Immersion server, immersion server drawer, and rack-mountable immersion server drawer-based cabinet

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9049800-B2
Application number	US-201313757724-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 1, 2013
Priority date	Feb 1, 2013
Publication date	Jun 2, 2015
Grant date	Jun 2, 2015

Abstract

An information handling system includes: an immersion server drawer (ISD) having: an impervious enclosure which holds a volume of dielectric cooling liquid within/at the enclosure bottom. The ISD is configured with dimensions that enable insertion of liquid-cooled servers within the enclosure bottom. A plurality of liquid-cooled servers can be placed in a side-by-side configuration along one dimension of the ISD, with one or more heat dissipating components of the servers being placed below a surface layer of the cooling liquid. Submerged components of the immersion server are liquid-cooled, while the other heat generating components above the liquid surface are air cooled by rising vapor generated by boiling and vaporization of the cooling liquid. The ISD is placed in an ISD cabinet, which is configured with an upper condenser that allows for multi-phase cooling of the electronic devices placed within the immersion server drawer. The ISD cabinet can be rack-mountable.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An information handling system comprising:
an immersion server drawer having:
an impervious enclosure configured with opposing side walls, opposing front and rear walls and a bottom wall;
wherein the immersion server drawer has (1) a depth dimension extending from the front wall to the rear wall that is sized to receive one or more servers in one of a first orientation and a second orientation, (2) a width dimension extending from a first side wall to a second side wall that is sized to receive one or more servers in one of a first orientation and a second orientation, and (3) a height dimension extending from the bottom wall to a top of the opposing side walls and sized to receive at least a single server; and
wherein the immersion server drawer is configured to hold a volume of immersion cooling liquid within a bottom section of the enclosure at which the one or more servers are placed to be liquid cooled.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one server placed within the enclosure of the immersion server drawer in an orientation that enables one or more heat generating components of the server to be submerged under the immersion cooling liquid within the immersion server drawer to be liquid cooled.

3. The information handling system of claim 2 , wherein each of the at least one server includes a motherboard having at least one processor and memory components located within a bottom region of the enclosure below a surface layer of the immersion cooling liquid.

4. The information handling system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one server further comprises one or more storage devices located closer to an upper region of the enclosure, which is above the surface layer of the enclosure and at which the one or more storage devices are vapor cooled by a rising plume of vapor generated by boiling of the immersion cooling liquid within the lower enclosure.

5. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one server is an immersion server which comprises:
a motherboard having a lower surface and an upper surface;
a vertical arrangement of memory modules placed on the lower surface of the motherboard; and
at least one processor located on the upper surface of the motherboard and communicatively coupled to the memory modules by signal traces passing through the motherboard from the upper surface to the lower surface.

6. The information handling system of claim 5 , wherein the immersion server further comprises:
a panel physically attached to a first perimeter edge of the motherboard and serving as a vertical support of the information handling system; and
one or more storage devices connected to the panel and communicatively connected to the at least one processor on the motherboard via connecting traces extending on the panel to the motherboard to provide data and communication buses, wherein the one or more storage devices are physically located above the components of the PCB when the information handling system is oriented vertically in an upright position to provide a vertically-oriented arrangement of functional components.

7. The information handling system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more storage devices are hard disk drives (HDDs).

8. The information handling system of claim 5 , wherein the panel is oriented and connects at an angle relative to the motherboard such that the motherboard extends horizontally away from the panel when the panel is oriented vertically.

9. The information handling system of claim 5 , wherein the vertically-oriented arrangement of functional components enables bifurcation of cooling of lower components by liquid cooling and upper components by vapor cooling, wherein the information handling system is designed to have a first set of components attached to the motherboard be submerged in a liquid and be liquid cooled during operation, while a second set of components attached on the panel above the motherboard are air cooled by rising vapor generated as the liquid reaches a boiling point and vaporizes.

10. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the immersion server drawer comprises a plurality of immersion servers placed in a side-by-side configuration along at least one of the depth of the immersion server drawer and the width of the immersion server drawer.

11. The information handling system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a dielectric cooling fluid within the lower enclosure of the immersion server drawer up to a first fluid level that covers the first set of components on the motherboard, wherein the first fluid level is below the one or more storage devices, and wherein cooling of the one or more storage devices occurs via convectional flow of rising vapor from the dielectric fluid as the dielectric fluid evaporates due to heat dissipation from the first set of components, which heat is absorbed by the dielectric fluid and raises a temperature of the dielectric fluid to a boiling point temperature.

12. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the immersion server drawer further comprises a handle disposed within a front surface of the front wall.

13. The information handling system of claim 1 , further comprising an immersion server drawer cabinet having:
at least one drawer receptacle configured to accommodate insertion of the immersion server drawer; and
a condenser located within an upper section of the enclosure, vertically above the top of the inserted immersion server drawer, and which condenses rising vapor that evaporates off the surface of the dielectric fluid held within the immersion server drawer as the one or more servers located within the immersion server drawer dissipates heat into the dielectric fluid.

14. The information handling system of claim 13 , wherein the condenser receives a flow of condensation fluid from an external condensation fluid source to which the ISD cabinet is connected.

15. The information handling system of claim 13 , wherein, when the immersion server drawer is fully inserted into the drawer receptacle, the front wall of the immersion drawer compresses against an exterior front perimeter surface of the drawer receptacle to create an air-tight seal, which prevents a loss of dielectric vapor generated during operation of the one or more immersion servers within the immersion server drawer.

16. The information handling system of claim 15 , further comprising a latching mechanism affixed to at least one of the immersion server drawer, the drawer receptacle, and the rack enclosure and which holds the immersion server drawer in placed to maintain the air tight seal.

17. The information handling system of claim 13 , wherein the immersion server drawer cabinet further comprises a top cover within which is disposed a bellows expansion lid that moderates pressure build up due to the rising vapor.

18. The information handling system of claim 13 , wherein the immersion server drawer cabinet comprises multiple drawer receptacles that each accommodate a separate immersion server drawer, wherein each inserted immersion server drawer can be individually removed from a corresponding drawer receptacle while the remaining immersion server drawers continue to receive condensation of respective rising vapor via the overhead condenser.

19. The information handling system of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the immersion server, the immersion server drawer, and the immersion server drawer cabinet comprises a condensate liquid deflector that channels the condensed dielectric

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Shelnutt Austin Michael
• Curlee James D
• Pike Jimmy
• Sekel Joseph M
• Rousset Stephen P
• Vivio Joseph

Classifications

• H05K7/203 Primary

  by immersion · CPC title

• H05K7/208

  Liquid cooling with phase change · CPC title

• H05K5/061

  sealed by a gasket held between a removable cover and a body, e.g. O-ring, packing · CPC title

• H05K7/20318

  Condensers · CPC title

• H05K5/067

  containing a dielectric fluid · CPC title