Hewlett-Packard plans to begin selling a water-cooling system next week to address the power and heat problems that new technology inflicts on computer administrators.

The Modular Cooling System attaches to the side of an HP rack of computing gear, providing a sealed chamber of cooled air separated from the rest of a data center, said Paul Perez, vice president of storage, networking and infrastructure for HP’s Industry Standard Server group.

“We used to talk to IT” when approaching customers, Perez said. But because of the power issue, “now we’re talking to IT and facilities together. The customers ask, ‘What should our power budget be over next three years?’ After the sticker shock for energy costs, they say, ‘How is HP going to help get the cost down?’”

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