The Energy Challenge of Data Centers

With the rapid growth of digitalization, the role of data centers has become more critical than ever. AI, large-scale models, cloud computing, edge nodes—all these terms point to one thing: massive computing demand. But rising computing power comes hand in hand with rising energy consumption.

For years, air cooling has been the standard. It uses airflow to cool equipment, which worked well enough for traditional server rooms and mid-density setups. Today, however, chip power keeps climbing. Rack density has jumped from just a few kilowatts to tens of kilowatts. Air cooling now requires more fans and more energy, yet delivers less efficiency.

In short, air cooling has become a bottleneck. Liquid cooling is emerging as the industry’s answer.

The Principles and Advantages of Liquid Cooling

The idea of liquid cooling isn’t new. Its principle is simple: liquids transfer heat far more efficiently than air. Heat is carried directly away by the coolant, rather than relying on large volumes of circulating air.

This approach offers three clear advantages:

• Higher cooling efficiency: Liquids conduct heat up to a thousand times better than air, rapidly removing heat from chips and equipment.

• Lower energy use: Less reliance on fans and air-conditioning systems means reduced power consumption.

• More compact design: Higher cooling capacity allows denser server layouts, supporting greater computing power in limited space.

In other words, liquid cooling isn’t a “nice-to-have”—it’s the inevitable choice for the computing era.

How Liquid Cooling Improves Energy Efficiency

For data center operators, efficiency is directly tied to cost.

Traditional air-cooled systems rely on massive air-conditioning units and fans, consuming a large share of total operating power. Liquid cooling, with its direct heat transfer, removes most of the heat at the source and reduces auxiliary energy demands.

In practice, liquid-cooled data centers can often achieve a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) near 1.2, while air-cooled facilities typically exceed 1.5. That difference, while it may look small, can add up to millions—or even tens of millions—of dollars in annual electricity savings at scale.

Liquid cooling also enhances flexibility for business expansion. With stronger cooling capacity, enterprises no longer have to worry about power-density limits when deploying new servers, enabling smoother growth.

How Liquid Cooling Enhances Reliability

Beyond efficiency, reliability is the other critical metric for data centers. Any downtime can translate into major business losses.

Liquid cooling helps here, too. It maintains chips and hardware in a stable temperature environment, reducing fluctuations that can cause wear and failures. Since overheating is a leading cause of hardware damage, liquid cooling extends equipment life.

It also performs well under extreme conditions. Whether in hot climates or in energy-constrained environments, liquid cooling continues to deliver efficient performance. The result: higher availability and stronger business continuity.

In short, liquid cooling doesn’t just reduce costs—it builds confidence for enterprises running critical operations.

Attom’s Liquid Cooling Solutions

At Attom, we’ve developed a layered set of liquid cooling solutions for different needs:

• SmoothAir Rear-Door Heat Exchanger: Provides an upgrade path for traditional data centers with minimal retrofitting costs.

• ByteCool Direct-to-Chip Cooling: Circulates coolant directly over chip surfaces, ideal for AI training and high-performance computing.

• OceanCool Immersion Cooling: Submerges entire servers in dielectric liquid, delivering maximum cooling efficiency and energy savings.

These technologies integrate seamlessly with Attom’s modular data centers and power systems, creating a complete ecosystem. From cooling to power to operations, we deliver an end-to-end solution that simplifies deployment and enhances performance.

Conclusion

Liquid cooling is not an optional innovation—it’s the inevitable direction for the future of data centers. As computing demand keeps growing, it reduces energy consumption, strengthens reliability, and opens the door to high-density deployments.

At Attom, we view liquid cooling as a cornerstone of green, efficient, and sustainable development. Through continuous R&D and practical applications, we’re helping customers build more energy-efficient, more reliable data centers—ready to meet the challenges of the digital age.

 Contact us to learn more about our liquid cooling solutions.