A Guide to Data Center Cooling
Published by Jason Tables
on
Top image credit: Weldon Brewster
Data centers are the physical backbone of the digital world. Every AI model, blockchain node, and streaming platform runs on powerful GPU-driven compute infrastructure that generates significant heat. As processing power has increased, so have the thermal loads these systems produce. Without precise thermal management, modern data centers would overheat and shut down. In this article, we’ll examine how the industry is adapting to this growing challenge and how Belimo solutions like the EPIV and Energy Valve can help operators manage these new thermal demands. This is why data center cooling has become one of the most critical elements of digital infrastructure.
What Is Data Center Cooling?
Data center cooling is the process of removing heat from IT equipment to maintain safe and efficient operating conditions. Servers, networking gear, and storage systems produce large amounts of heat as they process data. If that heat is not controlled, performance drops and equipment fails. Cooling systems are designed to keep air or liquid at the right temperature and direct it to where heat is generated.
For decades, this was achieved with air-based strategies like hot aisle and cold aisle containment, using computer room air handlers and raised floor plenums. Cool air is delivered to the cold aisle, flows through server racks, absorbs heat, and is expelled into the hot aisle. This design supported the industry well when heat densities averaged between five and ten kilowatts per rack.
Today, power densities are pushing far beyond those limits. AI servers and high-performance GPU racks can produce fifty kilowatts of heat or more. Traditional air cooling is no longer sufficient at this scale, which is why the industry is shifting toward liquid cooling.
From Air to Liquid: Why the Industry Is Evolving
Air is simple to move, but it has poor thermal conductivity compared to liquid. As rack densities rise, air systems struggle to keep up without becoming inefficient or oversized. Liquid cooling uses water or water-glycol mixtures to absorb and transport heat far more effectively. This allows operators to maintain stable temperatures with smaller infrastructure footprints, lower energy use, and greater reliability at high power loads. For many modern operators, especially those focused on GPU server cooling, this shift has become essential.
Liquid cooling can take several forms. Rear door heat exchangers mount to the back of racks to remove exhaust heat directly. Direct-to-chip cold plates circulate coolant through metal plates attached to CPUs and GPUs, pulling heat away at its source. Two-phase systems take this further by using vaporization and condensation for even higher thermal efficiency. These technologies allow data centers to support modern computing applications without exceeding thermal design limits.
The Role of Intelligent Flow Control
Liquid cooling requires precise control to work effectively. If flow is too low, components can overheat. If flow is too high, it can cause erosion in cold plates, waste pump energy, and destabilize system performance. Belimo brings decades of HVAC flow control expertise to this challenge.
Traditional valve position control can be unreliable because it depends on pressure conditions that fluctuate during operation. Belimo’s electronic pressure-independent valves (EPIV) provide stable flow regardless of system pressure changes. The Belimo Energy Valve builds on this with power control, using flow and temperature differential data to regulate thermal loads directly in kilowatts or BTUs per hour. This level of precision is particularly valuable in high-density GPU server cooling environments.
Direct-to-Chip Cold Plates and Differential Pressure Control
Direct-to-chip cold plate systems have become a cornerstone of high-density data center cooling. In these systems, coolant flows through metal plates mounted to processors, carrying heat away with much greater efficiency than air. When servers are removed or swapped, flow distribution can shift, creating risks for overheating or overcooling.
Belimo solves this problem with differential pressure control. When paired with a differential pressure sensor, the Belimo Energy Valve maintains a constant pressure drop across the rack. This keeps flow balanced across all cold plates even as server configurations change. This technology is becoming a standard approach in high-performance computing environments that depend on consistent thermal stability.
Visibility, Efficiency, and Reliability
Belimo’s control solutions also give operators real-time insight into flow, energy use, and pressure. This level of transparency supports predictive maintenance, reduces pump energy consumption, and protects expensive server equipment from thermal stress. By pairing liquid cooling strategies with advanced flow and differential pressure control, operators can reduce operational risks and increase overall efficiency. For hyperscale and colocation operators, this translates to better uptime and lower total cost of ownership.
The Future of Data Center Cooling
The question of what data center cooling is has an evolving answer. It began with airflow management and has now moved toward intelligent, data-driven liquid cooling strategies. As rack power densities continue to rise, thermal management will no longer be about simply moving air. It will be about precision control at the rack level, optimized energy use, and system resilience.
The Belimo Energy Valve and EPIV technologies are helping operators meet this new standard. By bringing proven HVAC flow expertise into data center infrastructure, Belimo is enabling efficient, scalable, and reliable cooling for the world’s most demanding compute environments. As GPU server cooling becomes central to future infrastructure planning, intelligent control solutions will be what keep data centers running at peak performance.