Flex announced that it has deployed its advanced rack-level, vertically integrated liquid cooling solution at the Equinix Co-Innovation Facility (CIF) in Ashburn, Virginia. This latest deployment will incorporate standalone and facility-integrated single-phase direct liquid cooling (DLC) capabilities from JetCool, a Flex company specializing in advanced liquid cooling technologies, into a single Open Compute Project (OCP) ORv3 rack. The entire system -- rack, cooling solution, power products -- is manufactured by Flex, whose end-to-end portfolio is uniquely suited to solve for data center power, heat, and scale challenges globally.
The deployment at the Equinix CIF will feature: JetCool's self-contained SmartPlate System for Dell PowerEdge R760 servers, which delivers closed-loop cooling while eliminating the need for external coolant distribution units (CDUs) or facility plumbing, enabling customers to transition from air to liquid cooling with minimal disruption. SmartPlate Systems have demonstrated a 15% reduction in total IT power consumption, enabling customers to maximize compute in power constrained environments. DLC capabilities for two Dell PowerEdge R660 systems equipped with JetCool cold plates.
JetCool's DLC solutions are designed to operate with very warm coolant inlet temperatures -- up to 70degC -- reducing water usage by up to 90% and cooling power consumption by as much as 50% compared to other liquid cooling technologies, while enabling reliable performance at extreme compute densities. SmartSense 6U Liquid-to-Liquid (L2L) CDU, a facility-ready 6U rackmount that can support high-density DLC environments by cooling up to 300kW. It will interface directly with the Equinix TCS secondary loop and enable full DLC operation.
Additional manifold, busbar, and quick disconnect solutions within the Flex ORv3 rack that will bring all liquid cooling capabilities into a single unit. Building off its presence at the CIF for over a year and its work with Equinix to help deploy products across its global facilities, Flex's newest consolidated demonstration will showcase how it continues to deploy scalable liquid cooling infrastructure solutions across the world for next-generation, high-density compute environments. As one of the world's largest manufacturers, Flex produces millions of servers annually, bringing unparalleled scale, integration expertise, and supply chain strength to the industry.
Flex provides comprehensive service, support, maintenance, and warranty coverage for its liquid cooling solutions -- from cold plates and manifolds to quick disconnects and CDUs -- a level of end-to-end lifecycle support that sets it apart in the industry. Flex's deployment at the EquinixC will demonstrate how JetCool's unique, safe, and efficient approach to single-phase liquid cooling -- capable of cooling up to 4kW in a single processor socket, with headroom for higher thermal loads -- can translate into significant energy savings that back the industry's transition to sustainable, high-performance computing.
