<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nA liquid cooled switch<\/strong> is an advanced networking device designed for data centers, utilizing liquid-based cooling systems to dissipate heat more efficiently than traditional air-cooled alternatives. In essence, liquid cooled<\/strong> technology circulates coolants\u2014such as water or specialized fluids\u2014directly or indirectly over high-heat components like chips and processors, ensuring optimal performance under heavy loads.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis innovation addresses the growing demands of modern data centers, where escalating power consumption from AI, cloud computing, and big data requires superior thermal management. By integrating liquid cooled<\/strong> mechanisms, switches can handle higher bandwidths, like 51.2Tbps, without compromising reliability. FiberMall’s expertise in optical-communication solutions makes us a go-to source for implementing liquid cooled switches<\/strong> that align with energy-efficient policies and cutting-edge chip designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Energy Consumption and Policy Perspective<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe PUE value is the ratio of the total energy consumption of a data center to the energy consumption of IT equipment. The closer the PUE value is to 1, the less energy consumption of non-IT equipment is, the better the energy efficiency level and the greener the data center is.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 1. The PUE Metric<\/b><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n FiberMall found that the average energy consumption of the cooling system is as high as 33% of the data center’s energy consumption, which is close to one-third of the total consumption. This is because the air cooling system used in the traditional data center uses air with deficient specific heat capacity as the cooling medium. Driven by the fan in the equipment, the heat transferred by the CPU and other heat sources to the radiator is taken away from the IT equipment, and the air is cooled by circulating the fan coil heat exchanger or air conditioning refrigeration, which is also the limitation of air cooling. Therefore, solving the energy use efficiency of the cooling system has become a technology iteration challenge faced by equipment manufacturers under the new policy environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 2. <\/b><\/strong>Data Center Energy Consumption Composition<\/b><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Chip Cooling Demand Perspective<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWith the development of switch chips, high-performance chip processes (such as 5nm) can effectively reduce the power consumption per unit of computing power. However, as the bandwidth of the switching chip increases to 51.2Tbps, the total power consumption of a single chip has risen to about 900W. Therefore, how to solve the heat dissipation problem of the device chip has become a difficulty in the hardware design of the entire device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the current air-cooled cooling system can still support the operation, when the chip heat flux (a flow of energy per unit area per unit time) is greater than 100W\/cm\u00b2, the problem will come one after another:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First<\/b><\/strong>, the further reduction of the thermal resistance of the heat sink encounters a bottleneck. In order to be able to resolve the small chip nearly kilowatts of heat power, the heat sink needs to use a lower total thermal resistance of the architectural approach. This also means that better thermal conductivity and heat sink design is needed if the increased capacity of the heat sink is to balance the increased power consumption of the chip. But at present, the design and processing of high-performance air-cooled heat sinks have mostly obtained heat pipe, vapor chamber and 3D VC support, which are already close to the limit of performance optimization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second<\/b><\/strong>, limited by the height requirements of the switch products, it is difficult to solve the heat dissipation problem by expanding the volume of the heat sink. Because the heat starting from the chip breaks through the chip shell, thermal interface materials, vapor chamber, solder, heat pipe, etc., but is finally stuck in the interface fins of solid air. And because of the low convective heat transfer coefficient between the fins and the air, in order to come up with the required heat dissipation area for high-power chip cooling, thermal design engineers have to expand the size of the heat sink over and over, almost filling up the available space inside the servers and switches. It can be said that the final bottleneck of air cooling heat dissipation is its finned structure to the inelastic demand for space. In addition, in order to increase the air volume, the fan speed has reached 30,000 RPM, and the aircraft takeoff-like noise is a deeply troubling development and operations staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally<\/b><\/strong>, with the chip power consumption still rising, the cooling capacity of the air cooling system is about to reach its limit. Even if air-cooled heat sinks can solve the current switch cooling problem, in the future, when 102.4\/204.8Tbps becomes mainstream and chip power consumption is greater, air-cooled heat sinks will eventually be unable to cope. Therefore, higher-performance liquid cooling technology emerges for the next generation of IT equipment. In the next 5-10 years, it has become a consensus in the industry that air cooling will gradually be replaced by liquid cooling in data centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Key Benefits of Liquid Cooled Switches<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAdopting liquid cooled switches<\/strong> offers transformative advantages for data center operators aiming to reduce PUE and enhance sustainability. Here are the primary benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nSuperior Heat Dissipation<\/strong>: Liquid cooled<\/strong> systems can manage heat fluxes exceeding 100W\/cm\u00b2, far outperforming air cooling by using fluids with higher specific heat capacity, leading to cooler operation and extended hardware lifespan.<\/li>\n\n\n\nEnergy Efficiency Gains<\/strong>: By lowering overall power usage\u2014potentially reducing cooling energy consumption by up to 40%\u2014liquid cooled switches<\/strong> help achieve PUE values closer to 1, aligning with global green data center mandates.<\/li>\n\n\n\nNoise Reduction and Space Savings<\/strong>: Unlike noisy fans in air-cooled setups, liquid cooled<\/strong> designs operate quietly and require less physical space, ideal for dense enterprise networks and cloud environments.<\/li>\n\n\n\nScalability for AI and High-Performance Computing<\/strong>: In AI-enabled networks, liquid cooled switches<\/strong> support intensive workloads without thermal throttling, ensuring seamless data flow in wireless systems and access networks.<\/li>\n\n\n\nCost-Effectiveness Over Time<\/strong>: Initial investments in liquid cooled<\/strong> technology yield long-term savings through reduced maintenance and energy bills, making it a value-driven choice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Classification, advantages, and disadvantages of liquid cooling technology<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe current liquid cooling technology is mainly divided into single-phase liquid cooling and two-phase liquid cooling. In the COBO white paper “Design Considerations of Optical Connectivity in a Co-Packaged or On-Board Optics Switch”, Ruijie has comprehensively sorted out and classified the forms of cooling systems for IT equipment in data centers (Figure 3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Single-phase liquid cooling means that the coolant always maintains liquid in the process of heat dissipation cycle and easily takes away heat through high specific heat capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two-phase liquid cooling means that the coolant undergoes a phase change during the heat dissipation process, and the coolant removes heat from the equipment through the very high latent heat of vaporization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In contrast, single-phase liquid cooling has lower complexity and is easier to achieve, and its heat dissipation capacity is sufficient to support IT devices in the data center. Therefore, it is the best choice in the current phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 3. Main heat dissipation modes of IT devices in the data center<\/b><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Single-phase liquid cooling is divided into cold plate liquid cooling and immersion liquid cooling. Cold plate liquid cooling fixes the liquid cold plate on the main heating device of the equipment and relies on the liquid flowing through the cold plate to take away the heat to achieve the purpose of heat dissipation. There are already several applications for the supercomputer data center, and the OCP Committee has promoted the deployment of the Manifold architecture standard through Open Rack V3.0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Immersion liquid cooling is to immerse the whole machine directly in the coolant, relying on the natural or forced circulation flow of liquid to take away the heat generated by the operation of the server and other equipment. It has been widely used in digital currency mining and supercomputing and has also been a hot topic discussed by OCP, ODCC, and other organizations in recent years. The data center of a large cloud computing company has carried out large-scale deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The advantages of immersion liquid cooling include: <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\nbecause the coolant directly contacts the equipment, the heat dissipation capacity is stronger, and the overtemperature risk of the device is lower;<\/li>\n\n\n\n Immersion liquid cooling equipment does not require fans, resulting in less equipment vibration and longer life of hardware devices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n Immersion liquid cooling room side chilled water supply temperature is high, the outdoor side is easier to heat. Hence, the site selection of the room is no longer as air cooling era, so restricted by the region and temperature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nOf course, Immersion liquid cooling also has disadvantages, including high cost, high safety requirements, and high load-bearing requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The advantages of cold plate liquid cooling are as follows: <\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are few changes to the equipment room. Only the racks, Coolant Distribution Units (CDU), and water supply systems need to be changed. Moreover, cold plate liquid cooling can use more types of coolant, and the amount is much less than the immersion type, so the initial investment cost is lower. In addition, the cold plate liquid cooling industry chain is more mature, the market is more acceptable. However, the cold plate also has some limitations. First, liquid lines and connectors may leak, causing equipment damage and service interruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Liquid Cooled vs. Air Cooled Switches: A Detailed Comparison<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhen evaluating cooling options for data center switches, understanding the differences between liquid cooled<\/strong> and air-cooled systems is crucial. Here’s a side-by-side comparison:<\/p>\n\n\n\nAspect<\/th> Liquid Cooled Switches<\/th> Air Cooled Switches<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Heat Management<\/strong><\/td>Excellent; handles high heat flux efficiently with coolants.<\/td> Limited; struggles beyond 100W\/cm\u00b2, reliant on fans.<\/td><\/tr> Energy Efficiency<\/strong><\/td>High; reduces PUE by minimizing non-IT energy use.<\/td> Moderate; cooling accounts for ~33% of total consumption.<\/td><\/tr> Noise Levels<\/strong><\/td>Low; minimal fan usage.<\/td> High; constant fan operation.<\/td><\/tr> Scalability<\/strong><\/td>Ideal for AI, cloud, and big data applications.<\/td> Suitable for lower-bandwidth setups but limits growth.<\/td><\/tr> Initial Cost<\/strong><\/td>Higher due to advanced components.<\/td> Lower, but higher long-term operational costs.<\/td><\/tr> Maintenance<\/strong><\/td>Requires fluid monitoring but less frequent.<\/td> Fan replacements common; dust buildup issues.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFor organizations transitioning to liquid cooled switches<\/strong>, FiberMall offers expert guidance and products that bridge the gap between traditional air cooling and innovative liquid cooled<\/strong> solutions, ensuring a smooth upgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n