Even high-performance computing is seeking energy efficiency
Misting could be a common way to cool chips one day
By
Robert Mullins
,
Network World
, 02/18/2008
- Share/Email
- Tweet This
- Print
High-performance computing centers are the Indy cars of the technology industry: built for speed and little else. Let the
other guys build the Corollas and Civics for economy.
Today, however, even some HPC systems are looking for ways to control energy use.
"Our appetite for additional compute cycles is pretty much insatiable. But we do look at power and cooling," says Tommy Minyard,
assistant director of advanced computing systems at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas at Austin.
TACC is building a Sun supercomputer expected to deliver a 504-teraflop system that uses 15,744 Advanced Micro Devices quad-core processors. Power and cooling issues remain secondary to performance, but are becoming more important as faster
processors and smaller-form-factor blade servers increase heating density, Minyard says. "The standard, old, conventional
under-floor cooling with central air-conditioning units just aren't adequate for the heating densities we're seeing down the
road here," he says.
The Sun servers TACC is deploying will consume about 30 kilowatts of power per rack, vs. the 12 kW consumption of a typical server rack. "That's extremely high. You've got all that heat in a small space, and you have to
cool it," Minyard says.
TACC also is deploying in-row cooling units to control server temperatures better, but Minyard is intrigued by other possibilities,
including spraying a fine mist of droplets right in front of the chip. "If you can move the cooling directly to the chip,
that is much more efficient than trying to cool the air," he says.
No doubt the lessons TACC and other HPC centers learn will one day come in handy for conventional data centers as they continue
to grow in size and complexity, Minyard says.
Partner Content
www.bmc.com
Gartner 2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling
Gartner has positioned BMC CONTROL-M in the Leaders Quadrant of their "2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling." The report assesses the ability to execute and completeness of vision of key vendors in the marketplace. Read a full copy today, courtesy of BMC Software.
Download whitepaper
Dell's SMART Approach to Workload Automation
Read a compelling case study by EMA, Inc. to learn how Dell uses BMC CONTROL-M to cut cost and increase productivity with workload automation.
Download whitepaper
Workload Automation Cost Savings 2 Minute Video
A major computer manufacturer uses BMC CONTROL-M and just four people to schedule and run over 85,000 jobs every month. By switching to BMC CONTROL-M, they more than quadrupled the workload without adding a single staff member. See how in this 2-minute video overview.
Go to video
Comment