AI workloads are forcing operators to rethink cooling infrastructure. As power constraints intensify, thermal energy storage is gaining renewed attention as a way to shift cooling demand, reduce peak load and increase usable IT capacity.
The early years of scale DLC deployment came with complexities in system design, coolant chemistry, resiliency design and maintenance practices. Operator experiences suggest consensus is beginning to form, if imperfectly.
Benchmarks may produce impressive energy-per-token metrics, but real-world AI workloads are bursty; when throughput drops and GPUs sit idle, joules per token can increase. Do not size AI infrastructure for lab conditions — plan for demand.
An alert from the North American grid connection authority shows that data centers will be treated similarly to generation assets when requesting power connections, requiring operators to share more information and permit operational monitoring.
An exclusive focus on densification and DLC (as if they were inevitable) risks becoming tunnel vision that ignores costs and alternative choices. For IT infrastructure not fully transitioning to DLC, keeping densities moderate may make more sense.
When choosing whether to develop a brand new LLM or fine-tune an existing one, the second option often makes more sense. It can be more cost-effective and requires fewer IT and facility resources.
By integrating new natural gas electricity generation with carbon capture, operators can safeguard net-zero targets threatened by a reliance on fossil power — but initial adoption will be costly and limited to specific geographic locations.
AI applications are becoming critical to enterprise operations, but service availability still varies sharply across providers. Inference services should be evaluated not only on model capability, but on operational maturity.
As US state legislatures face difficulties passing local bans on data centers, opponents are increasingly turning to new regulatory approaches. Data center operators will need to navigate this fragmented policy landscape to stay ahead of compliance.
A new generation of vendors is entering the market to offer prefabricated modular data centers — betting that surging demand for AI will give these facilities a competitive edge.
IT-OT equipment telemetry offers huge potential to improve visibility into live facility operations, but data exchange often fails because systems and protocols are incompatible.
On site fuel storage plays a critical role in maintaining data center resiliency. Following best practices will help operators extend the longevity of their on-site diesel stocks and avoid price increases.
Policymakers across the US are reassessing tax incentives for data center operators, reflecting shifting priorities around infrastructure, costs and community impacts.
While water cold plates continue to dominate current liquid-cooling adoption, the industry has also turned its attention to different approaches, with two-phase cold plates in particular becoming a promising alternative.
The European Commission published the draft data center rating scheme, including a public label template, and amendments to EU 2024/1364. The regulation has been improved, but critical issues remain unaddressed.
Dr. Rand Talib
Jacqueline Davis
Dr. Owen Rogers
Peter Judge
Daniel Bizo
Max Smolaks
Rose Weinschenk
John O'Brien
Douglas Donnellan
Jay Dietrich