DapuStor and ZTE Partner to Build Green, High-Efficiency Data Centers with Immersion Cooling SSDs
As data centers evolve toward higher density and extreme computing power, traditional air cooling is hitting its physical limits. Immersion cooling—where hardware is fully submerged in efficient, insulating dielectric fluid—is emerging as the new standard for thermal management, moving rapidly from pilot programs to large-scale deployment.
Recently, DapuStor successfully deployed its customized liquid-cooled SSD solution (based on the DapuStor J5 Series) within ZTE’s server infrastructure. Recognized as a premier "Green Data Center Demonstration Project," this collaboration sees ZTE providing the full-stack solution and DapuStor delivering the critical storage components, jointly setting a new benchmark for green computing.
The system is now fully operational with DapuStor J5 Series SSDs. The drives have demonstrated exceptional stability and reliability under continuous read/write loads, marking a significant engineering breakthrough for enterprise SSDs in immersion environments.
*Source: Public data. Configuration includes 24 liquid-cooled racks (48kW/rack), 6 CDUs, and 30,000 liters of eco-·friendly synthetic oil as the cooling medium, supporting 200 ZTE immersion servers.
01. The Challenge: Reliability in Extreme Environments
Immersion cooling imposes rigorous reliability standards on storage hardware. While it offers superior heat dissipation, it creates a challenging environment for standard electronics. Long-term immersion in dielectric fluid exposes enterprise SSDs to multidimensional risks, including chemical erosion, thermal cycling, material incompatibility, and changes in dielectric properties.
• Microscopic Penetration: Coolant oil can penetrate microscopic structural gaps, potentially triggering corrosion or signal insulation decay.
• Accelerated Aging: Under the combined stress of high temperatures and active electric fields, material aging accelerates significantly.
For standard SSDs, these micro-changes can accumulate into systemic failures. Achieving long-term reliability requires a comprehensive system-level adaptation of underlying materials, structures, and manufacturing processes.
02. The Solution: J5 Liquid-Cooled eSSD
The J5 Liquid-Cooled eSSD deployed in ZTE’s system is engineered specifically for these extreme conditions. DapuStor implemented systematic reinforcements across material selection, structural layout, and manufacturing craftsmanship:
• Material Compatibility: All critical materials underwent rigorous screening to ensure no swelling, embrittlement, or precipitation after long-term contact with mainstream coolants.
• Surface Integrity: PCBs and core components feature stabilized surface properties to effectively block fluid penetration and chemical erosion, guaranteeing signal integrity and long-term stability.
• Rigorous Validation: Every unit passed strict validation protocols involving long-term full-load operation in simulated immersion environments, ensuring a "Plug-and-Play" delivery capability.
03. Fueling the AI Era with High-Density Deployment
The explosion of AI is driving chip TDP (Thermal Design Power) sky-high, making liquid cooling an inevitable path for next-generation data centers. Beyond its superior thermal control, immersion cooling eliminates fan vibration and airflow disturbances, creating an ideal environment for storage stability.
However, traditional air-cooled SSDs—designed merely for basic dust and moisture resistance—cannot survive this transition. DapuStor’s innovation ensures that storage devices thrive in liquid environments. Even in high-load, high-density AI scenarios, the J5 SSD delivers consistent top-tier performance and low latency:
• Seq. R/W: up to 7.4 / 7 GB/s
• Random R/W: up to 1,750K / 340K IOPS
• Latency: as low as 67 / 9 μs
04. Leading the Industry Forward
DapuStor remains focused on advancing storage technologies for extreme operating environments. The successful deployment of this liquid-cooling solution reflects not only DapuStor’s immersion-ready storage capabilities, but also the effectiveness of close system-level collaboration with ZTE. Through this partnership, advanced storage reliability is no longer a theoretical goal, but a proven engineering reality.
About ZTE
Leveraging innovative technologies and product solutions, ZTE is a global leader in integrated information and communication technology solutions, serving global telecom operators, government and enterprise customers, and consumers. Covering more than 160 countries and regions, ZTE enables connectivity for one-third of the world's population, and is committed to realizing a bright future with communication and trust everywhere.
About DapuStor
DapuStor Corporation, founded in April 2016, specializes in enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs), SoCs, and edge computing products. With a world-class R&D team of over 400 members, the company has comprehensive capabilities from chip design to mass production. DapuStor’s products are widely used in servers, telecom operators, and data centers, empowering businesses worldwide to manage their data more efficiently.
For more information, please contact:
Email: mkt@dapustor.com
Website: www.dapustor.com