{"id":6723,"date":"2016-09-07T10:02:06","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T00:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backupassist.com\/blog\/?p=6723"},"modified":"2016-09-07T10:02:06","modified_gmt":"2016-09-07T00:02:06","slug":"microfluidic-cooling-will-future-server-chips-be-water-based","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backupassist.com\/blog\/microfluidic-cooling-will-future-server-chips-be-water-based","title":{"rendered":"Microfluidic Cooling: Will future server chips be water-based?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Microfluidic<\/a><\/p>\n

Almost every tech lover has heard of Moore’s Law: that\u00a0computer power doubles every two years at the same cost.\u00a0<\/strong>But these days Moore’s law<\/a> is under threat\u2014we can’t seem to upgrade our microchips any more while keeping them cool.<\/p>\n

“Water”, someone thought, “is the solution to keep anything cool.” We’ve had water-cooled machines<\/a> for ages, but the water runs next to your components. Now, DARPA<\/a> is looking at making chips that have water run through<\/em> your CPU. It’s called Microfluidic Cooling, and it may be the future.<\/p>\n

Think that’s amazing? It’s already proven to\u00a0dissipate five times the heat flux found on the surface of the sun<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Microfluidic Cooling: The Future of Microprocessors?<\/h2>\n
\"Microfludic<\/a>
Water Based:<\/strong> There’s no tubes on this water-cooled device.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The early tests are extremely promising.<\/strong> Microfluidic Cooling has proven to cause a four to five times drop in heat levels, compared to a chip of the same size.\u00a0And anyone who’s run a high-powered rig knows exactly how monumental a heat drop like that is.<\/p>\n

If you can manage the heat, you can use fewer chips and material, which makes it cheaper, lighter and more compact. If you kept it the same size, you’d vastly increase the processing power while still keeping it cool.<\/p>\n

Currently, the heat flux generated by today’s microprocessors is loosely comparable to that on the sun’s surface<\/a>. But unlike the sun, the devices must be cooled to temperatures lower than 1oo\u00b0C to function properly.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0thermal demonstration chip<\/a> was made to demonstrate this technology. It was able to dissipate heat\u00a0flux up to five times this level,\u00a0showcasing the technology’s amazing potential.<\/p>\n

DARPA:\u00a0The Internet Was Our First Hat Trick<\/h2>\n

This breakthrough in Microfluidic Cooling is currently being run by a DARPA program called ICECool Applications.<\/p>\n

That’s right. Not only is the technology incredibly cool, so is the name of the folks making it.<\/p>\n

\"Microfluidic<\/a>
This microcooler contains less than a drop of water but can chill even the hottest of electronic chips.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much like the beginnings of the internet (which DARPA was heavily involved in<\/a>), the main focus of this experiment is to reduce the thermal limitations on military electronic systems, “while significantly reducing size, weight and power consumption (SWaP).”<\/p>\n

Don’t worry that you’ll never get your hands on it. Like most technologies, DARPA’s\u00a0plan is to move it into the civilian and commercial sectors in due time.<\/p>\n

Which means the outlook for humanity’s future technology is fairly cool.<\/p>\n

Protecting Your Current<\/em> Servers From Overheating<\/h2>\n

\"Microfluidic<\/a><\/p>\n

That’s all good about the future, but what about NOW?<\/strong> Here’s seven handy hints on how to stop your servers from burning as hot as\u00a0the surface of the sun.<\/p>\n