Uptime Intelligence looks beyond the more obvious trends of 2025 and identifies examines some of the latest developments and challenges shaping the data center industry.
As AI supercharges the growth in data center energy demands, new developments are likely to be increasingly politicized. Central governments may support their expansion, but opposition from local authorities and environmentalists will grow.
Supersized generative AI models are placing onerous demands on both IT and facilities infrastructure. The challenge for next-generation AI infrastructure will be power, forcing operators to explore new electrification architectures.
Power grids are under stress, struggling to meet future demand and increasingly prone to outages. More utilities will expect data centers to contribute power β and be more flexible in their use of power.
In this inaugural Uptime Intelligence client webinar, Uptime experts discuss and answer questions on cooling technologies and strategies to address AI workloads. Uptime Intelligence client webinars are only available for Uptime Intelligenceβ¦
Generative AI is not only accelerating the adoption of liquid cooling but also its technical evolution. Partly due to runaway silicon thermal power levels, this has led to a convergence in technical development across vendors.
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.
Powerful solar storms have already brought warnings of disruption to electricity grids and their customers twice in 2024 β and the Sunβs activity has yet to peak. Why do data centers and power utilities appear to have escaped unscathed?
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.
Historically, data center waste heat recovery has been promoted with a focus on the benefits for the heat off-taker. And yet, the overall winner in most situations is the data center operator β even if they are not paid for heat.
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.
Schneider Electricβs acquisition of Motivair Corporation aims to fill product gaps and meet future demand β which will be good for customers if it helps to reduce industry fragmentation
Some operators are using natural gas for on-site power where the local grid is constrained. This will increase their emissions β but gas is essential in the transition to renewable energy and operatorsβ use of it is best seen in this light.
As new capacity is concentrated in super-sized data centers and legacy facilities continue to operate in large numbers, market trends become more difficult to read. This report looks at how size affects the age distribution of capacity.
AI training clusters can show rapid and large swings in power consumption. This behavior is likely driven by a combination of properties of both modern compute silicon and AI training software β and may be difficult to manage at scale.