Why Big Money Is Pouring Into AI Cooling

We believe that we can help enable the industry to stay to stay in single phase significantly longer than some of the timelines that I've seen cited recently.

And that that's got me fired up about the combination of of CoolIT and and Ecolab.

Liquid cooling has become one of the most important technologies in the rise of artificial intelligence.

Powerful new AI server hardware throws off a lot of heat pushing past the limits of most traditional air cooling for servers.

This has driven a surge of acquisitions in the cooling sector and none bigger than Ecolab's $4.75 billion deal to acquire liquid cooling

specialist CoolIT.

On today's show, we take a closer look at this deal. Our guest is Jason Walker, the director of product marketing for the data center sector at Ecolab.

You'll learn about Ecolab's mission and work with data center clients, why fluid health matters, and how the CoolIT acquisition supports

Ecolab's vision for an AI-powered world.

We also get to nerd out a little bit about the liquid cooling landscape and the future of managing extreme density.

There's a lot to talk about, so let's get started.

Welcome to Data Center Richness. I'm

Rich Miller and I've spent 25 years telling the story of data centers, [music] cloud computing, and AI infrastructure.

In this podcast, I'm sharing conversations [music] with the innovators building our digital future.

Now, here's our show.

Jason Walker, welcome to Data Center Richness.

Thanks, Rich. I'm excited to be here.

So, you're with Ecolab, which is a company that's been making some news lately, uh particularly with its acquisition of CoolIT, who a lot of

people in the data center industry know.

Tell us a little bit about Ecolab. First

of all, maybe start at the high level and then maybe we can zoom into some of the things that it's been doing in the data center sector.

Yeah, I mean, at a high level it's known for water, energy, and operational uh performance solutions. But, in data

performance solutions. But, in data centers we're helping customers navigate one of the industry's biggest infrastructure transitions, the move to liquid cooling.

What differentiates Ecolab uh in uh in our d- is our deep expertise in fluid management. So, we spent decades helping

management. So, we spent decades helping customers manage uh mission-critical fluids in complex industrial uh environments, and we're helping bring that expertise uh to data center cooling.

We're also bringing significant expertise in in sourcing. We help to deliver large volumes of of critical fluids at global scale.

Reliable coolant supply and lifecycle management are absolutely vital uh for these data center operators. We've

seen a lot of times where there's been uh delivery scheduled and and and uh and there's been some significant operational challenges that have caused delays, and that's where Ecolab uh

thrives.

We're able to keep the projects on time, as you know, uh delays can can result in significant uh significant uh financial impact.

Yeah, I mean, I know that's one of the things that everybody's really interested in with some of the new equipment coming in, which is uh sort of part and parcel of the

transition uh to liquid cooling. Um

So, we've got sort of a framework for for Ecolab.

Uh a lot of folks who in the uh high-performance computing and supercomputing have been very familiar with CoolIT for a long time.

Um Tell me a little bit about how Ecolab, you know, thought about CoolIT and this whole acquisition

cuz this is it's kind of a big deal.

It's a It's a huge deal and we're really excited about what what this brings not only to Ecolab but but to the industry.

So, as as we just mentioned, right? So,

CoolIT is giving Ecolab immediate access to liquid industry-leading liquid cooling hardware including cold plates, manifolds, CDUs,

and deep engineering expertise that's been developed over decades of supporting high high-performance computing and AI infrastructure.

Both organizations are bringing substantial service expertise.

Historically, customers have had to source these these technologies from multiple vendors between equipment, coolants, monitoring commissioning service and

ongoing and ongoing maintenance. We

believe this acquisition allows us to simplify that experience for our customers and provide a more integrated approach to cooling performance.

There's a lot going on with liquid cooling right now. Obviously, a lot of this is being driven by the kind of AI hardware that's being introduced in the data centers.

Everybody wants it and to have these AI superpowers and it all trans it relates into density in the data center which has taken things to a point where liquid

cooling is really if you're going to be near the the the cutting edge on AI it's uh it's pretty essential. At the same time, data centers have spent a lot of

years sort of trying to keep this development on the horizon because it is a big change. Um

given that, what sort of you know, challenges do you see? You mentioned,

you know, delays in implementation for folks that are really just now embracing liquid cooling because they have to.

What are the the big challenges and how can Ecolab and CoolIT, you know, what are the key the key pain points that you're working with people on?

Yeah, I mean, so everybody's talking about liquid cooling, right? And and

direct to chip liquid cooling is is becoming the standard, but it was still very early in the implementation of this technology, right? So, it's being

technology, right? So, it's being carried over into data centers. And

there there are still standards that that are evolving. And as I mentioned earlier, people are trying to move really fast, right? So, they've they've got their designs, they've got their specifications,

but they need to stay on track. And

we've seen some pretty high-profile issues happening that have resulted in some startup some startup challenges.

So, as I mentioned earlier, we are we are very adept at sourcing, delivering, and installing coolants into the system, but there's a big difference between the

facility side and the and the technical loop side. And as you mentioned, as

loop side. And as you mentioned, as these AI densities continue to increase, the criticality of that technical side is is important and the understanding is evolving. And so,

evolving. And so, you know, if if you're trying to maintain timelines, there's an opportunity for some some things and some corners to be

cut at times, right? So, if you if you are substituting materials of construction, you're using some materials that weren't initially

specified, small changes that you think wouldn't necessarily impact the the startup and ongoing operation actually do have some some big risks

associated with it. And so, at the heart of it, Ecolab is focused on helping customers start up their operation clean so during

commissioning and and and startup. And

then in an operation, we want to make sure that the the customers are monitoring and tracking their coolant health. It's a big

health. It's a big a big focus on glycol today. Glycol's a

a big fluid that's popular fluid that's being used as being a set it and forget it technology, right? It's it's tried and

technology, right? It's it's tried and true.

But, there's a lot of opportunities for contamination to come into the system not only at startup, but also an ongoing operation with the with the racks and blades being continuously being

installed and taken offline. And so,

monitoring is is critical. And that's

where Ecolab can can really help the the customers with our 3D Trasar technology.

We want to make sure that when it started clean, it continues to be clean and and operating at at optimal performance.

Yeah, cuz obviously one of the things that's that's really important these days is that this is really expensive hardware.

And so, it's a it's a huge investment and therefore assessing the risks and looking after that kind of looms larger in the equation.

Maybe tell me a little bit more about about how you guys, you know, monitor and and look after you know, coolant health here. What's what's involved in

health here. What's what's involved in all that and and what are the challenges?

It starts from sourcing, right? And

getting the coolant to to the site, right? So, we have continuous checks

right? So, we have continuous checks leveraging our analytical capability, right? So, when

when we when we procure it or manufacture it, we get it to the site.

Many times we're doing dilution of the fluid itself, all right? So, then we're doing analyticals right up to the point of installation.

Once it gets into the loop, we have the ability to monitor it with our 3D Trasar technology. So, real-time

fluid health fluid health checks.

First and foremost with the glycol concentration, right? That's a

concentration, right? That's a differentiator for Ecolab and our 3D TRASAR direct to chip technology. But,

we're also monitoring critical parameters like conductivity and pH and pressure and temperature. And so, we want to make sure that it's that it's

coming into the system clean.

We're supplementing that with deeper analytical to make sure that if there was something that happened in the system regarding metallurgy or or some sort of other system contamination that

we catch it as early as possible and we're able to partner with the customer to be able to remediate that before it's creating an issue with the IT hardware either at the cold plate or somewhere

else, right? We want to make sure that

else, right? We want to make sure that that is that is operating as optimally as possible.

And so, well, where do these measurements live? Is it inside the

measurements live? Is it inside the chassis? Is it on the the piping?

chassis? Is it on the the piping?

So, we have a controller that is a side stream. So, the 3D TRASAR direct to chip

stream. So, the 3D TRASAR direct to chip controller is a side stream technology that sits with the with the TCS piping.

That that data very fundamentally is fed into the customer's BMS, right? So, they

can be able to see it in real time. We

also offer the capability of Ecolab to be able to see the data in real time and be able to alert our our field

technicians of any potential issues, right? So, early early detection

right? So, early early detection and remediation is vital to keeping the system running. So, if should the

system running. So, if should the customer elect to allow us to to be viewing that data, we can show up on site within within minutes or hours to be able to partner with the customer

and provide provide remediation support.

You you talked a lot about analytics and sort of communications. I've

been in a number of conversations at recent conferences about the the new frontiers that that are being pushed in liquid cooling and then one of the concepts that's been kicked

around quite a bit is that kind of the whole data center has to to do a better job of talking to one another that that it really has to there has to be kind of

a holistic view on understanding what's going on when you get uh with these kind of liquid cooling installations partly because at these densities and temperatures

everything's a little bit less forgiving when something goes sideways, right?

Yes, that's that's absolutely the case, right? So data visibility is is

right? So data visibility is is critical, right? And so you know, first

critical, right? And so you know, first and foremost giving the customer the the access to that data but then the so what, right? And that's where you know,

what, right? And that's where you know, sometimes I think what you're alluding to is like these are these are treated as discrete operations and that's where our expertise along with with now

CoolIT's capabilities and expertise and and marrying those two things together is is going to help Ecolab and CoolIT provide greater differentiation

in the in the marketplace and allowing our customers to be able to drive a more holistic approach to the the combined equipment and the

coolants by bringing in that data that data integration into a more uniform integrated integrated way.

So sort of the other integration issue I just wanted to kind of like touch on briefly is you've got to you know, organizations coming together uh

I always that data centers are sort of an interesting culture and particularly like an outfit like CoolIT which is uh operated within

you know, a niche for for a long time an engineering driven culture. You know,

what are what are the the sort of integration challenges there or or how are you guys thinking about, you know, bringing the more specialized liquid cooling

operation into what Ecolab does?

It's less than a month since the since the deal has closed, but we've had a lot of engagement in the last 3 weeks since close. And and every time we

since close. And and every time we connect, I get more and more excited and I see that excitement on their side as well, right? Some of the things that

well, right? Some of the things that that they have been doing they're they're really good at what they do, right? So,

right? So, there's their CDU and cold plate initiatives along with their SFN and and engineering capabilities world-class, right? They're one of the they're one of

right? They're one of the they're one of the best in the business. Our ability to to bring in our coolants expertise with the fluid management and and the

monitoring and service, I think we're starting to discuss how we unlock these things and and bring a more holistic approach to it. At the same time, we both have

to it. At the same time, we both have had ambitious ambitious goals and and targets to help support our customers in this space. And

so, Ecolab is a very customer customer-focused customer-centric company. We're seeing that same thing on

company. We're seeing that same thing on the CoolIT side. So, it's important to allow both entities to to keep doing what they've been doing and then behind the scenes figure out where where do we

accelerate some of these unlocks that we can bring to the customers. But, both

both enterprises are are very customer-centric and focus on solving problems and I'm I'm excited to to get after how we do that without getting in the without getting in the way too much.

Any integrations are always a very a very delicate, challenging activity.

Yeah, and the other thing that that is interesting is that this is a time of a lot of change.

Uh you know, the we have people kid about the change in the data center and that uh uh it's like innovation is great as long as we've

seen it run in somebody else's data center first. There is this tension

center first. There is this tension between this uh complete innovation-driven technology culture and at the same time everything

is mission-critical and you're you know, supporting equipment that's enormously expensive doing really important work.

So, in the midst of that environment of change, suddenly things are moving pretty quickly. So, I guess I say that

pretty quickly. So, I guess I say that to to set up uh you know, maybe a little bit of a conversation about uh Ecolab and how it

sees the data center industry in general and liquid cooling in particular going forward because obviously this was a pretty large investment uh in in the

CoolIT even for a substantial company like Ecolab. So, I'm you know, I'm

like Ecolab. So, I'm you know, I'm guessing that there's you know, a vision that's driving that. And I'm wondering maybe what that looks like and in an

environment how that's moving this quickly you know, how you kind of keep pace with with all the change.

Yeah, Rich, that's a that's a really important point you're making. I mean, we love to this industry loves to talk about technology, but nobody really has an R&D environment, right? So, so they want it

environment, right? So, so they want it proven out and that's why we're so excited about the CoolIT acquisition because they have a world-class

uh setup um at their facilities in in Calgary where they have uh 6 MW of capacity to be able to do to do testing and evaluation of very large-scale

equipment and we're already integrating in the capability of bringing our our fluids in and being able to to generate data for our customers

in in real time, right? And this is a this is a game-changer for us in the industry, right? We're able to take it

industry, right? We're able to take it whatever the customer wants to do, evaluate it at the at the campus the CoolIT campus and and in Calgary and be

be able to provide that uh that reliability and confidence to our customers that it can be done because we've proven it out at at the facilities

in in CoolIT. They're not taking a risk on new technologies when we when we bring them to market together because we've done it. We've been able to do it um

uh in in inside, you know, our own our own facilities uh to to be able to build confidence there. So, um that's a big

confidence there. So, um that's a big differentiator for CoolIT versus other equipment manufacturers and we're very very quickly rolling in the combination of chemistry and chemistry and

monitoring on the on the on the fluid side. So,

side. So, uh it's it's just the it's just the beginning uh but those those plans are already uh underway. Those plans and execution are already underway.

One of the announcements CoolIT made recently that we we covered was they've developed, you know, cold plates with you know, particular types of uh technologies and the the channels and

such the microchannel that can handle denser loads than have previously be have been handled by direct liquid cooling.

Um and this becomes relevant because one of the the conversations that goes on in the industry right now is how dense are things going to get and how dense can we

go before we have to think about something like you know, two-phase or you know, phase change coolant. Uh and

you know, obviously the the kind of testing that uh CoolIT has done with with the cold plates is very relevant to

that. Uh how does Ecolab uh look at at

that. Uh how does Ecolab uh look at at you know, how you push the boundaries and whether you have to sort of address different, you know, pathways and different options going forward?

Yeah, that's a it was a very active discussion uh on both sides uh pre-acquisition uh as as we're learning in real time. So, I was just with that team 2 weeks ago

and this was uh this was one of the main the main topics that we were covering.

And actually, I walked away from that conversation very, very encouraged. So,

CoolIT, as you just mentioned, they they've got a tremendous amount of uh IP and technology in the cold plate space, more than I I could have imagined uh prior to the acquisition.

And we're bringing in you know, our our expertise and technology on the coolant side, right?

So, uh we are preparing for the future beyond beyond single-phase. But, that's

a very healthy discussion in the industry and you know, not quite people are not There's There's a lot of differences of opinion on when when is that pivot point to two-phase or or

beyond two-phase, immersion, some something else. Actually, we believe

something else. Actually, we believe that we can help uh enable the industry to sit to stay in single-phase significantly longer than some of the timelines that I've seen cited recently.

And that that's got me fired up about the combination of of CoolIT and and Ecolab.

It all comes down to the the technologies right?

And so, um they're pushing the limits. I

think we're going to help enable them pretty quickly. And combining the the

pretty quickly. And combining the the the performance between the cold plates and the CDUs and the chemistries, whether it be glycol or water-based

solutions or a hybrid a hybrid race based solution, there's a lot of work going on uh between the two companies to to be able to enable single phase, which

in the end is the most proven of the technologies in the space for for direct chip liquid cooling. So, you So, the industry will start to see more and more

coming out from from us um in the near future about how we how we plan to do this, but it's a it's an exciting time uh based upon combining the technologies between the two companies.

It really is, and this is a a discussion, of course, that's gone on you mentioned liquid immersion. That was

something that that just a couple years ago we wrote a little bit more about and we've seen it some sectors, obviously that the crypto folks have had a lot of

uh success with that running at scale.

But uh the data center industry really seems to have, you know, by and large centralized on on cold plates and direct liquid cooling. So, very interesting

liquid cooling. So, very interesting times. Meanwhile, we have Microsoft and

times. Meanwhile, we have Microsoft and folks uh some of their partners working on microfluidics and uh getting the the the cooling channels right into the silicon. So, uh there's

some wild stuff out there.

A section of the customer set that is familiar with the challenges of density and working with that. At the same time, now that we have AI driving density,

there seems to be really wide appetite uh in the the enterprise level about taking advantage of AI.

And I think everyone's trying to sort out how they're going to do that in what format, you know, a fair question is how many on-premise data centers can even think

about supporting this stuff. But I guess my question is, how do you see the customer set evolving and maybe I'm

curious about what Ebullient's customer base looks like compared to CoolIT's and how maybe you start to cross-pollinate some of the expertise and the technology.

Yeah, well, that's a that's an a a really interesting question and and you know, we're digging in on this in in real time. The fact is there's there's

real time. The fact is there's there's we're both in direct to chip liquid cooling coming at it from slightly different angles, right? So, um

angles, right? So, um there is a there is a fair amount of overlap between between our customer uh base between CoolIT and and Ebullient.

Um in the end, you know, our goal is to meet the customers where they are. You

know, so you've got hyperscalers that have been doing this for for quite a while now and are very versed in evolving quickly in terms of their their adoption of uh direct liquid cooling.

Then you've got other customers in in the colo space um that are a little bit newer to this approach and but but moving quickly, right? So,

uh we're able to help them um by by meeting them where they are.

We're providing a lot of consulting and and expertise in terms of how to make that transition. Um

that transition. Um how how do they think about, you know, direct liquid cooling and and serving their customers? Um you know, especially

their customers? Um you know, especially for multi-tenant locations, um that becomes a little bit more complex than what a hyper scaler is doing. I mentioned earlier about

doing. I mentioned earlier about monitoring and and coolant health when you've got multiple tenants on the same loop, you want to make sure that everybody is is meeting the same

standard. So,

standard. So, regardless of the the customers, right?

And and their their journey uh in or to liquid cooling, you know, the combined the combined approach between CoolIT and Ebullient is really to to meet them where they are and help enable

it, right? Cuz it it they they have to

it, right? Cuz it it they they have to move to it. It's, you know, with with the way that the the the the silicon is moving and the and the rack densities are going, it's not should we do it,

it's like how do we do it? How fast do we do it? And who are we going to partner with? And that's why I think,

partner with? And that's why I think, you know, this this combined entity of CoolIT and Ecolab helps enable customers to get there even quicker than maybe they were they were thinking.

Yeah, you mentioned the multi-tenant, and I'm I'm curious there's you know, obviously there's your neo clouds and some of the hyperscalers who can really,

you know, take most of their environment and put it into a higher density state if they need to. At the same time, there's some folks who might be running an AI but some cloud which, you know,

doesn't need the same kind of densities.

And you mentioned multi-tenant where you have all kinds of different density requirements based on the customers. But at the same time,

the customers. But at the same time, what we're hearing from from folks, and I'm sure you are as well, is that more and more of those customers want the capability for density.

So, the whole notion of all like hybrid design for data centers, I know you guys you know, like follow your customers' lead on on trying to work out these things. But what are you seeing and

things. But what are you seeing and hearing about how folks are thinking about having different kind of dense densities of workloads

uh coexisting in a facility?

There are a lot of different approaches.

You know, so as you know, and you're alluding to it, there's no one size there's no one size fits all, and you know, that the hybrid approach is very common in some some segments of the

market, right? And so,

market, right? And so, you know, it it comes down to confidence and and reliability. And we always bring the conversation back to fluid health.

So, when you talk about hybrid designs, multi-multi-tenant locations, right, we want to make sure that there is an increased level of of

monitoring, especially coming into the into the loop. So,

you know, that is even more critical when you're bringing IT hardware from multiple tenants into the into the loop.

We have the capability of helping those customers by ensuring we're monitoring the flush fill operations

to ensure the fluid health going through the racks that are being brought online and as and as clean away as as possible, right? You don't The worst thing that

right? You don't The worst thing that can happen is you're introducing contaminants inadvertently, right? Cuz nobody's

inadvertently, right? Cuz nobody's trying to do it on purpose, but inadvertently introducing contaminants on a multi tenant location on the same loop is is very risky. And that's where Ecolab's

very risky. And that's where Ecolab's expertise and capabilities in monitoring and flush fill and cleaning help differentiate us from maybe some of the other vendors

in this space and in providing increased confidence and reliability not only during startup, but in ongoing operation when these things are continuously evolving.

Well, listen, this has been a really interesting conversation.

Obviously, there's a you know, big change is always interesting to us cuz it's sorting out the possibilities is is part of what I think is really

interesting about all that's happening right now. So, I appreciate you

right now. So, I appreciate you giving us a few minutes to help us understand what Ecolab and CoolIT are doing. If

folks are interested in learning more, where can they where can they find where can they find you? Where can they find more about what Ecolab's doing?

CoolIT, very well known. You know,

CoolIT it can can be can be searched at coolit.com and then ecolab.com and and searching our data centers, but also

and should people want more information, I can be found on on LinkedIn at Jason Walker. You know, and and I'm happy to

Walker. You know, and and I'm happy to I'm happy to uh engage uh customers and industry experts um at at any time.

Uh for all our listeners, thanks for for tuning in. And if you enjoyed this

tuning in. And if you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to take a second and give it a like or leave a comment if you have a question about anything we've talked about today and we can we can

kick that around in the comments. Uh and

as always, please be sure to subscribe so that you won't miss any of our new content here at Data Center Richness.

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