Underground hot rocks are emerging as a source of firm, low-carbon power for data centers, with new techniques expanding viable locations. Compared with nuclear, geothermal may be better positioned to support planned data center growth.
Cybersecurity has traditionally not been a key focus of attention for data center operators. But cyber incidents are on the rise and concerns are growing. Unaddressed vulnerabilities leave operators at increasing risk from evolving threats.
This briefing report identifies and describes several de facto standards and laws used in the field of data center sustainability and efficiency (for convenience, we use the term “standards” for all).
IT operators lack a credible work-per-energy metric to report overall IT and facilities system efficiency. Developments in reporting IT equipment work capacities enable the industry to begin experimenting with this metric.
The European Commission aims to ease climate risk reporting by removing mid-cap operators from CSRD's scope and delaying reports to 2028. But under current rules, 2025 reports are required and foreign-owned mid-cap operators stay covered.
When building cloud applications, organizations cannot rely solely on cloud provider infrastructure for resiliency. Instead, they must architect their applications to survive occasional service and data center outages.
The cost of low-carbon green hydrogen will be prohibitive for primary power for many years. Some operators may adopt high-carbon (polluting) gray hydrogen ahead of transitioning to green hydrogen
Cyber strategies need to extend beyond the facility to reduce third-party supplier threat risks. Data center executives should apply robust, consistent supply chain risk management practices to critical data center technologies
Hydrogen from renewable sources is in short supply. While future plentiful supplies are planned, currently only a very small number of data centers are using hydrogen for standby power.
Cybersecurity strategies often evolve organically: tools are added, requirements change, and the result is a lack of coherent structure. Cybersecurity professionals can benefit from adopting frameworks to organize these activities
Raising supply air temperature is drawing interest from data center providers and regulators in some countries. While saving energy, it may also reduce resiliency. This report quantifies energy impacts to clarify when it can be beneficial.
While GPUs are the power-hungry devices that enable effective AI training, it is innovations in software that are fueling the recent surge in interest and investment. This report explains how neural networks power generative AI.
Data center operators building new systems can choose from nine categories of cooling technology. Innovative cooling equipment has minimized energy and water use and the average PUE for air-cooled and water-cooled systems.
Policies and procedures translate cybersecurity management objectives into the activities that protect data centers. But what steps should operators take to establish a comprehensive approach to implement these policies?
Software for data center management and control is well established, if not always widely used. Some operators are also benefitting from integrated facility and IT software.
Peter Judge
John O'Brien
Jay Dietrich
Seb Shehadi
Owen Rogers
Michael O'Neil
Antonio Ramos
Tomas Rahkonen