Supermicro's DLC-2, the Next Generation Direct Liquid-Cooling Solutions, Aims to Reduce Data Center Power, Water, Noise, and Space, Saving on Electricity Cost by up to 40%, and Lowering TCO by up to 20%

Rhea-AI Summary

Supermicro (SMCI) has unveiled DLC-2, its next-generation Direct Liquid Cooling solution, offering significant improvements in data center efficiency. The technology promises up to 40% power savings and 20% reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to air-cooled installations. Key features include support for warmer liquid inflow temperatures up to 45°C, reducing water consumption by 40% and eliminating the need for chillers. The solution incorporates a GPU-optimized server housing eight NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and two Intel Xeon 6 CPUs in a 4U form factor. DLC-2's comprehensive cold plate coverage enables quieter operation at ~50dB and captures up to 98% heat per server rack. The system includes an enhanced Coolant Distribution Unit capable of removing 250kW of heat per rack, and is fully integrated with Supermicro SuperCloud Composer software for data center management.

Positive

• Up to 40% reduction in data center power consumption
• Total cost of ownership (TCO) decreased by up to 20%
• Water consumption reduced by up to 40% through warm water cooling
• 98% heat capture per server rack efficiency
• Enhanced cooling capacity of 250kW heat removal per rack
• Global manufacturing scale ensures timely delivery and consistent quality

Negative

• Requires significant infrastructure changes to implement liquid cooling
• Initial investment costs for liquid cooling implementation not disclosed

Insights

Data Center Infrastructure Expert

Supermicro's DLC-2 liquid cooling solution brings significant operational cost savings while addressing critical AI infrastructure cooling challenges.

Supermicro's next-generation Direct Liquid Cooling solution (DLC-2) represents a significant technological advancement addressing several critical pain points in today's AI-focused data center operations. The 40% reduction in power consumption compared to traditional air-cooled installations directly tackles the mounting energy crisis facing hyperscalers and cloud providers deploying large AI clusters. With AI training and inference workloads consuming exponentially more power than traditional computing, this efficiency gain is particularly timely.

The most technically impressive aspect is the solution's ability to operate with inlet water temperatures up to 45°C, eliminating the need for energy-intensive chillers. This warm-water cooling approach reduces water consumption by 40% - a crucial advancement as data centers face increasing scrutiny over resource usage. The comprehensive cooling coverage extending beyond GPUs to CPUs, memory, PCIe switches, and voltage regulators explains how Supermicro achieves these efficiency metrics.

The noise reduction to approximately 50dB addresses another growing concern for urban data centers, potentially reducing the need for extensive sound dampening infrastructure. The improved rack density enabled by vertical coolant distribution manifolds and reduced cooling infrastructure footprint provides additional floor space efficiency - critical as premium data center real estate becomes increasingly scarce.

Particularly notable is Supermicro's end-to-end solution approach, spanning from the server level to full data center deployment with integrated management software. This positions them to capitalize on the projected trend that 30% of future data centers will require liquid cooling solutions, particularly for AI workloads using high-density GPU configurations like the mentioned NVIDIA Blackwell B200 systems. The 20% TCO reduction claim, if realized, would represent material cost savings for operators scaling AI infrastructure.

• Up to 40% power savings of data center
• Faster time-to-deployment and reduced time-to-online by providing end-to-end liquid-cooling solution
• Up to 40% reduced water consumption with warm water cooling now available at an inlet temperature of up to 45°C, reducing the necessity of chillers
• Enabling quiet data center operation at ~50dB

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI), a Total IT Solution Provider for AI/ML, HPC, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, is announcing several improvements to its Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) solution that incorporate new technologies for cooling various server components, accommodate warmer liquid inflow temperatures, and introduce innovative mechanical designs that enhance AI per watt. The Supermicro DLC-2 solution reduces data center power consumption by up to 40% compared to air-cooled installations. These advanced technologies enable faster deployment and reduced time-to-online for cutting-edge liquid-cooled AI infrastructure. Additionally, the total cost of ownership decreases by up to 20%. The comprehensive cold plate coverage of components allows for lower fan speeds and fewer required fans, significantly reducing data center noise levels to approximately 50dB.

"With the expected demand for liquid-cooled data centers rising to 30% of all installations, we realized that current technologies were insufficient to cool these new AI-optimized systems," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "Supermicro continues to remain committed to innovation, green computing, and improving the future of AI, by significantly reducing data center power and water consumption, noise, and space. Our latest liquid-cooling innovation, DLC-2, saves data center electricity costs by up to 40%."

For more information, please visit www.supermicro.com/liquid-cooling

Supermicro aims to save 20% of data center costs and apply DLC-2 innovations as part of data center building block solutions to make liquid-cooling more broadly available and accessible.

A significant component of the new liquid-cooling architecture is a GPU-optimized Supermicro server, which includes eight NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and two Intel^® Xeon^® 6 CPUs, all in just 4U of rack height. This system is designed to support increased supply coolant temperatures. This unique and optimized design incorporates cold plates for CPUs, GPUs, memory, PCIe switches, and voltage regulators. This design reduces the need for high-speed fans and rear-door heat exchangers, thereby lowering cooling costs for the data center.

The new Supermicro DLC-2 solution stack supports the new 4U front I/O NVIDIA HGX™ B200 8-GPU system, and the in-rack Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) has an increased capacity of removing 250kW of heat generated per rack. The Supermicro DLC-2 solution also utilizes vertical coolant distribution manifolds (CDMs) to remove hot liquid and return cooler liquid to the servers for the entire rack. The reduced rack space requirements enables more servers to be installed, increasing computing density per unit of floor space. The vertical CDM is available in various sizes, precisely matching the number of servers installed in the rack. The entire DLC-2 solution stack is fully integrated with Supermicro SuperCloud Composer^® software for data center-level management and infrastructure orchestration.

The efficient liquid circulation and nearly full liquid-cooling heat capture coverage, at up to 98% per server rack, allow for an increase in the inlet liquid temperature at up to 45°C. The higher inlet temperature eliminates the need for chilled water, chiller compressor equipment cost, and additional power usage, saving up to 40% of data center water consumption.

Combined with liquid-cooled server racks and clusters, DLC-2 also offers hybrid cooling towers as well as water towers as part of data center building blocks. The hybrid cooling towers combine the features of standard dry and water towers into a single design. This is especially beneficial in data center locations with strong seasonal temperature variation to reduce usage of resources and costs further.

Supermicro serves as a comprehensive one-stop solution provider with global manufacturing scale, delivering data center-level solution design, liquid-cooling technologies, networking, cabling, a full data center management software suite, L11 and L12 solution validation, onsite deployment, and professional service and support. With production facilities across San Jose, Europe, and Asia, Supermicro offers unmatched manufacturing capacity for liquid-cooled rack systems. This ensures timely delivery, reduced total cost of ownership (TCO), and consistent quality.

About Super Micro Computer, Inc.

Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI) is a global leader in Application-Optimized Total IT Solutions. Founded and operating in San Jose, California, Supermicro is committed to delivering first-to-market innovation for Enterprise, Cloud, AI, and 5G Telco/Edge IT Infrastructure. We are a Total IT Solutions provider with server, AI, storage, IoT, switch systems, software, and support services. Supermicro's motherboard, power, and chassis design expertise further enables our development and production, enabling next-generation innovation from cloud to edge for our global customers. Our products are designed and manufactured in-house (in the US, Taiwan, and the Netherlands), leveraging global operations for scale and efficiency and optimized to improve TCO and reduce environmental impact (Green Computing). The award-winning portfolio of Server Building Block Solutions® allows customers to optimize for their exact workload and application by selecting from a broad family of systems built from our flexible and reusable building blocks that support a comprehensive set of form factors, processors, memory, GPUs, storage, networking, power, and cooling solutions (air-conditioned, free air cooling or liquid cooling).

Supermicro, Server Building Block Solutions, and We Keep IT Green are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Super Micro Computer, Inc.

All other brands, names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

 

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SOURCE Super Micro Computer, Inc.

FAQ

What are the key benefits of Supermicro's (SMCI) DLC-2 liquid cooling solution?

Supermicro's DLC-2 offers up to 40% power savings, 40% reduced water consumption, 20% lower TCO, and quieter operation at ~50dB. It supports inlet temperatures up to 45°C and eliminates the need for chillers.

How much heat can Supermicro's (SMCI) DLC-2 system remove per rack?

The DLC-2's Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) can remove 250kW of heat generated per rack, with up to 98% heat capture efficiency per server rack.

What GPU configuration does Supermicro's (SMCI) DLC-2 support?

The DLC-2 supports a GPU-optimized server configuration with eight NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and two Intel Xeon 6 CPUs in a 4U form factor.

How does Supermicro's (SMCI) DLC-2 reduce water consumption in data centers?

DLC-2 reduces water consumption by up to 40% by supporting higher inlet temperatures up to 45°C, eliminating the need for chilled water and chiller compressor equipment.

What management software does Supermicro's (SMCI) DLC-2 use?

DLC-2 is fully integrated with Supermicro SuperCloud Composer software for data center-level management and infrastructure orchestration.