OptiCool Technologies has taken a significant step in expanding its market reach by partnering with Intelisys, a ScanSource company and one of the largest technology services distributors in North America. The agreement brings OptiCool’s two-phase liquid cooling systems into Intelisys’ U.S. ecosystem of telecom agents, managed service providers, value-added resellers, and IT solution providers.
It would accelerate access to advanced cooling technologies as data centers confront unprecedented thermal pressures from AI and GPU-intensive workloads.
The collaboration strengthens OptiCool’s channel-first strategy at a moment when operators are contending with rising rack densities, constrained power availability, and the need to extend the life of existing facilities. With AI clusters routinely exceeding 50 – 100 kW per rack, traditional cooling approaches such as CRAC and CRAH units are increasingly unable to maintain efficiency or cost-effective operation. OptiCool’s two-phase rear-door heat exchanger systems are designed to address those constraints directly by mounting to standard racks and absorbing up to 120 kW per rack.
According to the company, the technology can reduce energy consumption by more than 85 percent compared with legacy air-cooled systems, a compelling metric for operators evaluating total cost of ownership amid tightening sustainability and power-usage-effectiveness requirements.
Data Center Modernization
By integrating OptiCool into its supplier portfolio, Intelisys gives its partners a new lever for data center modernization at a time when AI hardware adoption often outpaces facility readiness. The ability to deploy high-density cooling without full mechanical overhauls creates a more approachable upgrade path for enterprises balancing accelerated compute growth with budget discipline. OptiCool’s product line – spanning 30 kW, 60 kW, and 120 kW configurations – also allows solution providers to tailor deployments as customers transition from mixed-density environments to GPU-heavy clusters.
OptiCool leadership said the partnership unlocks new channel opportunities, noting that Intelisys partners are often the first advisers enterprises turn to when scaling compute or integrating hybrid architectures. Intelisys executives echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that advanced cooling is rapidly becoming a core requirement for AI, high-performance computing, and large-scale data processing initiatives. As the first liquid-cooling manufacturer admitted into the Intelisys hybrid IT marketplace, OptiCool effectively broadens the toolkit available to partners seeking to help customers navigate the physical-layer challenges of the AI era.
The announcement underscores a broader trend across the data center sector: cooling is no longer a facilities-only discussion but a strategic component of infrastructure planning, partner ecosystems, and workload scaling. As more organizations evaluate dense compute deployment outside hyperscale footprints, modular and rack-level cooling solutions are increasingly positioned as critical enablers of AI adoption.
Executive Insights FAQ: Two-Phase Liquid Cooling Systems
Why are two-phase liquid cooling systems gaining traction now?
AI and GPU clusters create heat loads that exceed what traditional air systems can manage efficiently. Two-phase cooling can support extreme densities with far lower energy use.
How do two-phase rear-door heat exchangers differ from direct-to-chip cooling?
RDHx systems mount on rack doors and remove heat at the rack level, avoiding modifications to server internals while still handling high thermal loads.
What makes two-phase cooling advantageous for retrofits?
It requires minimal changes to existing data center layouts, allowing operators to increase capacity without redesigning mechanical infrastructure or adding chilled-water plants.
How does two-phase liquid cooling support sustainability goals?
With up to 85% energy savings compared with CRAC/CRAH systems, it directly improves PUE and reduces overall power consumption – key metrics for ESG programs.
Why is channel distribution important for liquid cooling adoption?
Most enterprises rely on solution providers for modernization guidance. Bringing advanced cooling into established partner ecosystems accelerates education, procurement, and deployment for organizations of all sizes.
