• Hack Week 2025: How these engineers liquid-cooled a GPU server Hack Week 2025 at Dropbox centered on the theme “Keep It Simple,” offering opportunities for innovation, experimentation, and finding smart solutions to complex challenges. • With in-person hubs in San Francisco, Seattle, and Warsaw-as well as the option to hack virtually-the July event brought together Dropbox developers to explore new ideas and build projects that could shape future products and workflows for tools likeDropbox Dash. • One standout effort, “Liquid Cooling CPU/GPU Hardware,” earned the Learn Fast award for accelerating learning and innovation. • The team-Bobby Woolweaver, Daniel Coultas, Eddie del Rio, Eric Shobe, and Daniel Parker-Focht-designed a custom liquid cooling system for high-powered GPU servers to tackle the rising thermal demands ofAI workloads. • They built a lab setup, tested core components, and demonstrated significant benefits: 20-30°C lower operating temperatures under stress, quieter performance than air cooling, and the potential for power savings and environmental benefits. • Forward-looking in scope, the project explores next-generation GPU servers that may require liquid cooling due to increases in power consumption and heat generation.
Article Summaries:
- During Dropbox’s July Hack Week 2025, developers gathered in San Francisco, Seattle, Warsaw, and online to prototype solutions under the “Keep It Simple” theme. A team of five engineers-Bobby Woolweaver, Daniel Coultas, Eddie del Rio, Eric Shobe, and Daniel Parker‑Focht-won the Learn Fast award for building a custom liquid‑cooling system for high‑power GPU servers. Their lab‑assembled setup used radiators, pumps, reservoirs, and sensors to achieve 20-30 °C lower operating temperatures under stress tests, quieter operation than air cooling, and potential power and environmental benefits. The team plans to expand testing across multiple data centers and explore next‑generation GPU servers that may require liquid cooling.
Sources: