A purpose-built cold plate liquid cooling infrastructure for a 128-node NVIDIA H200 compute cluster, designed to Tier 2 standards with a 60-day delivery commitment. The solution leverages Xinjiang's cold, arid climate to maximize natural cooling hours and achieve industry-leading PUE.
3 MW
Total IT load
128
H200 servers
60 days
Target delivery
Tier 2
Data center class
<1.15
Target PUE
Core system configuration
Cold plates (server side)
Custom copper/aluminium cold plates bonded directly to GPU and CPU heat sources per H200 node. Supports single-GPU heat flux ≥ 300 W — over 40% more efficient than air cooling.
In-rack manifold system
Per-rack distribution manifolds with quick-disconnect fittings enable hot-swap server maintenance. Stainless steel / copper pipework with standardised valves for future capacity expansion.
Row / room-level CDU
N+1 redundant CDU to Tier 2 standard. Dual-loop redundant pump sets with online switchover. Plate heat exchanger isolates primary and secondary loops, protecting server pipework from external contamination.
Primary-side natural cooling
Xinjiang's annual mean temperature of ~7 °C enables 8,000+ hours of free-cooling per year via dry coolers. Mechanical refrigeration serves only as a warm-season backup.
Cooling fluid
Secondary loop uses deionised water or low-concentration ethylene glycol. Given Xinjiang's extreme winter lows, ≥ 30% glycol solution is recommended for full freeze protection down to −20 °C.
DCIM monitoring
Full-chain sensor coverage: fluid temperature, flow rate, differential pressure, leak detection, and electrical parameters integrated into a unified DCIM platform with remote O&M and auto-alerting.
System flow architecture
Primary cooling loop
CDU secondary outlet (cool fluid)
→
Row manifold
→
Cold plate heat absorption (GPU/CPU)
→
Warm fluid return
→
CDU plate HX
→
Repeat
Primary-side heat rejection loop
CDU primary outlet (warm fluid)
→
Outdoor dry cooler
→
Cool fluid returns to CDU
→
Free cooling priority; chiller backup in summer
Residual heat handling
Cabinet heat leakage (<5%)
→
Room air
→
Precision in-row A/C unit
Ürümqi's annual mean temperature of ~7 °C and extreme low of −20 °C provide one of China's longest free-cooling windows. In this climate, the cold plate + dry cooler configuration can sustain a PUE below 1.10 year-round — materially lower operating energy costs compared to equivalent facilities in eastern China.
Finalise cold plate selection, CDU specification, and piping drawings. Simultaneously initiate procurement of long-lead items: plate heat exchangers, pump sets, and cold plates.
2
Day 8 – 25
Equipment manufacturing & prefabrication
CDU cabinet production, custom cold plate fabrication, manifold pre-assembly, and dry cooler manufacturing. Civil works and embedded pipework conditions verified in parallel.
3
Day 26 – 42
On-site installation & pipework
CDU placement, outdoor dry cooler installation, main room pipework, in-rack manifold fitting, cold plate mounting on servers, and quick-disconnect connections.
4
Day 43 – 53
System commissioning & fluid fill
Pressure and leak testing, system fill and air purge, CDU parameter tuning, flow/pressure balancing, leak detection system validation, and DCIM platform integration.
5
Day 54 – 60
Load acceptance testing & handover
128× H200 servers powered on under full load, monitoring data verification, PUE measurement, documentation archiving, and formal project handover.
The NVIDIA GB200 NVL2 ultra-high-density compute node utilizes cold-plate liquid cooling technology, is designed to T2 standards, and offers rapid delivery within seven days.