Every day, compute power is increasing, with chip densities surpassing air-cooled limitations. As chip densities increase, so does the cooling requirement. By optimising design by application, we can ensure the best efficiency for the largest power draw system of the data centre.
Additionally, several countries and areas are beginning to require heat recovery and high-efficiency options. Heat rejection will encompass much more than standard thermal management in those cases. Particularly in those applications, customising output is just as crucial as power usage if output heat can be utilised for power generation or monetised.
Q. EXPLAIN WHAT A HOLISTIC DATA CENTRE DESIGN IS. WHY IS THIS BECOMING MORE CRITICAL IN THE INDUSTRY?
» Traditionally, data centre design has been very power focused. With the transition to hybrid and liquid-cooled designs, there is a need to optimise site design outside of the traditional PUE and WUE metrics. Some circumstances will require more power but may provide more compute power on a chip.
Another example would be a site adding power by adding a heat pump to boost output heat but can then provide local heat recovery. All components within the data centre should be designed together to ensure
52 April 2025