Jaimie examines how data centre needs intersect with other sectors like pharmaceuticals and life sciences, with advances in AI and energy interdependence enabling more sophisticated, data-driven developments across industries.. Standardised, Repeatable Reference Design for Speed and Consistency.
Emergence of Liquid Cooling.Data centres can leverage liquid cooling strategies to optimise efficiency.
One approach combines direct-to-chip liquid cooling for processors and GPUs with traditional air cooling for other components within the rack.Initially, both systems might be connected to the same chilled water infrastructure..Single phase immersion cooling offers the ability for higher rack densities than direct-to-chip, however, the IT equipment must be immersion ready which is not standard off the shelf equipment and for some IT manufacturers, not yet available.
For some passive immersion cooling products, it is estimated 3 – 5% of the heat escapes from the immersion cooling unit into the room, therefore, for high-capacity rooms some air cooling will still be required.. With the trend of CHIP manufacturers ever increasing their compute capacity, supply temperatures of the chilled water system may be required to remain low whilst increasing the cooling capacity (increasing ΔT of the chilled water).This could see the emergence of two tiers of systems: high compute systems with high density at lower chilled water temperatures (at a higher ΔT) and lower compute systems (still high compared to today’s IT) with a lower density at higher chilled water temperatures enabling much more free cooling.. Alternatively, a liquid cooled rack with air heat rejection (on the back of the rack) can be installed to provide liquid cooling whilst maintaining the existing air-cooled system, but this is a less common approach.. Onward look to heat rejection.
In the realm of air-cooled data centres, the industry is increasingly gravitating toward to ASHRAE A1 allowable temperatures for data halls.
However, there is little indication of a shift toward A2 or higher temperature ranges.Nuclear energy doesn’t create air pollution or release greenhouse gases.
The steam created in the energy production process is recycled into the atmosphere and the relatively small amount of fuel that is needed to provide the required energy can be stored safely.We do need to ensure our long-term solutions for storing spent fuel are fit for purpose, but we will only have the time to worry about that if we tackle the immediate climate crisis.. As such, although nuclear energy itself isn’t technically renewable, we can be confident of the fact that it is a flexible, clean energy source already known to complement renewables well, and which can be used to create a reliable power grid.. 8.
Flexible, advanced reactors sit alongside wind and solar in markets with high penetrations of renewables, and can enable similarly high penetrations of variable renewables in future energy systems.Together, renewables plus advanced nuclear (with thermal energy storage) can reduce emissions and improve performance in future electricity grids, lowering overall system cost.. 9.