Say Goodbye to "Overheating": Unveiling the Three Major Cooling Solutions for Data Centers
When we smoothly scroll through short videos, immerse ourselves in gaming experiences, or efficiently handle work with the help of AI, behind all of this are thousands of high‑speed servers running tirelessly in data centers.
Server configurations mainly include core components such as CPUs, memory, storage devices, motherboards, power supplies, and more. These components generate a large amount of heat when operating under high loads. Inadequate heat dissipation can easily cause chips to overheat, leading to frequency reduction, system instability, or even downtime. Therefore, efficient cooling technology has become the key to ensuring the stable operation of data centers. Today, let's step into the "cooling hub" of data centers and unveil three disruptive cooling black technologies that challenge traditional concepts!
Conventional Cooling – Heat Sinks
Heat sinks are the first line of defense in server cooling. They are installed directly on heat‑generating components. Their primary function is to quickly conduct heat from chips and other components to themselves, and then dissipate it rapidly through their large surface area, which transfers the heat away via convection with the surrounding air. This effectively reduces the operating temperature of core components and ensures system stability.
Advanced Cooling – Fan Cooling
Fan cooling removes hot air from inside the server by driving airflow, achieving efficient heat dissipation. Its core working process is an efficient cycle: first, the fan rotates to generate forced airflow; the airflow passes over the surface of the heatsink coated with coolant, accelerating the evaporation of the coolant and thereby absorbing a large amount of heat; then, the radiator concentrates the heat carried away during evaporation and conducts it to the outside; finally, the fan continuously pushes the airflow to quickly expel the heated air out of the chassis, completing one cooling cycle. This process repeats continuously, ensuring that the server maintains a stable operating temperature even under high loads.
Mainstream Advanced Cooling – Liquid Cooling
Liquid cooling is currently a mainstream and advanced cooling technology, mainly divided into two forms: cold‑plate (indirect liquid cooling) and immersion (direct liquid cooling).
Cold‑plate liquid cooling revolves around the concept of "thermal conduction." A "cold plate" with built‑in flow channels is installed on the surface of heat‑generating components, and coolant circulates within the channels, absorbing heat from the chips and carrying it away indirectly, thereby achieving efficient heat dissipation. This method does not directly contact the electronic components and offers advantages such as strong structural compatibility and lower retrofit costs, making it suitable for most high‑density computing scenarios.
Immersion liquid cooling, on the other hand, is based on the principle of "phase change." The entire server or its core components are submerged in a cooling fluid, which directly contacts the heat sources. The fluid absorbs a large amount of heat through boiling and vaporization, and the vapor is re‑liquefied in a condensation system, completing highly efficient heat transfer. This physical mechanism of "evaporative heat absorption" provides extremely high cooling efficiency, making it particularly suitable for high‑power, high‑heat‑flux environments such as supercomputing centers and data centers.
Choosing efficient and innovative chip cooling solutions from a range of technology paths – from air cooling to liquid cooling – is certainly key to improving server stability and reliability. However, one important aspect that is often overlooked is the selection of the thermal interface material (TIM) between the chip and the heat sink. This seemingly insignificant material layer actually has a significant impact on heat transfer efficiency, system temperature control, and overall reliability.
TENSAN Thermal Interface Material Solutions
TENSAN (Shenzhen Tianzhongshan Industrial Co., Ltd.), with over 20 years of expertise and R&D and production experience in RTV sealants, thermal greases, silicone potting compounds, and more, provides comprehensive thermal interface material solutions for data center and server cooling:
High‑Performance Thermal Grease
TENSAN TS‑1101 thermal grease is a high‑performance heat dissipation material with a thermal conductivity of up to 4.5 W/(m·K) and an operating temperature range of ‑45°C to 200°C. It offers excellent thermal conductivity, electrical insulation, and wetting properties, with a long service life. It is suitable for heat conduction between core server chips such as CPUs and GPUs and their heat sinks. Under high‑load data center operating conditions, TS‑1101 efficiently conducts heat from the chips to the cooling module, ensuring that servers run stably at appropriate temperatures, avoiding performance degradation and shortened lifespan due to excessive temperatures.
Thermal Pads
The TENSAN TS100 series thermal pads are made of silicone rubber as the base material, with thermally conductive fillers and flame retardants added, manufactured through a special process. The TS100 series offers ultra‑high thermal conductivity, efficiently conducting heat away from heat sources and significantly improving cooling efficiency. At the same time, they are soft and flexible, capable of conforming tightly to various irregular surfaces, making them suitable for filling gaps between chips of different heights and heat sinks in servers. The TS100 series also provides reliable electrical insulation and excellent temperature resistance, ensuring long‑term stable operation in data centers.
Thermally Conductive Potting Compounds
TENSAN TS8800 series thermally conductive potting compounds are two‑component, 1:1 mix‑ratio room‑temperature curing silicone potting materials. They offer good thermal conductivity, water resistance, and electrical insulation properties. They are suitable for the overall encapsulation protection of power components such as server power modules and inductor coils, effectively conducting heat while providing comprehensive protection against moisture, dust, and vibration.
Continuous innovation and upgrades in cooling technology not only unleash more powerful computing performance but also significantly reduce carbon emissions, laying a greener and more sustainable foundation for our digital world. If you are facing cooling challenges, TENSAN's thermal interface material solutions can help you manage them with confidence. Please feel free to contact us through the following channels to learn more or to obtain professional technical support!
