2 History of Cooling Technologies
Early forms of liquid cooling emerged in the 1940s, where it was used to cool high-voltage transformers. The concept was later applied to computing in the 1960s, when IBM developed one of the very first direct liquid cooling systems to manage the heat from early high-performance computing systems, such as the IBM Stretch (7030) mainframe computers. In the 1980s, liquid cooling saw significant advancements, notably with the work of Seymour Cray, a pioneer in supercomputing. Cray Research utilized direct immersion cooling for its supercomputers, submerging microprocessors directly in non-conductive refrigerants like Fluorinert to dissipate heat. The Cray-2 supercomputer, introduced in 1985, famously immersed dense stacks of circuit boards in this liquid, which was then cooled in a separate tank. This period also saw large-scale mainframe computers, like IBM's System/360, employing water-cooling systems to enhance operational efficiency. However, with the advent of metal oxide semiconductors and development of nimble, air-cooled rack-mounted servers in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the need for liquid cooling diminished. These new technologies allowed for denser computing without generating a proportionate amount of heat, making air cooling a more cost-effective and simpler solution for the time.
Computing Gets Cool IBM develops first direct liquid cooling for computers
Supercomputer Revolution Seymour Cray pioneers immersion cooling Cray-2 submerges circuit boards in Fluorinert IBM System/360 uses water-cooling systems Direct immersion cooling perfected
The Beginning Early liquid cooling for high-voltage transformers Foundation technology established
IBM Stretch (7030) mainframe systems Computing liquid cooling is born
1940s
1960s
1980s
Photo Credit: IBM Water Cooling
Photo Credit: Cray History
Photo Credit: Eng & Tech History
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