RU2653499C1 - Cooling system for massively parallel computer systems - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: computer engineering.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the field of computer technology, namely to cooling systems of massively parallel computing systems, including supercomputers of an ex-scale, containing equipment for processing electronic data. It is achieved by the fact that the cooling system for high-density placement of highly loaded cabinets of massively parallel computing systems with rows of computer equipment, which are separated by air corridors, and each series of computing equipment consists of an alternating computer cabinet with servers and a cooling device, is characterized that to each series of computing equipment is additionally installed identical series in such way, that the output of each cooling device and the input of the calculating cabinet of the additionally introduced series are connected respectively to the input of the calculating cabinet and the output of the cooling device of the previous row.

EFFECT: absence of "cold" corridors and, hence, absence of mixing of the cooled and heated air, as well as a significant increase in system performance while maintaining the scale of occupied areas by increasing the density of the cabinets.

1 cl, 2 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the field of computer technology, namely to cooling systems of massively parallel computing systems, including ex-scale supercomputers containing electronic data processing equipment.

In computer centers and industrial enterprises, the installation of IT equipment in cabinets is widely used. Such cabinets have enough space to accommodate many types of IT equipment, tightly mounted on top of each other. For the operation of these electronic devices, in addition to supplying them with electric energy and data, it is also necessary to ensure their sufficient cooling. For air cooling, air conditioning devices are usually used to generate cooling air, which, through air supply devices located in electronic devices, is passed through electronic devices and at the same time takes away the heat of the electronic components. A distinctive feature of massively parallel computing systems is the presence of a large number of cabinets (hundreds of pieces) and a high energy density of IT equipment in the cabinets (70 kW and above). Also, these computing systems need expensive high-speed communication networks and control networks.

Due to the recently observed significant increase in the volume of processed data, the number of cabinets with computing equipment increases and, as a result, the increase in the area occupied by them. To accommodate such computing equipment and its life support systems, huge rooms are required. Modern data centers already contain thousands of racks. And according to international estimates, this number only increases over time.

In connection with the foregoing, research is being conducted around the world to minimize the cost of creating and operating computer systems. Currently, in the construction of massively parallel computing systems, air-cooling systems for cabinets with IT equipment based on inter-row or inter-rack air conditioners that provide heat dissipation of similar power with high efficiency are most widely used. Intra-row air conditioners are designed to efficiently remove increased heat loads in modern data centers and computer systems; Ideal for cold and hot aisle configurations. Air conditioners are installed between the cabinets in a row, they take hot air from the hot corridor, after cooling, the air is delivered to the cold corridor to the IT equipment.

There is a well-known cooling system at the level of the rows of cabinets, installed on the principle of alternating cold and hot corridors (See Rittal - The System / [Electronic resource] / Press / Technological solution for energy-efficient cooling of data centers: Cooling at the level of rows of racks. / 2016 - Access mode: WWW.rittal.com/en/unternehmen/presse/pressemeldunger/pressemeldung_26880.jsp free. - Heading from the screen). The cooling system is a room with IT equipment cabinets. The rows of cabinets of the computing system are installed in such a way that the front sides of the two rows of cabinets are facing each other, between them is the so-called “cold corridor”. It circulates cold air, which is supplied by the appropriate cooling units inside the cabinets and passes through the IT equipment placed on them. The back walls of the server cabinets face the so-called “hot corridors”. Hot air is taken from them by cooling units, cooled and discharged into the “cold” corridor. The described system is shown in figure 1. Depending on the requirements, “hot” or “cold” corridors can be isolated from the environment using appropriate special solutions. This prevents the mixing of cold and hot air, providing the greatest possible temperature difference so that the cooling units work with the greatest efficiency. But such decisions often lead to the occupation of even larger territories. Currently, this technological trend of air cooling is the most popular, most economical and is actually the world standard.

A disadvantage of the known system is that its implementation requires huge rooms, an increased length of expensive cable connections, high purchase and operating costs, and low characteristics of communication networks.

The above cooling system is the closest in technical essence to the claimed technical solution and therefore is selected as a prototype.

The task to be solved is the creation of a new cooling system that provides a high-density layout of cabinets for massively parallel computing systems while maintaining the ability to remove high-power heat from the cabinets, which allows to reduce or completely eliminate the above disadvantages.

Achievable technical result is the absence of “cold” corridors and, consequently, the absence of mixing of chilled and heated air, as well as a significant increase in the performance of the systems while maintaining the scale of the occupied space by increasing the density of the cabinets.

To achieve a technical result in a cooling system for high-density placement of highly loaded cabinets of massively parallel computing systems with rows of computing equipment that are separated by air corridors, each row of computing equipment consists of alternating cabinets with IT equipment and air conditioners, the new one is the fact that each row of computing equipment consists of a main row with alternating cabinets with IT equipment and air conditioning ami, and an additional row, also consisting of alternating cabinets with IT equipment and air conditioners, cabinets with IT equipment and air conditioners of the main and additional rows are installed closely facing each other so that the heated air from the cabinets with IT equipment of the main row enters the "hot" corridor to the left of the main row, and the heated air of cabinets with IT equipment of the additional row enters the "hot" corridor to the right of the additional row, while the cooled air from the air conditioners is mainly a power series flows into closely located thereto cabinets with additional equipment IT-series, and the cooled air from air conditioners additional row enters the closely located thereto cabinets with IT-equipment main row.

A new set of essential features provides:

- placement of a 33% larger number of cabinets of a computer system without expanding the occupied space;

- use of a smaller area with a given number of cabinets;

- the use of significantly shorter cables for control networks and cables for communication networks, which reduces the purchase cost, signal delay, simplifies installation and operation, reduces power consumption;

- providing almost 100% utilization by cabinets with IT equipment of chilled air conditioners, which increases the efficiency of the cooling system;

- increasing the addressing of the supply of chilled air, the possibility of monitoring the cooling process and adjusting the volume of chilled air entering the cabinet depending on the load of IT equipment;

- the possibility of abandoning the use of part of the system fans of IT equipment due to the presence of powerful fans of air conditioners with adjustable speed, which reduces energy consumption;

- providing cooling cabinets with high power consumption;

The absence of cold corridors and, consequently, the lack of mixing of chilled and heated air.

The invention is implemented by the circuit shown in figure 2.

The inventive cooling system operates as follows. Consider the operation of the main row 1 and additional row 2. The heated air from the cabinets with IT equipment of the main row 1 enters the "hot" corridor in figure 2 to the left of the main row 1. From the "hot" corridor, warm air is taken in by the air conditioners of the main row 1, cooled in heat exchangers. Cooled air from the air conditioners of the main row 1 enters the adjacent closets of the additional row 2. From the cabinets of the additional row 2, the heated air enters the “hot” corridor to the right of the additional row 2. From the “hot” corridor to the right of the additional row 2, heated air is taken conditioners of the additional row 2, it is cooled and supplied to the cabinets of the main row 1. All the other rows in figure 2 work in a similar way. I exclude the similar arrangement of the main and additional rows It makes it necessary to organize dedicated “cold” corridors and makes it possible to increase the density of cabinets with IT equipment by 33% compared to the standard mutual arrangement of prototype rows (see Fig. 1).

According to the invention, in figure 2, the cabinets and air conditioners of the main and additional rows are installed by the front sides close to each other. Front-side IT equipment and air conditioners have control panels. The IT equipment on the front side has a mounting device in the cabinet. The task of providing access to the control panels and to the mounting device can be solved by transferring them to the back side of IT equipment and air conditioners, respectively. After transferring the control panels and mounting devices, all maintenance will be carried out from the rear sides of the cabinets and air conditioners. The design of a part of IT equipment allows its maintenance from the back of the cabinets without modernization.

Claims (1)

Cooling system for high-density placement of highly loaded cabinets of massively parallel computing systems with rows of computing equipment that are separated by air corridors, while each row of computing equipment consists of alternating cabinets with IT equipment and air conditioners, characterized in that each row of computing equipment consists of a main row with alternating cabinets with IT equipment and air conditioners, and an additional row, also consisting of of alternating cabinets with IT equipment and air conditioners, cabinets with IT equipment and air conditioners of the main and additional rows are installed close to each other so that heated air from the cabinets with IT equipment of the main row enters the “hot” corridor to the left of the main row, and the heated air of cabinets with IT equipment of the additional row enters the “hot” corridor to the right of the additional row, while the cooled air from the air conditioners of the main row enters in close proximity cabinets with IT equipment of an additional series are supplied to them, and the cooled air from the air conditioners of the additional series is supplied to closely adjacent cabinets with IT equipment of the main series.

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