Vertiv has published three new white papers on critical data centre infrastructure topics. The papers cover prefabricated modular design innovation, non-raised floor cooling strategies, and the potential for fuel cells as an alternative to traditional diesel generators. Global data centre operators must balance growth and the need to add capacity quickly with the corresponding increases in energy and water consumption as they build out increasingly complex, hybrid networks leveraging enterprise, cloud, and edge applications to meet skyrocketing consumer demand. The new Vertiv white papers address these issues as well as some future strategies that data centre operators should consider.
Water Cooling Solutions
For decades, it was widely assumed that data centre operators needed to use raised floor environments to allow for more efficient cooling of technology. However, data centres are becoming denser, with more compute being placed in densely packed areas to support big-data analytics and other digital workloads. This places additional demands on cooling systems, which must protect these hot-running, often mission-critical workloads.
Prefabricated Modular Data Centres
Vertiv anticipates a continuing shift toward greener infrastructure in the form of prefabricated modular data centre designs. Standardization will become the default approach not only for the enterprise, but also for hyperscale and the network’s edge, ranging from modular components such as power and cooling modules and skids to full-fledged prefabricated facilities.
Better Fuel Efficiencies
As hyperscalers seek greater speed and efficiency, hydrogen fuel cells will be considered as a promising alternative to diesel generators. Vertiv is taking the lead in advancing the effective use of fuel cells to help operators meet their carbon-neutral targets.
Vertiv announced their top data centre trends for 2023 in November 2022, with predictions including increased regulation; wide-spread adoption of modular and prefabricated infrastructure; use of alternatives to diesel generators; liquid cooling for high-density racks applications; and a focus on edge infrastructure to support the latency and density challenges of 5G and the metaverse.
Commenting on the release, Shirang Deshpande, country head, Strategic Programs, Vertiv, said, “Focusing on sustainability and making data centres more energy efficient has been a priority for the industry for many years now. At Vertiv, we have always prioritised innovation to ensure our products and solutions align with the business requirements of our customers. Through these white papers, we offer data centre providers support and guidance on the latest trends and strategies and how they can positively impact overall business performance.”
