The Vertiv CoolChip CDU is the coolant distribution unit at the heart of a liquid cooling deployment. It moves coolant between the clean technology loop that touches your servers and the facility water or air loop, controls flow and temperature precisely, and monitors continuously for leaks. It is the next generation of the Vertiv Liebert XDU family and supports both direct-to-chip cold-plate cooling and rear door heat exchangers, letting Australian operators run GPU, AI and high-performance racks that air cooling alone cannot handle.

The CoolChip CDU family spans in-rack, in-row and perimeter designs, with both liquid-to-liquid and liquid-to-air heat exchange. Models that run without access to facility water make it possible to add liquid cooling to rooms that were never plumbed for it. Below you will find the model range and capacities, the build and monitoring features, where the unit fits, and how Indigi supplies, installs and maintains it nationwide.

Why the CoolChip CDU leads

CoolChip CDU model range and capacities

The CoolChip CDU is available as the CDU070, CDU350, CDU600, CDU1350 and CDU2300, spanning liquid-to-air and liquid-to-liquid configurations. The table below sets out the capacity tiers and where each fits. Exact model selection, dimensions and connection sizes are confirmed on quotation against your rack density and facility water conditions.

Build and monitoring features

Applications

The CoolChip CDU suits any environment moving to high-density or liquid-ready computing, from hyperscale and colocation halls to edge sites. It is commonly deployed for:

• GPU and AI clusters using direct-to-chip liquid cooling
• Rear door heat exchanger retrofits into existing server rooms
• Banking, financial and insurance data centres
• Colocation, hosting and hyperscale facilities
• Government, healthcare and education computing
• Manufacturing, mining and telecom infrastructure

Liquid-to-liquid vs liquid-to-air: which CoolChip CDU?

The first decision is whether your building already has, or can be given, a facility water loop. Liquid-to-liquid models reject heat to facility water and scale to the highest capacities; liquid-to-air models reject heat to the room and need no plumbing, making them ideal for retrofits and edge sites.

How the CoolChip CDU fits your cooling design

In a liquid-cooled data centre the CDU sits between two loops. The primary loop is your facility water, chilled water or condenser water that ultimately rejects heat outside the building. The secondary loop, often called the technology cooling system or secondary fluid network, is a closed circuit of clean coolant that runs to the cold plates or rear doors on the racks. The CoolChip CDU is the bridge between them: it transfers heat from the secondary loop to the primary loop through a heat exchanger while keeping the two fluids physically separate, so the water on the server side stays clean, treated and at a controlled temperature.

That separation is what protects your hardware. Server cold plates have fine internal channels that clog and corrode if raw facility water reaches them, which is why the CoolChip CDU filters supply water to 50 micron and uses stainless-steel wetted parts and hygienic couplings. Precise temperature control on the secondary loop matters just as much, because feeding coolant that is too cold risks condensation and thermal shock across the CPU and GPU packages, while coolant that drifts too warm throttles performance. The integrated controller holds the setpoint, watches flow, and raises alarms the moment either drifts.

Because the family offers liquid-to-liquid and liquid-to-air heat exchange, the CoolChip CDU adapts to the building you already have rather than forcing a rebuild. A colocation hall with mature chilled water infrastructure can run large liquid-to-liquid units at the perimeter, while an edge cabinet or an office server room with no plumbing can start with a self-contained liquid-to-air unit and still gain the density benefits of liquid cooling. Most Australian sites we design begin with one or two units on their hottest racks and expand the secondary network as GPU density grows, keeping capital spend aligned with actual demand.

Installation and maintenance in Australia

A coolant distribution unit is only as reliable as its installation and servicing. Indigi handles the full deployment: sizing the unit against your rack heat load, tying the technology loop into your facility water, pressure testing, leak-detection commissioning and coolant fill, all to AS/NZS 3000 electrical and AS/NZS 3666 mechanical requirements. We size the unit against your measured rack heat load and choose the right heat-exchange approach for your facility water and layout, whether that is a standalone unit or part of a wider server room cooling design.

Once running, the CDU needs scheduled servicing: coolant quality checks, filter changes, pump inspection and verification of leak-detection sensors. Indigi covers this under the same programs as our CRAC unit maintenance and critical power plans, so your liquid cooling, room cooling and UPS sit under one maintenance agreement with local, same-day support.

Vertiv CoolChip CDU FAQs

What does a coolant distribution unit do?

A coolant distribution unit isolates the clean coolant loop that touches your servers from the facility water loop, then controls flow and temperature and monitors for leaks. In the CoolChip CDU this includes a 50 micron filter, redundant pumps and leak detection, so high-density racks are cooled safely and continuously.

What is the cooling capacity of the Vertiv CoolChip CDU?

The CoolChip CDU family ranges from 70 kW in liquid-to-air configuration up to 100 kW, 450 kW, 600 kW and 1,350 kW in liquid-to-liquid configurations, covering everything from a single edge rack to a hyperscale row.

Does the CoolChip CDU need facility water?

Not always. Liquid-to-air models reject heat to the room and need no facility water, so you can add liquid cooling to a space that was never plumbed for it. Liquid-to-liquid models reject heat to facility water and reach the highest capacities.

Does the CoolChip CDU support direct-to-chip and rear door cooling?

Yes. The CoolChip CDU is designed for both direct-to-chip cold-plate cooling and rear door heat exchangers, and can be deployed in-rack, in-row or at the perimeter to suit your layout.

How is redundancy handled?

The CoolChip CDU uses redundant pumps and dual power feeds so coolant keeps moving through a pump or power failure, protecting a live high-density load. Precise temperature control also prevents thermal shock to CPUs and GPUs.

Can Indigi install and service the CoolChip CDU in Australia?

Yes. Indigi supplies, installs, commissions and maintains the CoolChip CDU nationwide to AS/NZS 3000 and AS/NZS 3666, with scheduled servicing available under the same agreements as our CRAC and critical power maintenance plans.

Related products and services

• All data centre liquid cooling solutions
• Server room cooling design and installation
• CRAC installation and commissioning
• CRAC unit maintenance services
• CRAC and CRAH precision cooling units
• Liebert and Vertiv CRAC spare parts