First-of-its-kind cooling solution integrates air and liquid cooling technologies to meet the evolving and mixed cooling needs of data centers supporting AI
Vertiv and Compass Datacenters, which designs, builds and operates data center campuses for some of the world’s largest technology companies, have collaborated to develop a first-of-its-kind solution that enables future deployments of AI with the ability to flex between air and liquid cooling to support high-density computing. Vertiv and Compass engineers collaborated on this vision for a future-forward cooling solution, with Vertiv developing and manufacturing the technology solution. The initial units will be deployed at a Compass facility in 1Q 2025 as part of a planned multi-year, multi-billion dollar supply arrangement.
The Vertiv CoolPhase Flex, the next generation of the high-efficiency Vertiv™ Liebert® DSE Packaged System, integrates liquid cooling capabilities with refrigerant-based air-cooling technologies and heat rejection in a single packaged system. As data center customers plan their growth strategies, Vertiv CoolPhase Flex can be used initially as a direct expansion (DX) cooling system with integrated economization to support reliable and efficient air cooling, and then as more high-density computing is deployed, the liquid cooling capabilities can be simply and quickly engaged to support liquid cooling applications.
Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi, CEO of Vertiv. “Compass Datacenters and Vertiv engineers worked together to make this important project a reality. Vertiv™ CoolPhase Flex makes it possible to support today’s IT and quickly enable the data center of the future. With our deep expertise and understanding of the complexities of AI applications, Vertiv was uniquely able to bring this solution to market.”
“Our customers are looking for fast, practical and energy-efficient ways to introduce liquid cooling to support AI and other high-density applications, but want the flexibility to leverage air-cooling and support mixed loads in those same facilities,” said Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass. “We had a vision for a future in which we could be prepared to quickly deploy air or liquid cooling to meet changing customer requirements and Vertiv brought that vision to life in a very innovative way. The Vertiv CoolPhase Flex provides a level of flexibility that is unparalleled in the marketplace and that is highly valuable to us and to our customers.”
“AI is not only bringing change to data centers, it is also changing how key industry players work together to enable growth. Data center operators, customers, chip manufacturers, infrastructure providers, utility companies and others must work together to innovate and reduce barriers to AI adoption,” said Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi, CEO of Vertiv. “Compass Datacenters and Vertiv engineers worked together to make this important project a reality. Vertiv™ CoolPhase Flex makes it possible to support today’s IT and quickly enable the data center of the future. With our deep expertise and understanding of the complexities of AI applications, Vertiv was uniquely able to bring this solution to market.”
Compass has also deployed the Vertiv Next Predict service platform, leveraging predictive analytics to enable the company to shift from reactive to proactive maintenance on select cooling units. The platform provides visibility into equipment operations and uses historical and operating data to pinpoint when maintenance is required.
“A predictive tool that lets us know when equipment needs maintenance ahead of time as opposed to waiting until there is a potential availability issue is just a massive game changer for cooling equipment,” said Crosby. “It’s been awesome to have Vertiv leading the way alongside us.”
