The rack market is predicted to endure a elementary technological shift. Open Rack Enclosures (21-inch) will seize over 70% of shipments by 2030 as main information middle operators and server OEMs undertake this design, whereas conventional 19-inch EIA-310 racks stay primarily for enterprise use. On this evaluation observe, we talk about the elements which have influenced the accelerated transition.
Main OEMs Embraced 21-Inch Open Rack Designs
Dell and HPE have embraced the modular server design structure proposed by the Open Compute Undertaking, dubbed the Information Middle Modular {Hardware} System (DC-MHS). They’re the main voices within the growth of this customary. This has carefully aligned their design work with Open Compute Undertaking designs and ideas. Finding out the Dell product roadmap, Omdia has concluded that as much as 90% of recent server shipments could possibly be in 21-inch Open Rack Enclosures. One contributing issue is that Dell is more and more designing compute and storage on the rack degree.
AI Servers Drive Demand for Superior Rack Infrastructure
AI-optimized rack-scale reference designs have 1000’s of copper connectivity cables, manifolds to allow direct-to-chip liquid cooling and high-capacity energy distribution. These profit from the additional area that 21-inch racks present.
Cloud Suppliers Drive Adoption of 21-Inch Racks
All the big cloud service suppliers, together with Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Google, ByteDance, Huawei and Oracle, at the moment are utilizing 21-inch racks as the usual. ODMs to the highest cloud service suppliers have given conclusive steerage to Omdia that the accelerated tempo of funding seen in 2024 and 2025 is the brand new regular. Wiwynn’s chairwoman, Emily Hong, indicated the corporate’s AI server backlog is so sturdy that it must aggressively construct extra factories. Wiwynn has indicated it already has AI server order visibility by way of 2027.
21-inch Open Rack Enclosures Have Further Engineering Advantages
A number of the extra engineering advantages of 21-inch Open Rack Enclosures, that are influencing increased ranges of adoption, embrace higher airflow for extra optimum thermal administration resulting from wider air consumption and the power to suit bigger fan arrays. This additionally future-proofs the design. Servers constructed utilizing the modular DC-MHS design allow the alternative and upgrading of computing elements whereas sustaining the identical I/O. This requires servers to be suitable with higher-power processors, as these could also be put in later.
Almost all servers designed for 19-inch, EIA-310 Rack Enclosures can match right into a 21-inch Open Rack Enclosure. The reverse just isn’t doable. This additionally makes the latter extra future-proof.
The General Development of the Information Middle Rack Market Is Accelerating
Because the transition from 19-inch EIA-310 Rack Enclosures to 21-inch Open Rack Enclosures takes maintain of the information middle rack market, we count on accelerated shipments and income progress. Alternative will organically develop as rack-scale server designs turn into a de facto customary for cloud service suppliers. In such instances, a whole rack of IT gear could be wheeled into the information middle. Regardless of a robust rack renew-and-reuse motion within the information middle, we count on 19-inch EIA-310 Rack Enclosures to be utterly scrapped within the course of.
Information middle rack enclosures will persistently develop sooner than servers for the primary time in a decade. Omdia has raised its rack enclosure cargo CAGR for the interval 2023 to 2028 from 6% to 13%. Wanting on the interval from 2025 to 2030, Omdia additionally anticipates a compound annual progress charge of 11% in rack shipments. The common sale worth of a rack has persistently elevated lately. The requirement to deal with AI-optimized servers, that are liquid-cooled and have extra elements, making them heavier, has meant that shipments of higher-end racks are additionally accelerating as a share of the general combine. As this continues, Omdia expects the typical sale worth of knowledge middle rack enclosures to proceed to develop. Because of this, the projected income CAGR for the interval from 2023 to 2030 is 15% with the rack market surpassing $4.1B in 2030.
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