With enterprises of all sizes optimising artificial intelligence (AI) into operations, the sheer weight of powering this rapidly advancing technology is placing a cumbersome burden on data centres.
The power consumption of data centres has gone up immensely owing to the intensely-wide AI adoption.
In fact, according to James Schneider, a senior equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs Research, they forecast global power demand from data centres to increase 50 per cent by 2027 and by as much as 165 per cent by the end of the decade (compared with 2023).
Consequently, companies are augmenting data centres expansion with facilities specifically designed to support the AI-driven computational power.
This article tells you everything about an AI data centre, what it is, how much power it consumes, how to make it more energy-efficient and the best AI data centres in the world.
What is an AI Data Centre?
An AI data centre is a type of facility specifically built to manage the huge amount of computational demands of artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
Typically, data centres support general-purpose computing, however, AI data centres are designed to power intensive processing needed to train and deploy complex machine learning (ML) models.
Such an AI-driven data centre houses high-performing hardware like GPUs (graphics processing units) and TPUs (tensor processing units), which are essential for accelerating AI computations. AI data centres also deploy advanced cooling solutions such as liquid cooling and immersion cooling to maintain a stable and optimal operating temperature.
How Much Power is Needed for AI Data Centres?
AI data centres require an exorbitant amount of power which has in fact increasingly become a huge concern. This is because AI functioning requires an intense amount of computing power. Computing as a result draws insanely high amounts of electricity. As a result AI data centers are expected to consume vast terawatt-hours annually.
Reports indicate that computing power and server resources, along with cooling systems, are the primary drivers of electricity consumption in data centers, each accounting for roughly 40 percent of the total power usage.
According to RAND, unprecedented demand for AI data centers is straining U.S. power grids. Recent trends indicate that AI data centers could require 68 gigawatts of power globally by 2027 — almost equivalent to California's 2022 total capacity.
Goldman Sachs Research also forecasted that global power demand from data centers will increase by 50 percent by 2027, and by as much as 165 percent by the end of the decade (compared with 2023). This spotlights the rapid acceleration of power consumption driven by AI.
The growth of power is especially fueled by the proliferation of generative AI. It requires a significant amount of processing power which further prompts the need for sophisticated cooling systems. Such systems help balance the operating temperatures.
This is also the reason why scientists, engineers and now certain enterprises are directing their resources on developing energy-efficient AI hardware and software, as well as exploring alternative energy sources to mitigate the environmental impact.
Read: What is Data Centre Automation? Why is it important?
How Can AI Data Centres Become More Energy-Efficient?
To enhance the energy efficiency of AI data centers, businesses should execute a multifaceted strategy that addresses both hardware and software. This includes leveraging hardware design for energy efficiency, such as developing specialised AI chips and advanced cooling systems.
Furthermore, software optimisations, like refining AI algorithms and utilising edge computing, are crucial for reducing computational load. Critically, businesses should also prioritise the integration of renewable energy sources, customising their approach to the specific location and available resources of each data centre.
Techniques like model pruning (removing unnecessary connections), quantisation (reducing the precision of numerical values), and knowledge distillation (transferring knowledge from a large model to a smaller one) majorly minimise computational load.
AI itself is also being utilised to optimize the AI. AI is being used to analyse data center workflow, and then to make adjustments to the workflow, to make the processes more efficient. However, it makes one question whether using AI to solve climate change is contradicting climate change itself.
Rolf Bienert, Technical & Managing Director of the OpenADR Alliance told Shubhangi Dua, Podcast Host at EM360Tech that data centres should be adopting innovative solutions such as smart grids, microgrids, and virtual power plants. These hold immense potential for managing energy distribution efficiently and sustainably.
Also Read: The Top 10 Data Centre Infrastructure Management Solutions for 2020
Best AI Data Centre Companies
Carto
Carto is a leading Location Intelligence SaaS platform. While it's not a data center, it helps other organisations visualise and analyse their location data to gain valuable insights. This concisely explains that Carto is a tool for understanding location data, which is their core function.
It aims to empower companies with cloud-native spatial analytics. CARTO also helps organisations make better business decisions by enabling data analysts, business analysts, GIS professionals, and developers with scalable, faster, more flexible, and more secure spatial data analysis and visualisation tools.
Whether through optimising network planning, assessing risk, identifying growth opportunities, or other use cases, companies benefit from turning their location data into business value.
Zesty
Zesty is a software development company particularly renowned for their cloud infrastructure that adapts to businesses needs. The company aims to help organisations achieve cloud operational excellence.
Their platform provides actionable insights and automation to optimise resource allocation and reduce cloud spend. With AI-driven offerings for compute, database, and storage, Zesty automatically scales resources to meet application demands in real-time. This helps cloud engineering teams to slash cloud costs, maintain perfect app performance, and minimise the hassle of managing cloud infrastructure, accelerating innovation and growth.
One of their use cases addresses the challenge of deploying a new node in a Kubernetes environment which can take five minutes and sometimes even more. To overcome this limitation and ensure application availability during traffic peaks, DevOps teams often over-provision nodes, leading to inefficiencies and unnecessary costs.
This is where Zesty’s unique HiberScale technology comes into play. It enables node deployment 5X faster, eliminating the need for a node buffer during traffic peaks.
This automatically reduces costs without compromising SLAs.
Atos
Atos is a leading company internationally specialising in digital transformation. Hailed as Europe’s number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing, the firm provides custom end-to-end solutions for organisations across most industries.
A pioneer in decarbonisation services and products, Atos is also committed to a secure and decarbonised digital for its clients Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on Euronext Paris.
The organisation aims to design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the company enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.
Atos has also adopted a cloud and automated infrastructure along with legacy systems to ensure organisations can manage a complex IT environment comprising technologies at different stages of the infrastructure continuum.
Atos combines proven methodologies and modern approaches to help enterprises successfully transition from complex legacy infrastructures to modern, sustainable environments, as evidenced by their decades-long client relationships and high retention rates.
Fastly
Fastly known for its edge cloud platform enables the best of the web to thrive, and helps organisations deliver better online experiences. Enterprises are equipped with the ability to develop powerful websites and applications with Fastly’s edge cloud platform.
They are known for helping companies such as Reddit, Pinterest, Stripe, Neiman Marcus, The New York Times, Epic Games, and GitHub.
To provide a secure internet, the firm has taken a unique approach. They focused their efforts on placing fewer, more powerful POPs at strategic markets around the world. With Tier 1 transit, solid-state drive (SSD) powered servers, and an engineering team that lives to optimise for speed, Fastly built a blazing-fast network that requires less hardware to deliver comprehensive global reach.
Fastly’s high-density POPs enable organisations to serve more from cache, including static and event-driven content. This improves the enterprises’ cache hit ratio, resulting in better user experiences.
Panduit
Panduit, a global leader in electrical and network infrastructure solutions is also emerging as a leading data centre infrastructure provider. Their Hybrid IT infrastructure offers flexibility to organisations to deliver desired business results.
The organisation’s Hybrid IT model offers flexibility to enterprises by mixing and matching legacy systems, cutting-edge hyper-converged and composable infrastructures, and software-defined platforms as needed to deliver desired business results. The right mix is dependent on an organisation’s unique needs.
The firm focuses on solving problems and achieving success through our comprehensive portfolios, helping organizations navigate digital, electrical, and workforce transformations for sustainable growth.
Customer needs are at the core of Panduit’s strategy, ensuring our R&D investments lead to continuous breakthroughs in business-continuity products. Their unwavering commitment to customer success ensures exceptional solutions and seamless support worldwide.
Belden
Belden, a manufacturing company supports mission-critical data center operations with a wide breadth of configurable solutions. Typically, the firm delivers complete connection solutions. They advance ideas and technologies that enable a safer, smarter and more prosperous future.
Their data centres are driven by AI, VR, IoT, and 5G demands, and require dynamic solutions for increased bandwidth and reliable service. For this, Belden collaborates with data centre teams to provide customised, scalable solutions, offering advanced networking with copper and fiber, multi-lane optics, and high-density optical frames.
Their expertise in rack and cabinet design, along with containment-cooling strategies, optimises infrastructure, supporting data centers in achieving sustainable growth and adapting to technological shifts such as accounting for the growing demands for AI.
Digital Realty
Digital Realty, an IT services and IT consulting firm bridges the gap between enterprises and data. It brings them together by delivering the full spectrum of data centre colocation and interconnection solutions.
PlatformDIGITAL, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data "meeting place". Digital Realty enables its customers with the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 25+ countries on six continents.
Enterprises can securely connect and collaborate around data with their customers and partners. Additionally, they provide companies with hybrid IT infrastructure to meet the necessary requirements. This helps understand the needs for the client’s digital infrastructure to integrate your applications, services, technologies and partners.
Black Box
Black Box specialises in digital infrastructure solutions, delivering network and system integration, managed services, and technology products to Fortune 100 and top global enterprises. With a presence across the United States, Europe, India, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America, Black Box serves businesses across financial services, technology, healthcare, retail, public services, and manufacturing.
The firm also provides end-to-end solutions in network integration, digital connectivity infrastructure, data center buildouts, modern workplace solutions, and cybersecurity.
It provides a great solution for those enterprises seeking hyperscale data center companies to build cutting-edge infrastructure across a wide geographic footprint. The ability and capacity to build these infrastructures across a nation, across cities, and internationally make Black Box a premium choice.
Black Box provides comprehensive data centre solutions globally with their Div 27 Telecom strategy. This means anticipating (demand) requirements and putting consistent methodologies and mechanisms in place for hiring, retention, and redeployment from one site to another. We are investing in long-term, program-level training and reallocating resources to the next project for full-circle, repeatable, predictable services — and results — across all sites.
Supermicro
Supermicro, a computer hardware manufacturing company known for its leadership in enterprise, cloud, AI, and 5G Telco/Edge Infrastructure solutions, pioneers the industry with Building Block Solutions®and Green Computing servers.
Its customisable, efficient, and sustainable IT offerings such as liquid-cooling technology redefine performance standards and environmental responsibility.
Supermicro's Data Center Solution Engineering (DCSE) particularly can help by providing a PUE analysis from the data center level down to the individual rack. This analysis will help DCSE define your strategy and what solution will meet your company's business objectives, budgets and efficiency goals.
Schneider Electric
Schneider, an automation machinery manufacturing giant aiming to empower enterprises to make most of their energy and resources helps bridge the gap between progress and sustainability.
The company provides integrated end-to-end lifecycle AI enabled Industrial IoT solutions with connected products, automation, software and services, delivering digital twins to enable profitable growth for our customers.
Schneider is already ahead of the race with its AI-ready data centre solution. It provides organisations with a data center infrastructure that are AI-specific data center solutions and meet the demands of high-compute workloads.
The company plans, designs, builds, operates AI data centres. They deliver high-density physical infrastructure solutions and best-in-class energy strategies for sustainable deployment.
Combining sustainability consultancy and broad data center domain expertise, Schneider is delivering future-ready flexible data centers. From AI training cluster deployments in hyperscale facilities, to AI inference deployments in data centers and at the edge is among some of their AI-specific data centre solutions.
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