Pushed by the ever-increasing demand for information processing and storage, the information middle development trade is present process a monumental shift. As digital applied sciences like AI, IoT, and cloud computing proliferate, information facilities are adapting to satisfy the evolving wants of a data-hungry world.
Key points impacting the information middle development house will take middle stage on the Data Center Build summit this month. Operating as a part of the 2024 Knowledge Middle World convention and expo in Washington, DC, the two-day development and design summit will carry collectively operators, decision-makers, and trade consultants to discover the challenges and alternatives impacting the sector.
Forward of the occasion, we spoke with trade consultants to set the scene by laying out the highest developments they anticipate to happen within the information middle development house this yr.
Pace, Prefabrication, and Creativity
In response to Ron Vokoun, Director of Nationwide Market Growth at Everus Development Group and chair of Knowledge Middle Construct, some of the vital developments in information middle development in 2024 is the emphasis on getting issues completed rapidly and effectively.
“Knowledge middle development is all about velocity on this labor-constrained market,” Vokoun tells DCN. “Any and all concepts that may improve throughput on the development web site with out requiring extra labor will probably be given consideration.”
This want for velocity has led to a deal with prefabrication. The 2024 AFCOM State of the Knowledge Middle Report notes that: “The hybrid method, a mixture of conventional constructing and prefabricated modules, seems to be the commonest method to new information middle builds over the following three years.”
“Modular and prefabrication are usually not new ideas, however the information middle trade was gradual to totally undertake them,” Vokoun defined. “Resulting from scalability, a hybrid method will rule the day for hyperscale information facilities. Over the past a number of years, prefabricated electrical and mechanical assemblies have gained in reputation.”
With regards to quicker and extra environment friendly development, flexibility and creativity are key, in accordance with Tony Qorri, vice chairman of development at DataBank. “Approaches to stacking gear, modularity, and prefabrication have all acquired to proceed to evolve. We’ve acquired to construct lots of flexibility into our information middle designs. The necessity for greater workloads and better densities dictate the change in our design, and never solely development methods, however beginning on the very starting of designs whenever you’re simply placing pen to paper. That’s whenever you’ve acquired to be artistic. We acquired to get extra artistic in terms of getting extra energy right into a constructing.”
Invoice Kleyman, program chair for Knowledge Middle World and the creator of AFCOM’s State of the Knowledge Middle Report, echoes Qorri’s emphasis on the necessity for flexibility and innovation.
“The truth is fairly easy: we will’t construct information facilities the identical manner we used to. The excellent news is that there are lots of revolutionary leaders. An ideal instance is Compass Knowledge Facilities. Whereas visiting their Crimson Oaks, Texas, development web site, I acquired the possibility to see a 400 MW information middle construct. Nonetheless, there was one thing very particular right here in that these buildings had been being constructed as 40 MW prefabricated halls. The actually cool half right here is that every 40 MW corridor is 70% prefabricated, and far of the batch processing was being completed straight on-site. This development methodology is extraordinary within the sense that you’re citing 10s of megawatts far quicker than you may ever earlier than.”
The Rise of AI and Excessive-Density Computing
The AI revolution is one other driving pressure behind the evolution of knowledge middle development. The substantial computational energy calls for from LLMs and AI-powered functions are encouraging the event of a brand new technology of high-density computing environments.
“As AI necessities develop, information middle operators should adapt their infrastructure to accommodate excessive power-density server clusters,” Vokoun mentioned.
The development tech sector is attracting vital funding, with AI enjoying an more and more vital position in mission scheduling, useful resource allocation, web site security monitoring, and data-driven decision-making. “AI adoption in development continues to be evolving, and the potential advantages are vital,” the Everus director defined. “As expertise advances and challenges like information integration and expertise growth are addressed, AI is prone to play an more and more vital position in shaping the way forward for the development trade.”
Kleyman likewise underscores AI’s pivotal position within the trade and attributes the outstanding tempo of digital infrastructure acceleration and the adoption of methods like prefabricated electrical and mechanical assemblies – primarily to generative AI. “The tempo of acceleration in digital infrastructure has been fairly extraordinary, and all of it’s being led by the 500-pound GPT-generated gorilla within the room: Generative AI,” he mentioned. “In our AFCOM report, most respondents (56%) plan to deploy AI-capable options of their information facilities, mostly to assist new generative AI use instances (43%).”
“New information facilities will must be constructed from the bottom up (somewhat than retrofitted) to be AI-ready, because the infrastructure has distinctive cooling and energy necessities,” Dell’Oro Group analyst Baron Fung advised DCN. “We anticipate new information middle house will must be added for years to come back. Already, the hyperscale cloud and colocation service suppliers are in a race to construct newer and extra services globally.”
Renewable Vitality and Cooling Issues
The importance of sustainability and integrating renewable vitality sources is rising within the development of knowledge facilities, significantly because the calls for of AI proceed to escalate. The 2024 State of the Knowledge Middle Report reveals that over 73% of respondents plan to make the most of renewable vitality, with photo voltaic (59%) and wind (28%) being the most well-liked decisions. “For the hyperscale information middle operators, sustainability and renewable vitality have been desk stakes for years now,” Vokoun states. “The hyperscalers might want to double down on renewable vitality and sustainability because of the elevated densities related to AI.”
Vokoun’s feedback got here as John Pettigrew, head of the UK’s nationwide grid, mentioned electrical energy demand from the nation’s information facilities will bounce sixfold over the following 10 years.
“Future development in foundational applied sciences like synthetic intelligence and quantum computing will imply larger-scale, energy-intensive computing infrastructure,” Pettigrew mentioned throughout a convention in Oxford final month.
Knowledge facilities face escalating challenges in managing energy and enhancing vitality effectively, Qorri mentioned sustainability would stay a key pattern via 2024. “I believe within the subsequent a number of years, we’re going to see much more evolution and deal with the best way to be extra sustainable at information facilities,” he mentioned. “There’s discuss of issues like photo voltaic wind, small nuclear reactors, and hydrogen gas cells. Discovering different sources of energy has turn into a critical situation for the trade.”
Kleyman added: “Simply as rapidly as generative AI has taken the market, there have been new conversations round energy sources which have been round for fairly a while, particularly nuclear vitality. Between this yr and final yr, per the AFCOM State of the Knowledge Middle report, respondents who’ve said that they are going to make the most of or on the very least take a look at nuclear vitality greater than doubled to virtually 1/4 of respondents (21%, up from 10% final yr).
“This yr, on the AFCOM Knowledge Middle World occasion, Dr Kathryn Huff, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Vitality on the US Division of Vitality, will discover the dynamic adjustments in clear vitality utilization and coverage which can be reshaping our world. She’s going to delve into the crucial position of nuclear applied sciences in bolstering vitality grids, offering a steady and environment friendly energy supply that enhances intermittent renewables like photo voltaic and wind. A spotlight of her discuss would be the intersection of nuclear vitality with digital infrastructure.”
Cool Runnings
The latest AFCOM report additionally highlighted information middle operators’ elevated funding in superior cooling methods, most notably liquid cooling.
In response to Kleyman, that is anticipated to stay a focus of dialogue and growth within the information middle design house over the approaching months. “What looks like virtually in a single day, conversations round liquid cooling, single-phase and two-phase liquid cooling options, direct-to-chip liquid cooling options, and even rear-door warmth exchangers have turn into commonplace,” he mentioned.
Vokoun agrees that cooling is a key concern. “I anticipate to proceed to see innovation in information middle cooling expertise,” he famous. “With every successive iteration of AI chips, densities will proceed to ramp up effectively previous the capabilities of air cooling. Liquid cooling, in all of its many types, will turn into commonplace in information facilities. My private opinion is that liquid to the chip will turn into the dominant expertise, however time will inform.”
Data Center Build runs from April 17-18. The 2-day development and design summit is a part of the broader Knowledge Middle World expo and convention, which takes place on the Walter E. Washington Conference Middle in Washington, DC, on April 15-18. Go to the Data Center World website for extra particulars.
