The massive infrastructure that data centers need to keep their racks of computer servers cool is one of the Achilles heel of the sector, but there’s no shortage of innovation being applied to the challenge. 

Prime Data Centers is using a mix of closed-loop air and liquid cooling that’s earned it Energy Star recognition for two of its facilities, in Dallas and Sacramento, by reducing energy and water usage relative to evaporation-cooled facilities.

Thermal technology company Karman Industries says a carbon dioxide-based heat processing unit it introduced earlier this month can manage cooling with 25% less energy than conventional systems, and — in a benefit on the development side — can help ease neighbors’ concerns over having a data center nearby by reducing the footprint the facility needs by 80%.

There’s innovation happening on the computing infrastructure side as well. Earlier this month Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said his company’s Vera Rubin server racks provide five times the performance of the previous generation of technology while requiring a water temperature of 45 degrees Celsius — cool enough that chillers aren’t needed. “We essentially used hot water to cool this supercomputer, with incredibly high efficiency,” he said at a trade show. 

Here’s a roundup of Facilities Dive’s latest coverage of the innovation happening as data center operators and the technology companies they work with try to make server cooling more manageable.