Beyond the Rack: How Data Centers Are Adapting for AI

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the infrastructure required to support it is pushing data centers to their limits. A single advanced processor can strain even a modern facility’s power and cooling capacity.

High-density computing, an aging power grid and severe weather events have created a strain on data center operations. In response, a new wave of innovation is reshaping how organizations approach power and cooling, setting the foundation for the next generation of technology.

Data center infrastructure is facing pressure from three directions: the growth of AI, the unreliability of an aging power grid and climate-related disasters. Together, they create a perfect storm of operational risk.

The processing power required for AI and machine learning workloads is immense. Advanced GPU-driven servers generate far more heat and consume significantly more energy than traditional hardware. Rack densities, which averaged between 4-6 kW just a few years ago, are now seeing deployments that reach 132 kW and are projected to hit an astounding 600 kW in the near future.

This exponential increase in power consumption creates a ripple effect. Utility companies struggle to handle the massive, fluctuating power draws characteristic of AI training models, which can spike and then drop off suddenly, threatening grid stability and forcing data centers to find ways to "flatten the curve" of their energy demand. Most existing facilities were simply not designed to support these power-intensive workloads, leading many organizations to consider colocation or extensive retrofitting as an option.

Much of the U.S. electric grid was built over 50 years ago, and its age is showing. With 70% of transmission lines now over 25 years old, this aging infrastructure is more susceptible to failure, leading to a 64% increase in power outages over the last decade.

On top of that, the past two years have brought record-breaking climate disasters, from hurricanes to winter storms, causing widespread and prolonged outages. For a data center, downtime is not an option and can lead to financial losses and interruptions for your employees and customers. This makes reliance on a single, vulnerable power source a significant business risk. A robust business continuity plan must now account for geographical weather patterns and grid instability.

Where there is immense power, there is immense heat. Traditional air-cooling systems are unable to sufficiently dissipate the thermal load generated by high-density AI racks. Air has approximately 2,500 times lower thermal conductivity than water, making it a less-than-ideal option for cooling the latest generation of processors.

This forces a move toward more advanced cooling solutions like liquid cooling. Integrating these new technologies requires experts from IT and facilities to engineering to manage everything from coolant flow rates and leak detection to system compatibility and maintenance, making it an exciting time for the next wave of power and cooling solutions.

The future data center will rely on new power and cooling technologies designed for efficiency, resilience and scalability to address these challenges.

Liquid cooling is emerging as the leading solution for managing high-density heat loads. It is no longer a niche technology but a necessity driven by server manufacturers themselves. There are two primary approaches:

• Direct liquid cooling (DLC): This method involves circulating a liquid coolant through a cold plate placed directly on top of heat-generating components like processors and GPUs. The liquid absorbs the heat and carries it away to a coolant distribution unit (CDU). This is often part of a hybrid system, where air cooling still handles ambient rack temperature while liquid targets the hottest components.
  
  
• Immersion cooling: For maximum thermal transfer, immersion cooling submerges entire servers in a bath of non-conductive, dielectric fluid. This approach eliminates the need for fans and offers superior cooling efficiency, though it requires a significant change in data center design and maintenance protocols.

For organizations needing to deploy AI capabilities quickly, a prefabricated data center can be an ideal solution. These modular, containerized units can be placed outside an existing facility and come pre-configured with the necessary power and cooling infrastructure. This allows for rapid scaling without undertaking a complex and costly retrofit of a legacy data center.

Inside the data center, hybrid cooling systems are becoming common. These solutions combine the strengths of liquid and air cooling. For example, a system might use rear-door heat exchangers to cool air as it leaves the rack while using DLC to manage the extreme heat of the processors. This balanced approach provides an effective and efficient path to supporting AI workloads.

Power infrastructure is undergoing its own transformation. Tomorrow’s data centers won’t just draw power; they’ll be able to manage it with intelligent solutions. Advances in energy storage, distribution and localized generation are creating systems that can balance demand in real time, improve efficiency and maintain uptime even as grid conditions grow more unpredictable.

Understanding how every piece connects from the server to the power grid is key when making the transition to next-generation data centers. CDW integrates compute, power and cooling to deliver true end-to-end solutions. With deep partnerships across all major server, power and cooling manufacturers, we can design and implement a truly vendor-neutral solution tailored to your specific needs. AI is here, and it runs on power. With the right strategy and the right partner, you can build the infrastructure to power your best decisions.