Webinar Recap | 2023 Trends to Watch: Data Center Physical Infrastructure

Summary

“Data centers are absolutely a force for good,” said Moises Levy, PhD, our presenter for AFCOM’s April webinar, as he introduced the key research and analysis he’d provided to back up this bold assertion.

It turns out, however, that Levy’s claim is more than justified. The substantial data he offered to the AFCOM audience revealed just how effective and efficient data centers have become in recent years. Despite a near-exponential increase in Internet traffic and data center workloads from 2010-2021, the advent of emerging technologies—and, it should be added, the continual innovations in sustainability from data center operators and managers—have enabled data centers to maintain the same energy usage they had over a decade ago.

In short, while workloads continue to climb, there’s no corresponding climb in the amount of energy being used. In 2021, for example, data centers only accounted for 1-1.3% of the world’s overall electricity demand, despite an overwhelming consumer demand for data (no doubt spurred by outside events like the pandemic, which led to a worldwide increase in streaming, Internet traffic, etc.).

However, as is typical with the industry as a whole, data centers are suitably restless when it comes to improving their daily operations and physical infrastructures. While new technologies emerge at a rapid pace, data center operators must maintain a keen eye towards properly implementing said technologies in order to create business value.

So which technologies are most vital to improving your data center overall, and which strategies should you utilize to properly implement these technologies? Throughout this webinar, Dr. Levy offered some critical advice to answer these exact questions.

Sustainability Still Sets the Agenda

A clear trend has emerged with this latest crop of emerging technologies and subsequent advancements in data center physical infrastructure—simply put, in 2023, all roads lead back to sustainability. “New technologies that enable automation, resource and cost optimization, and higher efficiency must be adopted in order to stay competitive,” Levy explained. “We’re seeing more and more investors and companies reporting on sustainability-related efforts, and they’re increasingly seeing it as an advantage.”

One key technology that will add competitive value to both sustainability and efficiency is the smart electric grid, according to Levy. The bi-directional flow of energy (from the electric grid to the load and/or from the client to the electric grid) is what sets the smart electric grid apart from its predecessors. There are also a host of new technologies that will allow this smart electric grid to continually evolve and consequently improve its capabilities over time. Levy identified technologies such as a grid-interactive UPS, improved batteries, and microgrids as vital tools to both support the electric grid while also creating new revenue streams.

Cool Off, Charge Up

These emerging technologies may not only serve as crucial replacements to outdated legacy systems—they may also serve as disruptors for entire data center markets. In particular, Levy predicted that liquid cooling, especially in combination with more traditional air-cooling systems, will soon become commonplace in data centers across the world. “Nowadays, we need a more efficient, more sustainable way to extract heat from IT equipment,” Levy said. “That’s exactly why liquid cooling will be so successful.” Its success should also translate to financial gains: by 2026, Omdia predicts that global data center liquid cooling revenue will reach (if not exceed) $3 billion.

Similarly, while lithium-based batteries will remain a fast-growing technology, older batteries may soon be replaced by new battery chemistries, such as Nickel-Zinc, Sodium-Ion, and Liquid Metal, all of which offer compelling and dynamic advantages. These battery chemistries are expected to offer improvements in efficiency and performance while also providing reductions in weight and carbon footprint. Furthermore, they’re designed to work in conjunction with other emerging technologies, such as the smart electric grid, as well as newer AI tools, which can effectively predict a battery’s behavior and overall lifetime.

Conclusion

“If we want to be more efficient and more sustainable, we’re going to need data,” Levy stated. And that’s exactly what Levy offered during March’s webinar—a surplus of data that revealed the directions in which data center physical infrastructure will continue to improve, as well as the ways in which data centers must improve in order to remain competitive.

For access to the full recording, as well as Dr. Levy’s full Powerpoint presentation, be sure to check out the webinar here—available exclusively to AFCOM members.

AFCOM has made a full recording of this webinar available to AFCOM members. To view it, simply click here.