Hardcore Becomes LiquidCool, Eyes Server Market

LiquidBlade

The Liquid Blade from Hardcore Computer, which immerses blade servers in dielectric fluid coolant. Hardcore has rebranded as LiquidCool Solutions.

Hardcore Computer is retooling its business to focus on licensing its liquid cooling technologies for servers and high performance computing. As part of that shift, the company is changing its name to LiquidCool Solutions and will discontinue manufacturing PCs, workstations and servers.

Hardcore, best known in the data center sector for its Liquid Blade immersion cooling system, has adopted a contract manufacturing model, with research and development and prototype work still done in house. The company plans to license its technology and intellectual property to server makers, with an eye toward other markets down the road.

"The name LiquidCool connects the company to our heritage of pioneering total liquid submersion cooling for electronics and calls attention to our continued advancements in cooling innovations," said Rick Tufty, Vice President of Engineering, LiquidCool Solutions. "With a powerful IP portfolio and a continued focus on breakthrough research and development in cooling technologies, LiquidCool is positioned to deliver market-leading performance for a variety of markets."

More Players Eye Liquid Cooling Opportunity

The market for liquid cooling has traditionally been concentrated in supercomputers and high-performance computing. But interest in immersion cooling has picked up in recent years as high-density server deployments have pushed the boundaries of cooling systems at data centers that historically have used of air cooling.  Green Revolution has deployed its immersion cooling to a core group of customers,  while Iceotope and Asetek have also entered the market in recent months.

Hardcore initially specialized in water-cooled PCs, offering additional cooling capability for users who seek to "overclock" processor speeds for performance gains. In 2010, the company adapted its liquid-cooling technology for PCs to the server environment. Liquid Blade immerses the blades in Hardcore’s Core Coolant – a clear dielectric fluid that is odorless and biodegradable. The submerged servers eliminate the need for rack-level fans, and would require only enough room air conditioning to keep staff comfortable.

Liquid cooling provides a more efficient heat transfer than air, and offers potential savings to companies that can commit to a liquid-cooled design. Liquid Blade’s submerged servers eliminated the need for rack-level fans, and required only enough room air conditioning to keep staff comfortable. The system also required no specialized fire protection systems for the servers, since all the blade components are submerged.