Leading GreenIT for Modern AI Data Centers, Powered by DLC 2 and DCBBS

Author: Morris Wan, Director of Product Management, Architecture Thermal Solution Team, Super Micro Collection: 2025 OCP Global Summit - Expo Hall Sessions

Summary

Super Micro presents its transformation from rack system provider to full data center solution provider through two key technologies: DLC2 (Direct Liquid Cooling 2, covering 95%+ of chips with liquid cooling) and DCBBS (Data Center Building Block Solutions, encompassing everything inside and outside the data center). Super Micro claims to be the first company to deliver more than 4,000 liquid-cooled racks globally in 2024, a world first. With DLC2, Super Micro achieves PUE of 1.05 (versus 1.6 for air cooling), doubles GPU density per rack (64 GPUs in liquid-cooled versus 32 in air-cooled 48U racks), and reduces noise from 120-140 dB to as low as 50 dB (library-level quiet).

The DCBBS portfolio spans inside and outside the data center. Inside: compute/network/storage racks, cabling services, and CDU options including in-rack CDU (100 kW legacy, 250 kW for GB200/GB300), liquid-to-air sidecar CDU (200 kW for retrofitting 90% of existing air-cooled data centers), and in-row CDU (1.8 MW). Super Micro claims to be the only company providing in-rack CDUs for both GB200 and GB300, simplifying validation, assembly, and shipping. Outside: primary piping, and three cooling tower types (water-based, hybrid, and dry cooler for high-altitude). Critically, Super Micro's solution eliminates chillers entirely, connecting cooling towers directly to rack CDUs with closed-loop secondary cooling. By 2028, US AI data center electricity usage is projected at 320-580 TWh, roughly equivalent to one-third of US household electricity usage, per the US Energy Information Administration.