A highly available and modular cooling distribution unit (CDU) includes a heat exchange module and a pair of redundant pump modules, all configured to occupy a designated rack space that is comparable to rack space required for a conventional 1×CDU without redundancy. The heat exchange module may be fluidically coupled to one or more rack information handling resources via liquid coolant conduits, manifolds and accompanying valves, sensors, etc. In at least one embodiment, the heat exchange module includes a heat exchanger to dissipate heat from a liquid coolant and a fan assembly to move heated air in proximity to the heat exchanger. Each pump module is coupled to the heat exchange module and configured to circulate liquid coolant through a closed loop circuit that includes the heat exchanger, the liquid coolant conduits and manifolds, and information handling resources.