How To Design A Data Center That Can Run The Race To Power AI

While the data center market continues to grow and evolve, there’s a shift happening in the type being built. The development of hyperscale data centers — properties that are significantly larger than most current data centers and highly customizable to meet the needs of each tenant — is on the rise. There are 900 hyperscale data centers worldwide, accounting for 37% of total capacity, but this number is predicted to double by 2027.

The question for today's data center developers is how they can select the right products for their projects to meet future demand.

“My main advice to a data center developer is to plan for the future,” Tate Global Product Director Dustin Hostetter said. “Customers are designing data centers today alongside the race for AI. They need to make sure the data center design has built in a certain degree of flexibility and scale because there’s always something new coming along that they need the capacity to house.”

Tate designs, manufactures and delivers structural ceilings and raised floors for data centers across the U.S. Customers are increasingly seeking products that can help them future-proof their assets against a backdrop of a quickly evolving technology sector, Hostetter said.

To generate AI and machine learning solutions, the size of supercomputers is growing. AI applications require a lot of power to run, which depends on more cables and heavy equipment. A traditional data center might be designed with 5 to 10 kilowatts of energy per rack, but AI might mean 60 KW per rack is required.

One of the key aspects customers will consider is the strength of products. Tate’s solutions offer differing load capabilities, and there is a clear push toward those that can hold higher weights.

“The growth of AI means there are more kilowatts of energy concentrated on each individual data rack,” Hostetter said. “This means more electrical power is required, which brings far more cabling. All loads are increasing by a large margin.”

Tate has spent the last few years innovating with the use of steel and designing products that can hold heavier equipment. This is the case for both structural ceilings, which hold vast cables, and raised flooring. 

Owners planning to build data centers should increase their load capacity as much as possible, Hostetter said. It is far more cost-effective to install these products now than replace them in a few years. 

“The cost of a data center is considerable, so installing a floor or ceiling that can handle larger loads won’t increase overall spend significantly,” he said. “It doesn’t pay to install infrastructure that cannot house a greater level of computing power. It’s far better to future-proof a data center now, as technology will always evolve.”

There’s also a big push in the data center industry to consider sustainability. While larger developers are required to report their carbon footprints, there have been calls for all organizations to consider Scope 3 emissions, those emissions generated by the supply chain. 

As a result, customers are asking about the carbon emissions associated with Tate’s products, Hostetter said. Tate provides low-embodied-carbon products alongside its regular products. The company is also working with its supply chain partners to source aluminum and steel with lower embodied carbon.

“Data centers are viewed by someone conscious of global warming as a necessary evil — they use so much energy, but we all use data all the time,” Hostetter said. “As a result, data center operators are pushing their suppliers to be more transparent and take the lead in providing solutions with low embodied carbon.”

An area of innovation still being explored across the industry is liquid cooling. This has potential environmental benefits, as it uses less energy. While the use of liquid cooling alone is on the rise, some companies are exploring hybrid approaches, using both liquid and air cooling. Tate is exploring integrating liquid cooling into its products.

As all data centers are unique, Tate works closely with customers from the design phase to ensure that their building is as future-proofed as possible. The team also scopes out a plan to speed up the delivery of the products they need to be up and running. 

“Not only is there a big push to build data centers, there’s a push to build them efficiently,” Hostetter said. “We know from speaking to our customers that getting a center online even a week early can save a lot of money. We can shave a couple of months off the design and structure process by looking at manufacturing and delivery efficiencies. As with product selection, it’s all down to planning.”

This article was produced in collaboration between Tate and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.