2. Data Center Data Center Key Cause & Effect RelationshipsData Center Data Processing Profits Energy Consumption
3. Key Cause & Effect RelationshipsData Center (Beneficial Effects Only) Electricity Power Supply Ease of Manufacturing Lower Cost Servers Processor Power Processors Data Processing Data Profits
4. Key Cause & Effect RelationshipsData Center (With Harmful Effects) Electricity Power Supply Ease of Manufacturing Lower Cost Servers Close Proximity Processor Power Excessive Heat Near Processors Processor Damage Processors Data Processing Excessive Heat In Processors Data Profits
5. Key Cause & Effect RelationshipsData Center (With Harmful Effects & Counteractions) Electricity Power Supply Ease of Manufacturing Lower Cost Servers Close Proximity Processor Power Excessive Heat Near Processors Processor Damage Processors Data Processing Excessive Heat In Processors Cooling Cooled Air Data Low Density Cooling Profits Electricity Consumption For Cooling HVAC
6. Ease of Manufacturing Power Supply Key Cause & Effect RelationshipsData Center (Full System View) Electricity Lower Cost Servers Close Proximity Power Supply Ease of Manufacturing Processor Power Excessive Heat Near Processors Processor Damage Data Processing Processors Excessive Heat In Processors Data Processing Cooling Cooled Air Cooling Cooled Air Data Low Density Cooling Profits Electricity Consumption For Cooling HVAC
7. Cooling Mechanism Cooling is provided to counteract excessive heat, but requires consumption of electricity Current cooling methods rely on cool air for cooling. Air is significantly less dense than processor materials. The disparity between materials makes air cooling relatively inefficient. Form Factor Power supplies are placed in close proximity to processors to provide ease of manufacturing & installation Power supplies generate (and can operate in conditions of) heat in excess of processor limits Processor Construction Current processor construction allows the processor to generate sufficient heat to damage itself. Key System Contradictions Page 7
8. Find an alternative way to obtain: Cooling that offers the following: Eliminates, reduces, or prevents High Heat Near Processors and Excess Heat in Processors Does not cause Additional Electricity Consumption Does not require HVAC and Air Is not influenced by Low Density Cooling. Proposed Resolutions Eliminate HVAC Use a dense cooling material (water, oil, etc..) Use a dense thermal transfer material (metal, concrete, etc…) Use conduction to move heat away from processor boards Then forced convection with flows other than air Find a beneficial use for the excess heat Power generation power via sterling engine Key System Contradictions(Cooling Mechanism) Page 8
9. Find an alternative way to provide Processor Power without causing High Heat Near Processors. Proposed Resolution Separate the power supply from the processor boards Provide power through a standardized power bus Provide data through a standardized data bus Find a way to eliminate Rack-based Server. Proposed Resolution Redesign processor boards for: Flush mounting against processor surface Machine (e.g. robot) handling Standardize power and data connections for machine handling Make the data center the ‘rack’ Use the thermal transfer structure to provide the mounting surface Minimize space between walls to provide dense processing capacity Key System Contradictions(Form Factor) Page 9
11. What changes will be required? Redesign Processor boards Standardize power connections Standardize data connections Design machine-based board management system Re-engineer data centers Redesign spaces to provide optimum environment for processing components, not humans Data Center becomes the server Walls become the rack and heat transfer mechanism Reuse waste heat Making Passive Cooling a Reality Page 11
13. Ease of Manufacturing Power Supply Key Cause & Effect Relationships(Revisiting the Full System View) Ease of Manufacturing Power Supplyb Electricity Close Proximity Lower Cost Servers Close Proximity Power Supply Ease of Manufacturing Processor Power Excessive Heat Near Processors Processor Damage Data Processing Processors Excessive Heat In Processors Data Processing Passive Cooling Cooling Cooled Air Data Low Density Cooling Profits Electricity Consumption For Cooling HVAC
14. Key Cause & Effect Relationships(Improved Ideality) Electricity Power Supply Lower Cost Servers Close Proximity Ease of Manufacturing Processor Power Processor Damage Processors Data Processing Excessive Heat In Processors Passive Cooling Data Profits
15. Separating the power supply from the processors allows each to operate in their own optimized environment Flush mounting the processor boards allows natural convection to remove excess heat without electricity consumption Redesigning processor boards for flush mounting & machine handling allows re-thinking board design High speed inter-board communications (optics, etc…) Redesigning processor boards allows re-thinking of data center architecture Data Center is the server Significant increase in processor density in proportion to floor space Dynamic reallocation of processing capacity Enhanced security by optimizing the environment for systems rather than people Very tight tolerances between boards Elimination of air (to reduce thermal radiation) Reuse thermal energy Benefits Page 15
16. Rethinking data center, processor, and server designs will open up a new and exciting period in information processing. Meeting the processing needs of the future requires new thinking Future data centers must be designed to host processors, not people. Future processors must use less energy and produce less heat Processing components must operate in optimized environments Conclusion Page 16
17. Jamil Scott Principal Information Systems Engineer jamil@mitre.org (703) 983-5709 Dr. Thomas J. Heiman Senior Information Systems Engineer theiman@mitre.org (703) 983-2951 Team Members Page 17
