Readiness check

Is your data center ready to run liquid cooling?

AI density is pushing data centers from air to liquid, and the move brings water near the most expensive hardware in the building. Most liquid-cooling problems are not the cold plates; they are the facility water, the loop chemistry, leak response, and an ops team trained on air. Answer for the hall you would actually deploy into. The score stays on your device; enter an email only if you want the readiness checklist sent over.

1. Do you have the facility water loop (or fluid cooler/dry cooler) to reject the heat liquid cooling moves?Yes, the facility heat-rejection loop is in place and sizedPartial, sized for some of the loadNo, we are air-cooled with no facility water

2. Are CDUs (coolant distribution units) specified to isolate the technology loop from the facility water?Yes, CDUs isolate and control the technology loopPlanned, not yet selectedNo CDU strategy

3. Is leak detection designed in (at the rack, the CDU, and the floor) with a defined response?Yes, zoned leak detection tied to alarms and a response planSome sensors, no clear responseNo leak detection

4. Do you manage the loop water chemistry (treatment, filtration, materials compatibility)?Yes, treated and tested with compatible wetted materialsWe fill it and mostly leave itNo chemistry program

5. Is the cooling concurrently maintainable and redundant (CDUs, pumps) so you can service it live?Yes, redundant CDUs/pumps and proven concurrent maintenanceSome redundancy, not provenNo, service means downtime

6. Have you planned the short thermal ride-through (liquid-cooled gear overheats in seconds on a pump/flow loss)?Yes, ride-through and fast failover are engineeredAware of it, not designed forNo, a flow loss would cook the racks

7. Can the floor and space carry the weight and serviceability of liquid-cooled racks and CDUs?Yes, structure, access, and routing were designed for itProbably, not verifiedNo, it was laid out for air-cooled racks

8. Is your operations team trained and procedured for liquid (fill/drain, leak response, maintenance)?Yes, trained shifts with MOPs/EOPs for liquidAir-cooled experience, learning liquidNo, the team is not ready for it