The shift toward liquid cooling is heating up as data centers confront the limits of traditional air-based designs. Growing supply-chain pressures and a need for tighter collaboration are already changing how operators prepare liquid cooling plumbing and supporting systems to scale reliably.

As air gives way to liquid systems, the engineering details shaping this shift have become the center of conversation. A running joke at SC25 is that the real action isn’t in computing performance, but in the “plumbing” behind next-generation cooling, according to Lauren Witter (pictured, right), vice president of sales at CoolFlow, a Division of Omni Services Inc.

“I think the importance of cooling these racks … [is] how do you bring it into the data center, into the racks, back out — it’s really exciting,” Witter told theCUBE. “I think people are realizing this is the future; this is how we’re going to scale.”

Witter and Amanda Bryant (left), global product application engineering manager at Danfoss Power Solutions, spoke to theCUBE’s John Furrier and Jackie McGuire at SC25, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They explored the rapid shift to liquid cooling plumbing infrastructure and the growing importance of cleanliness and supply-chain rigor. (* Disclosure below.)

Liquid cooling plumbing infrastructure in focus

Power solutions remain crucial as the mechanical layer now directly influences both system reliability and energy efficiency. With the shift from air to liquid-based cooling, robust infrastructure is essential to prevent leaks and protect sensitive electronic components, according to Bryant.

“For us, we want to make sure that we’re protecting those cold plates and those chips to be at an optimal power and reduced heat level,” Bryant said. “From my perspective, all of our products, particularly in Danfoss Power Solutions, are after filtration. So cleanliness … is huge for us to not hinder the performance of the electronic components at that server level.”

Standards are only a baseline and the real bottlenecks are metals, hoses, welders and test rigs rather than graphics processing units. That’s pushing the role players into earlier, tighter collaboration to keep quality under control as they race to add capacity, Witter explained.

“I think partnerships in this market are everything,” he said. “Coming from hydraulics, you didn’t see a lot of collaboration in that market, and to see it here, and maybe it’s because there’s so much to go around, but it’s everything. I think the relationship between our two organizations is why we can sit here with you today.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of SC25:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for SC25 event. Sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage do not have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE