Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has developed a new 40kVA-class 12ft container-type data center with an immersion/air-cooled hybrid cooling system capable of simultaneously housing servers utilizing three types of cooling methods: immersion cooling (25kVA), air cooling (8kVA), and water cooling (8kVA), according to the company's release.
MHI will provide the product to customers for trial operation for a fixed period from October, and begin demonstration testing to support commercialization at the Yokohama Hardtech Hub (YHH), a manufacturing co-creation space on the grounds of MHI's Yokohama Dockyard & Machinery Works Honmoku Plant in Naka-ku, Yokohama. MHI plans to commercialize this solution by the end of fiscal 2023.
The newly developed data center is the successor to the container-type immersion cooling data center that has been under development since 2021. Servers with different cooling methods for different applications (by power density) can be mounted in the unit simultaneously, accommodating a diverse range servers and other devices for edge computing to process data at the periphery ("edge") of computer networks.
In addition, a space of 1.4m x 1.3m has been secured inside the container, dramatically improving workability when installing or removing servers. Further, because of the integration and optimization of different cooling methods as a whole system, and installation at high density in a 12ft container, system performance in a 40°C environment is expected to achieve PUE(Note2) of 1.05 for immersion cooling alone (1.14 when immersion cooling and air cooling are used in combination).
For the demonstration testing of the data center, Dell Technologies Japan Inc. provided a server for verification, and NEC Networks & System Integration Corporation will verify the IT equipment installation and server maintenance procedures.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world’s leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world.