HP's Burning Question: How To Keep Systems Cool

Hewlett Packard apparently came up with a new product to cool down the system..

Hoping to get a handle on the problem, HP has launched a line of gear designed to prevent data center meltdowns:

HP's Modular Cooling System acts as a sort of radiator for servers. It pumps chilled water to the server's framing, called a rack, to cool machines directly.

The firm's 10000 G2 Series Rack uses standard air cooling, but improves ventilation.

HP Power Distribution Unit Management Module lets techies more closely watch over the power usage -- and thus heat -- of a data center.

"Consider these products a spearhead of (other) products coming out over the next year or two," Perez said. He hinted at products that will let companies manage entire data centers as a single system, shifting computer workloads to cooler areas of a room or ratcheting down systems on the fly when they're getting too hot.

Eventually, companies could shift horsepower to other data centers around the globe to take advantage of cooler weather or electricity costs. A user could fire up systems in Serbia during the day and switch to systems in Arizona at night.

Seeing his rival released new products..

IBM last year launched a water-cooling system called the Rear Door Heat exchanger and is looking at simple design changes to its server's chassis to better circulate air.

Sun Microsystems is tackling the problem at its source with its T1 line of processors, formerly known as Niagara. Using just 70 watts of electricity, the systems run much cooler than similarly powered machines.

That also brings an environmental benefit, says Scott McNealy, Sun's chief executive.

"We have a cause: eliminating the digital divide without torching the planet," he said at a recent Sun event.

Rackable Systems, whose stock has exploded since it went public last summer, has long focused on cooler running systems. It uses a patented chassis design that circulates air more efficiently inside the machines.

And some of its systems perform the standard AC/DC conversion in a centralized fashion, rather than inside each server. Though some dispute the logic, Rackable officials say that makes cooling easier.