Re: What is the limit? (was RE: multi-homing fixes)
I have proposed to various router vendors the possibility of giving them a chilled water feed instead of lots of cool air. At the moment they seem to not need it, but I would not be surprized to find something like this needed at some point.
Err. Water and electricvity make a dangerous mix.
That sounds a bit FUDish--lots of electricity is generated using water (most of it is, actually, given that steam is part of the cycle even in most nukes). And we have used water-cooled CPU's for a lot of years. (And as a point of interest, distilled water at neutral ph is a reasonably good insulator, if I recall correctly.)
(And as a point of interest, distilled water at neutral ph is a reasonably good insulator, if I recall correctly.)
It has to be deionized, and yes, it is a very good insulator if the purity of the deionization is high enough. But there are better fluids that transfer heat better and will not pick up free ions (making them conductive) from the metal tubing around them. Alcohol cooling used to be a favorite for electronics. EthylGlycols are good, but messy. Maybe it's time to make some small point cooling systems for routers. When I was young electronics nut, we'd cool stereo amps this way to up the power output. As the last rack mount computer I installed had 6 cooling fans.. maybe it's time...
On Thu, 30 Aug 2001, Larry Sheldon wrote:
I have proposed to various router vendors the possibility of giving them a chilled water feed instead of lots of cool air. At the moment they seem to not need it, but I would not be surprized to find something like this needed at some point.
Err. Water and electricvity make a dangerous mix.
That sounds a bit FUDish--lots of electricity is generated using water (most of it is, actually, given that steam is part of the cycle even in most nukes).
yeah, although in steam or hydro turbines or expansion engines the generator is connected via a drive-staft not immersed... water isn't as decent an insulator as an air gap which has to be taken into account when generating a few hundred thousand volts. This is completely removed from the issue of immersing your computer in it. any cooling system in a router or computer is going to be a balance between complexity, thermal efficiency, and cost. we've hardly exhausted to possibilities of air cooling at this point, that will occur when the energy density of the individual componts is to high to be cooled by airflow and reasonable sized heatsinks, not when the box collectivly draws more power...
And we have used water-cooled CPU's for a lot of years.
(And as a point of interest, distilled water at neutral ph is a reasonably good insulator, if I recall correctly.)
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participants (3)
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Joel Jaeggli -
Larry Sheldon -
mike harrison