TWI879071B - Liquid cooling server - Google Patents

Abstract

A liquid cooling server includes a chassis, computing element, and a cooling module. The chassis has an air outlet. The computing element is disposed in the chassis. The cooling module includes a cold plate, a liquid cooling pipeline, a pump, a radiator and a fan. The cold plate is in thermal contact with the computing element, and is configured to exchange heat with the computing element. The liquid cooling pipeline is connected to the cold plate and is configured to deliver a heat transfer fluid. The pump is connected to the liquid cooling pipeline for pumping the heat transfer fluid. The radiator is connected to the liquid cooling pipeline for exchanging heat with the heat transfer fluid. The fan is disposed correspondingly to the radiator, and is configured to generate air flow to the radiator and the air outlet. The computing element is not disposed between the radiator and the air outlet.

Description

Liquid Cooling Server

The present invention relates to a liquid-cooled server.

As the power consumption of the internal components of the server continues to increase, the traditional air cooling solution has gradually reached the bottleneck of heat dissipation. Various server manufacturers are researching and developing new server liquid cooling solutions. Therefore, liquid cooling has gradually been promoted as an effective solution.

The current mainstream single-phase liquid cooling solutions are mainly divided into: cold plate liquid cooling, immersion liquid cooling and closed loop liquid cooling. A system equipped with closed loop liquid cooling can transfer the heat generated by computing components to the heat exchanger through a heat-conducting fluid, and then simply release the excess heat to the peripheral air-cooled room through the heat exchanger, so there is no need to make major changes to the system and the room. In addition, closed loop liquid cooling has a larger convection heat exchange coefficient, and can reduce the processor to a lower temperature when combined with a full load test with the same high thermal design power (TDP). However, since the heat exchanger of closed liquid cooling is set inside the server case, it may have a thermal impact on other components during the heat dissipation process.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a liquid-cooled server.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a liquid-cooled server includes a chassis, a computing element, and a cooling module. The chassis has an air outlet. The computing element is disposed in the chassis. The cooling module includes a cold plate, a liquid cooling pipeline, a pump, a heat sink, and a fan. The cold plate is in thermal contact with the computing element for heat exchange with the computing element. The liquid cooling pipeline is connected to the cold plate for conveying a heat-conducting fluid. The pump is connected to the liquid cooling pipeline for pumping the heat-conducting fluid. The heat sink is connected to the liquid cooling pipeline for heat exchange with the heat-conducting fluid. The fan is correspondingly disposed on the heat sink for generating airflow to the heat sink and the air outlet. The computing element is not disposed between the heat sink and the air outlet.

With the above structure, the liquid-cooled server disclosed in this case has a higher heat dissipation efficiency (about 20% higher) compared to traditional full air cooling, such as extended volume air cooling (EVAC). Compared with open liquid cooling or immersion liquid cooling, the structure is simpler. In addition, by not placing the computing element between the heat sink and the air outlet, the residual heat of the heat sink can be avoided from causing thermal effects on the computing element, thereby improving the overall heat dissipation efficiency of the liquid-cooled server.

The above description of the disclosed content and the following description of the implementation method are used to demonstrate and explain the spirit and principle of the present invention, and provide a further explanation of the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

100: Liquid-cooled server

1: Chassis

11: Long side wall

12: Short side wall

13: Air outlet

21,22: Computing elements

3: Cooling module

31,32: Cold plate

33: Liquid cooling pipeline

34,35: Pump

36: Radiator

37: Fan

41,42,43: Dual inline memory module

44,45: Network interface controller

C1~C4: Data

FIG1 is a block diagram of a liquid-cooled server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing the cooling effect of a liquid-cooled server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail in the following implementation method. The content is sufficient for anyone familiar with the relevant technology to understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it accordingly. According to the content disclosed in this specification, the scope of the patent application and the drawings, anyone familiar with the relevant technology can easily understand the relevant purposes and advantages of the present invention. The following embodiments are to further illustrate the viewpoints of the present invention, but do not limit the scope of the present invention by any viewpoint.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a block diagram of a liquid-cooled server according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid-cooled server 100 includes a chassis 1, two computing elements 21 and 22, and a cooling module 3. The chassis 1 has two long side walls 11, two short side walls 12, and an air outlet. The two computing elements 21 and 22 are disposed in the chassis 1. The cooling module 3 includes two cold plates 31 and 32, a liquid cooling pipeline 33, two pumps 34 and 35, a heat sink 36, and a fan 37. The two cold plates 31 and 32 are in thermal contact with the two computing elements 21 and 22, respectively, for performing heat exchange with the two computing elements 21 and 22, respectively. The liquid cooling pipeline 33 is connected to the two cold plates 31 and 32, and is used to transport a heat-conducting fluid. The two pumps 34 and 35 are connected to the liquid cooling pipeline 33 for pumping the heat-conducting fluid. The heat sink 36 is connected to the liquid cooling pipeline 33 for heat exchange with the heat-conducting fluid. The fan 37 is correspondingly arranged at the heat sink 36 for generating airflow to the heat sink 36 and the air outlet 13. It should be noted that the two computing elements 21 and 22 are not arranged between the heat sink 36 and the air outlet 13.

In this example, the housing 1 is a cuboid having a length corresponding to the long side wall 11, a width corresponding to the short side wall 12, and a height, wherein the length is greater than the width and the width is greater than the height. The housing 1 forms an air outlet 13 on one of the two short side walls 12, and preferably forms an air inlet on the other of the two short side walls 12 to allow air convection. Alternatively, the air inlet may also be formed on the long side wall 11 or the upper cover of the housing 1, which is not limited in this case. Two computing elements 21 and 22, a cooling module 3 and a plurality of power elements are arranged in the housing 1. The plurality of power elements include a plurality of dual in-line memory modules (DIMM) 41, 42 and 43 and a plurality of network interface controllers (NIC) 44 and 45. The computing elements 21 and 22 may be a processor (CPU), a microcontroller (MCU), a programmable logic controller (PLC), etc.

The cooling module 3 is used to dissipate heat from the computing elements 21 and 22. Specifically, the heat-conducting fluid exchanges heat with the computing elements 21 and 22 through the cold plates 31 and 32, and then is pumped by the pumps 34 and 35 along the liquid cooling pipeline 33 to the heat sink 36 to exchange heat with the surrounding air. The fan 37 is used to provide airflow to the heat sink 36, and the gas used for heat exchange is discharged from the housing 1 through the air outlet 13. It should be noted that although the number of computing elements in this example is two, the number of computing elements in the liquid-cooled server of this case is not limited to this, for example, it can be one. Similarly, the number of cold plates, pumps, and liquid cooling pipelines in the cooling module of this case can also be at least one, and this case is not limited. In an embodiment with multiple computing elements and cold plates, the multiple cold plates can be connected to each other through liquid cooling pipes and form a liquid cooling loop with the heat sink.

In this example, the fan 37 may include a plurality of fan units, and the plurality of fan units may be arranged along a long axis. The fan 37 is disposed between the computing elements 21, 22 and the heat sink 36, and is relatively close to the heat sink 36, so that the fan 37 can directly provide airflow to the heat sink 36 under the condition of being close to the heat sink 36, which helps to improve the heat dissipation efficiency of the heat sink. In addition, the heat sink 36 is disposed between the air outlet 13 and the fan 37. In other words, the long axis of the fan 37 extends along the direction of the short side wall 12 of the housing 1, and is used to directly provide airflow in the direction of the heat sink 36 and the air outlet 13. For example, the fan 37 can be attached to the surface of the heat sink 36, and no computing element is disposed between the heat sink 36 and the air outlet 13. Through the above configuration, when the fan 37 provides airflow to the heat sink 36, it can prevent the air heated by the heat sink 36 from flowing through the computing elements 21 and 22, which would cause the heat dissipation effect to deteriorate, and the air used for heat exchange can be directly discharged from the air outlet 13.

The liquid-cooled server 100 of this example also includes a plurality of power components, including dual inline memory modules (DIMMs) 41, 42, and 43 and a plurality of network interface controllers (NICs) 44 and 45, and the plurality of power components are not disposed between the heat sink 36 and the air outlet 13. With this configuration, the airflow heated by the heat sink 36 will not have a thermal impact on the dual inline memory modules 41, 42, and 43 and the network interface controllers 44 and 45. Furthermore, the first computing element 21 is disposed between the dual inline memory modules 41 and 42, and the second computing element 22 is disposed between the dual inline memory modules 42 and 43.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the heat sink 36 is disposed at the rear side of the liquid-cooled server 100, and the network interface controllers 44 and 45 are disposed at the front side of the liquid-cooled server 100, that is, the first computing element 21 and the second computing element 22 are disposed between the network interface controllers 44 and 45 and the heat sink 36. In addition, the heat sink 36 can be against the inner wall of the two long side walls 11, thereby increasing the contact area between the heat sink 36 and the air and increasing the heat dissipation efficiency. The liquid-cooled server 100 of this example is implemented based on the architecture of a K880G6 server, but this case can also be applied to other existing server architectures in other embodiments.

Please refer to Figure 2, which is a diagram of the cooling effect of a liquid-cooled server according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, data C1 is the relationship between the operating temperature of the first computing element and the duty cycle of the heat dissipation fan in the traditional air-cooling architecture of the server; data C2 is the relationship between the operating temperature of the second computing element and the duty cycle of the heat dissipation fan in the traditional air-cooling architecture of the server; data C3 is the relationship between the operating temperature of the first computing element and the duty cycle of the heat dissipation fan in the liquid-cooling architecture of the present case; data C4 is the relationship between the operating temperature of the second computing element and the duty cycle of the heat dissipation fan in the liquid-cooling architecture of the present case.

As can be seen from the chart in Figure 2, under the liquid cooling structure of this case, the computing components in the server can be kept at a relatively low operating temperature. Specifically, the heat dissipation efficiency of the computing components using the liquid cooling structure of this case is more than 20% higher than that of the computing components using the traditional air cooling structure. And regardless of the working cycle of the fan, the heat dissipation efficiency of the computing components of the liquid cooling structure of this case is better.

With the above structure, the liquid-cooled server disclosed in this case has a higher heat dissipation efficiency (about 20% higher) than traditional full air cooling, such as extended volume air cooling (EVAC). Compared with open liquid cooling or immersion liquid cooling, the structure is simpler. In addition, by not placing the computing element between the heat sink and the air outlet, the residual heat of the heat sink can be prevented from causing thermal effects on the computing element and other power elements in the chassis, such as memory, network card, etc., so as to improve the overall heat dissipation efficiency of the liquid-cooled server while avoiding affecting other power elements.

Although the present invention is disclosed as above by the aforementioned embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any changes and modifications made within the spirit and scope of the present invention are within the scope of patent protection of the present invention. Please refer to the attached patent application for the scope of protection defined by the present invention.

100: Liquid-cooled server

1: Chassis

11: Long side wall

12: Short side wall

13: Air outlet

21,22: Computing elements

3: Cooling module

31,32: Cold plate

33: Liquid cooling pipeline

34,35: Pump

36: Radiator

37: Fan

41,42,43: Dual-inferior in-line memory modules

44,45: Network interface controller

Claims (9)

A liquid-cooled server comprises: a housing having an air outlet; a first computing element disposed in the housing; and a cooling module comprising: a first cold plate in thermal contact with the first computing element for performing heat exchange with the first computing element; a liquid cooling pipeline connected to the first cold plate for conveying a heat-conducting fluid; a pump disposed above the first computing element and the first cold plate and connected to the liquid cooling pipeline for pumping the heat-conducting fluid; a heat sink connected to the liquid cooling pipeline for performing heat exchange with the heat-conducting fluid; and a fan disposed corresponding to the heat sink and separately disposed from the heat sink for generating airflow to the heat sink and the air outlet, Wherein, the first computing element is not disposed between the heat sink and the air outlet, Wherein, the housing has two long side walls and two short side walls, the air outlet is located at one of the two short side walls, and the heat sink abuts against the two long side walls. A liquid-cooled server as described in claim 1, wherein the fan is disposed between the first computing element and the heat sink and is closer to the heat sink. A liquid-cooled server as described in claim 1, wherein the heat sink is disposed between the air outlet and the fan. The liquid-cooled server as described in claim 1 further comprises: A second computing element disposed in the housing and not disposed between the heat sink and the air outlet, and The cooling module further comprises a second cold plate, the second cold plate being in thermal contact with the second computing element for performing heat exchange with the second computing element, wherein the liquid cooling pipeline is connected to the heat sink, the first cold plate and the second cold plate to form a liquid cooling loop. The liquid-cooled server as described in claim 4 further comprises: A plurality of power components disposed in the housing and not disposed between the heat sink and the air outlet. A liquid-cooled server as described in claim 5, wherein the power components include multiple dual in-line memory modules and multiple network interface controllers. A liquid-cooled server as described in claim 6, wherein the first computing element is disposed between two of the dual in-line memory modules, and the second computing element is disposed between another two of the dual in-line memory modules. The liquid-cooled server as described in claim 6, wherein the first computing element and the second computing element are disposed between the network interface controllers and the heat sink. A liquid-cooled server as described in claim 1, wherein the liquid-cooled server is based on a K880G6 server.

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