Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Cost-Conscious Supercomputing

Cooling Infrastructure

Liebert Keeps It Cool

With 1100 Power Mac G5 machines — or 2200 G5 processors — running 24/7 in an enclosed space, things can really heat up. But a custom solution from Liebert Corporation keeps the supercomputer cool, says Kevin Shinpaugh, who oversaw all logistics and facilities for the System X implementation.

Working within a seemingly impossible timeframe, Liebert constructed the rows of racks that would support the 36 tons of hardware, and designed a special chilling system to ensure optimum system operation. In all, the configuration takes up 3000 square feet, with six rows of racks holding nearly 200 computers each. Liebert also supplied rack-mounted heat exchangers, and a special refrigerant-based cooling system that uses chilled water.

“Liebert was fantastic to work with,” Shinpaugh says. “We were the first installation of ‘XDV’ [extreme-density vertical cooling system]. Liebert really pushed their capabilities to get this stuff to us on time, and get it installed. They bent over backwards to help us out, and we’ve been thrilled with the results.”

Chilling Out

Based on the expected heat load for Virginia Tech’s supercomputer, normal air conditioning units were deemed insufficient. But Liebert Corporation, known for its comprehensive range of protection systems for sensitive electronics, provided a high-density, rack-mounted cooling system that met the budget and time constraints of the project. In addition, Liebert designed the computer racks themselves, and provided the power distribution equipment.

Liebert’s engineers constructed a system that uses the natural convection that occurs in rack-mounted computers to generate a cooling airflow. Virginia Tech’s Power Mac G5 computers were first set up in a “hot” and “cold” aisle configuration, in which the exhaust fans from the Macs would blow into the “hot” aisles.

The XDV was then installed on top of the rack enclosure. This unit takes the hot air directly from the enclosure and cools the air before it is blown into the “cold” aisles, which the systems all face. If needed, the XDV can draw discharged “hot spot” air from the room through a cooling coil and distribute it to the cold aisle as well.

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