The data centre industry is grappling with a major challenge ahead of the new year – how to fulfil the critical industry need to be poised for artificial intelligence (AI) integration, but in a sustainable way.
A global titan in digital infrastructure and continuity solutions for data centres, Vertiv anticipated AI blowing up just shy of two years ago and, now, company CEO Giordano Albertazzi says the data industry is tasked with finding ways to cater to the demand for AI while minimising energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
“This is a significant challenge requiring new collaborations between data centres, chip and server manufacturers, and infrastructure providers,” says Albertazzi.
Vertiv recently conducted trend forecasting for the data centre world that outlined numerous challenges and obstacles awaiting the industry as it strategises how to work with AI in an economic and sustainably efficient way.
AI necessitates new builds
Vertiv’s trend forecasting revealed that well-established facilities will not be able to support the implementation of high-density computing required for AI. Many facilities simply do not have the infrastructure for liquid cooling, which is the process of using a liquid such as water to cool a data centre, rather than relying on air.
Organisations are set to quickly discover current infrastructure is insufficient and reach for new construction and large-scale retrofits that allow for greater power and cooling capabilities.
When delivered in conjunction with air-cooled thermal management, liquid cooling functions as a supremely eco-friendly technology to power a data centre and an achievable way for data centres to sustainably incorporate AI into company practices.
Energy storage substitutes
A battery energy storage system (BESS) has been proven to both skilfully integrate with the grid and decrease generator starts. A BESS offsets runtime demands and easily combines with alternative energy sources such as solar or fuel cells – a win for ecological footprint reduction.
Vertiv predicts a proliferation of BESS installations next year, alongside a future wherein BESS transforms into ‘bring your own power’ (BYOP) models that reliably and affordably enable data centres to incorporate AI into operations.
Enterprise data centres quick to pivot
Vertiv’s trend forecasting also found that organisations with enterprise data centres will be more inclined to brainstorm new investment and deployment strategies to support AI.
Vertiv proposes that businesses may turn to on-site services to support propriety AI, whereas other organisations will home in on incremental investment and maintenance to lengthen the capacity of old equipment.
Such measures will alleviate the stresses of exhausted computing environments alongside increasing energy efficiency. Additionally, centres can avoid a boom in Scope 3 carbon emissions by recycling and refining the mechanics of existing servers, as opposed to replacing them.
Vertiv Australia and New Zealand director LuLu Shiraz.
Cloud providers juggle demand for AI with security
According to expert consultancy Gartner, global spending on public cloud services will surge by 20.4 percent in 2024. Currently, cloud providers scramble to allow room to support AI, generally enlisting the help of colocation partners to assist in this expansion.
As cloud customers elect to move their data off-site, Gartner predicts 80 percent of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) will be investing in tight cybersecurity methods. However, another challenge for data will subsequently arise, due to regional and national data security regulations often being inconsistent and contradictory, thereby creating a tangled web of security challenges.
AI’s role in sustainable IT
Vertiv’s Asia vice president and general manager Paul Churchill reports that many organisations across Asia are tweaking operations to make space for AI technology.
“Vertiv is focused on helping our customers manage the challenges of AI integration, supporting them with our breadth of solutions from modular solutions to predictive maintenance services, recognising the value AI brings towards achieving more efficient and sustainable IT systems,” says Churchill.
AI is now considered a plausible mechanism through which to generate revenue streams, says Vertiv’s Australia and New Zealand director LuLu Shiraz.
Before organisations dive into this unknown yet promising new era in data, strategising the most effective and sustainable way to slot AI technology into operations is paramount.
“We’re now collectively embarking on a power and cooling modernisation project. We are seeing existing facilities being redesigned to accommodate for the expected increase in demand for AI,” says Shiraz.
Photography supplied by Vertiv.
