full data center. These liquid cooling systems enable smaller footprints and lower total cost of ownership, ideal for artificial intelligence and advanced analytics, blockchain and cryptocurrency, mainframe and gaming servers, and supercomputer applications.
Liquid to Air Cooling Distribution Units (L2A CDU)
Self-Contained Liquid Cooling Systems
Many facilities are not designed for system-wide liquid cooling, so Liquid to Air Coolant Distribution Units provide the benefits of liquid cooling without the full-scale implementation of facility water. L2A CDUs leverage data center air conditioning to dissipate heat from the server rack or row to enable localized liquid cooling for high output IT equipment. Liquid to Air CDUs maximize possible cooling in established air-cooled data centers, minimize thermal management equipment and installation costs, and cool at higher capacity than air alone would offer.
In-Rack Coolant Distribution Units
Optimized to Efficiently and Seamlessly Integrate into a High-Power Device
In-Rack CDUs are optimized to efficiently and seamlessly integrate into a large, high power device like a data center server chassis or medical imaging equipment. In-Rack CDUs are configured in standard 2U and 4U cloud data center server configurations or common dimensions across standard medical and industrial models.
Designed for Maximum Performance and Efficient Installation or Maintenance
Server rack cooling is easy to use with CDU installation instructions as simple as completing the liquid loop, filling the liquid reservoir tank, and flipping the switch. These systems offer a fast option to upgrade to liquid cooling in a cost effective and reliable package and can be fully self-contained or integrated into available facility cooling systems.
In-Row Cooling for Greater Power and Compute Density
In-Row CDUs are full rack-sized Coolant Distribution Units installed alongside a row of server racks to provide efficient data center cooling. In-row CDUs circulate coolant in a closed loop system on the secondary, cooling side and utilize facility water on the primary, heat rejection side. In-Row CDU cooling capacity is on the scale of 600-800KW, enough heat dissipation to cool 5-6 high power server racks.
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