Iceotope, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Intel have developed a liquid-cooled telco Edge server.

KUL RAN is designed to support high-density, low-latency Edge, virtualized RAN, and 5G services.

The modular unit contains HPE ProLiant DL110 servers with 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors. It fits into 19-inch short-depth racks. Iceotope provides a self-contained cooling system which doesn't require external infrastructure such as fluid manifolds, hoses, or separate rack-mounted liquid or air-heat exchangers.

David Craig, CEO, of Iceotope, said KUL RAN would address the "immediate challenges" of deploying 5G radio access networks (RANs),. and said the partnership enabled "a host of 5G-powered applications bringing data processing and content closer to the point of use in all industrial, commercial, and consumer contexts."

Iceotope said the product is designed as a "fit and forget" Edge product, which will reduce energy use and water consumption, and be rugged enough to deal with Edge environments, outside of data centers where operators have no control over environmental issues such as direct exposure to ambient weather conditions.

This aspect of Edge deployments led data center cooling expert ASHRAE to issue guidance for Edge deployments in 2020.

“These Edge data centers can go in a dirty metropolitan area where there's all kinds of pollution and vehicle exhaust," ASHRAE TC 9.9 member Jon Fitsh told DCD in 2020. "They could go in an agricultural area, they could go into a dusty area where there were seasonal winds which blow up dust storms."

KUL RAN should run smoothly with fewer service visits, cutting operational expenditure, said Iceotope, and its IP67-rated chassis means it can be installed, removed, and replaced without risk of dust, weather, or contaminants reaching sensitive processors and server components. Iceotope promises 100 percent protection from thermal shock, dust, and other airborne hazards, saying the unit will remain "factory clean throughout its operational life."

Unlike a lot of data center equipment, the system is designed to exceed the NEBS compliance standards which are required in telecoms applications.

This Edge unit follows Ku:l Extreme, a liquid-cooled rack designed for telco applications located in data centers, launched by the same three vendors along with rack maker nVent, at Mobile World Congress.

Phil Cutrone, senior vice president and general manager of service providers, OEM, telco, and major accounts at HPE said the product is essential to the growth of RAN and Open RAN.

Iceotope received £30 million ($38m) in funding last year from a syndicate of investors led by Singapore-based investment firm ABC, which also included nVent.