Manufacturers are pushing the performance of their chips every year, which the Uptime Institute says could create problems for many legacy data centers that aren't equipped to handle the newer, higher power systems.

AMD EPYC Genoa server processors, announced late last year, and Intel Xeon Sapphire Rapids processors, introduced earlier this month, are the most powerful and energy-hungry chips to date, with peak TDPs of up to 400W and 350W, respectively, and approaching this parameter. to accelerators. The higher TDP is the result of increased computing power density. Now a two-socket 2U system can already accommodate almost 200 x86-64 cores, whereas five years ago this would have required several nodes.

Many data centers are simply not designed for such "hot" high-density systems. According to the Uptime Institute, the trend towards higher density systems will soon reach a point where it will begin to change the way we think about data center design. A typical server rack has a design power of less than 10kW. But for modern high-density systems, this is no longer enough. The Uptime Institute notes that data centers should install new systems 10 to 15 years ahead of time, given long-term power and cooling needs. At the same time, according to the Uptime Institute, within a few years, the consumption of 1U space will grow to about 1 kW.

In addition, there is a problem of low-temperature heat removal. Within a few years, this desired chassis temperature dropped from 80-82°C to 55°C. “This is a key problem: removing large volumes of low-temperature heat is difficult from a thermodynamic point of view,” the analysts say. “Many legacy facilities are limited in their ability to provide the necessary airflow to cool high-density infrastructure.” The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has released revised guidelines for data center operations, including provisions for dedicated low-temperature zones.

Various solutions are used to cool new systems, including LSS. As the Uptime Institute points out, the lack of standardization continues to be an issue, "raising concerns about vendor lock-in and supply chain restrictions for key components, as well as a limited choice of server configurations." In an attempt to address this, both Intel and the Open Compute Project (OCP) are working on liquid cooling reference designs (including immersion) to improve interoperability between equipment from different vendors. However, the Uptime Institute believes that the development of data center technology also opens up new opportunities for operators.

Analysts at the Uptime Institute also expect the cost of electricity to rise further. There are also regulatory and environmental barriers. The European Commission is expected to adopt new rules under the Energy Efficiency Directive, similar to those adopted in the US, that will encourage data centers to reduce both energy consumption and carbon emissions. These rules include the introduction of regular reporting on energy consumption and carbon emissions, which, according to Uptime analysts, will improve the efficiency of the data center.