Luxshare-Tech's 10U Air-to-Liquid CDU Solution For Data Center Liquid Cooling Upgrades

In the digital era where artificial intelligence and cloud computing are rapidly evolving, the demand for computing power in data centers continues to rise. Utilizing liquid cooling technology to break through heat dissipation bottlenecks has become a key strategic focus for many enterprises. With its outstanding cooling efficiency, liquid cooling can significantly reduce a data center’s PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) value, making it a competitive cooling solution that many companies are actively exploring and adopting. 

Although liquid cooling technology is excellent, it is not a “universal key.” It places relatively strict requirements on the infrastructure conditions and spatial layout of data centers, which, to a large extent, limits the widespread implementation of liquid cooling solutions in all scenarios. For example, for traditional air-cooled data centers that temporarily do not have the conditions for liquid cooling deployment, small-scale micro data centers, and mobile data centers that require flexible deployment, how to achieve liquid cooling upgrades has become an urgent problem to be solved. 

In response to this challenge, Luxshare-Tech has launched the 10U Air-to-Liquid CDU, which combines the flexibility of air-cooled systems with the efficient heat dissipation capability of liquid-cooled systems, providing a practical and feasible upgrade path for liquid cooling.Under the wave of green and efficient transformation of data centers, building new data centers using liquid cooling technology has become a key strategy for many companies to maintain industry leadership. The liquid-to-liquid CDU heat dissipation system achieves high-efficiency heat dissipation based on the secondary heat exchange principle:

Liquid to Liquid Provides High Heat Dissipation Efficiency

Under the wave of green and efficient transformation of data centers, building new data centers using liquid cooling technology has become a key strategy for many companies to maintain industry leadership. The liquid-to-liquid CDU heat dissipation system achieves high-efficiency heat dissipation based on the secondary heat exchange principle:

    • Primary heat exchange: The low-temperature cooling water on the primary side is connected to the outdoor cold source. After the CDU plate heat exchanger absorbs the secondary side heat, it heats up and is pumped to the outdoor cooling tower. After being blown or sprayed to cool, it re-enters the CDU to complete the cycle.

    • Secondary heat exchange: The secondary side coolant, driven by the CDU circulating pump, enters the liquid cooling cabinet and heats up by exchanging heat with the heat-generating components of the server, then flows back to the CDU to transfer the heat to the primary side, and then circulates again to dissipate heat. 

Through this dual heat exchange mechanism, the liquid-to-liquid CDU can significantly reduce the PUE value of data centers and effectively meet the heat dissipation needs of high-power cabinets. It is widely used in the construction of large data centers. 

However, its requirements for data center infrastructure are also quite strict. It needs a complete cooling liquid circulation pipeline, temperature control equipment, and leak monitoring devices, and has strict standards for data centers space and load-bearing capacity. These thresholds make it difficult for this solution to be promoted in small and medium-sized data centers, in traditional air-cooled data center renovations, and in temporary scenarios, thus restricting the popularization of liquid cooling technology.

Luxshare-Tech 10U Air-to-Liquid CDU- An Important Piece of the Comprehensive Liquid Cooling Upgrade Strategy

When the liquid-to-liquid CDU solution has limitations in application scenarios, the strategic process of fully transitioning data centers to liquid cooling is also hindered. To accurately complete this strategic puzzle, Luxshare-Tech, with its profound insight into the market, innovatively launched the 10U Air-to-Liquid CDU solution: 

This solution adopts a closed-loop design, integrating circulation pumps, fans, and other core components to form an independent cooling system. During operation, it connects to the liquid-cooled cabinet loop, and the circulation pump drives the coolant to carry away the heat generated by the cabinet equipment. The heat is then expelled through fans. At the same time, with the help of precise pressure control technology, it can ensure the stability of the coolant flow in the cooling loop and automatically adjust the supply liquid temperature. Based on the single heat exchange design, the Luxshare-Tech 10U Air-to-Liquid CDU eliminates the need for additional liquid cooling pipeline installation. It is easy and convenient to deploy, with extremely low requirements for site conditions. It perfectly fills the coverage gap of the liquid-to-liquid CDU solution and is particularly suitable for the following scenarios.

    1. Traditional Computer Rooms Are Not Easy to Retrofit

For traditional air-cooled data centers with long-term liquid cooling upgrade plans but restricted by short-term liquid inlet conditions or the progress of primary pipeline installation, the Luxshare-Tech 10U Air-to-Liquid CDU can be well adapted. 

Its closed-loop and highly integrated design can directly connect to existing liquid-cooled cabinets, achieving “plug-and-play” without the need for large-scale renovations of the data center. The solution has excellent compatibility and can be widely adapted to multi-brand and multi-model server equipment, fully protecting existing hardware investments of enterprises and avoiding idle resources. 

In terms of operation and maintenance, the intelligent monitoring system can monitor key indicators such as coolant flow and temperature in real-time and provide instant early warning in case of abnormal situations, effectively ensuring stable operation of equipment. The modular design makes daily maintenance and fault repair more convenient and efficient, significantly improving operation and maintenance efficiency, and comprehensively overcoming the core pain points of upgrading air-cooled data centers.

    2. Small Mobile Data Centers

Small mobile data centers have extremely high requirements for the space adaptability and installation convenience of cooling equipment. The Luxshare-Tech 10U Air-to-Liquid CDU achieves extreme space compression with a standard 10U rack size. Its integrated design eliminates redundant equipment combinations, and installation does not require complex pipeline laying. Only basic connections are needed to achieve rapid deployment. 

The intelligent energy efficiency management system is equipped with fan heat consumption dynamic speed adjustment technology, which can optimize energy consumption in real-time based on load, precisely meeting the energy efficiency control requirements of small-scale scenarios. At the same time, the pump group and power system adopt a 1+1 redundancy architecture, the fan group implements an N+1 backup strategy, all key modules support online hot-pluggable maintenance. The pump group also supports maintenance after isolation, comprehensively establishing a reliability protection system that adapts to high-frequency transportation conditions.

    3. Liquid Cooling New Product Testing and Laboratory Computer Rooms

In the testing phase of new liquid cooling products (servers, switches, etc.), building a complete liquid-to-liquid CDU test environment often faces the dual challenges of complex deployment processes and high costs. The Luxshare-Tech 10U Air-to-Liquid CDU stands out with its simplified deployment characteristics and, more innovatively, integrates three control modes: manual, automatic (flow), and automatic (pressure differential). The manual mode can finely adjust parameters to accurately reproduce extreme conditions; the automatic modes can intelligently adapt to dynamic testing needs, achieving full coverage of testing scenarios. With the touchscreen providing real-time visualization of key indicators, testing data accuracy is ensured, greatly shortening the R&D cycle. 

At the same time, for laboratory environments that frequently change test sites during liquid cooling equipment and tooling verification, the Luxshare-Tech 10U Air-to-Liquid CDU uses a lightweight and compact design to achieve “move-and-use.” Site migration can be easily completed without professional tools. The touchscreen control system visually presents the operating status, and the fault alarm mechanism achieves second-level problem localization, significantly reducing debugging time. 

Relying on profound insight and forward-looking planning in the field of data center thermal management, Luxshare-Tech continues to deeply cultivate self-developed and self-manufactured core component technology, building a thermal management solution matrix that covers all scenarios, is integrated and orientated for future evolution:

    • 120+kW liquid-to-liquid CDU: With strong heat dissipation performance, it meets the extreme computing power demands of large data centers.

    • Immersion cooling tanks: Provide efficient and silent heat dissipation solutions for high-density deployment scenarios.

    • Liquid-cooled IO products: Focused on the field of high-speed interconnects, accurately solving the module heat dissipation challenges caused by high-speed rates, ensuring the stability and efficiency of data transmission. 

These products work together to fully help customers achieve technological iteration and maintain a leading position in fierce market competition. In the future, we will reveal these innovative achievements one by one. Please stay tuned for the exciting updates!

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