Data Centers Feel the Power Density Pinch (.PDF Download)

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Data centers keep the internet running 24/7. Approximately 44 zettabytes of data in our data centers come from 8 to 30 billion connected devices worldwide. Forecast experts expect that to increase by 10% over the next year. Thus, power-supply design economics changes are in process.

Modern central processing units (CPUs) in the data center are power-hungry, making it difficult to juggle the balance between power and space. In turn, power density in data centers has risen dramatically. In the first decade of the new millennium, data-center power density was in the region of 4 to 5 kW/rack. Today, we’ve reached 8 to 10 kW/rack heading toward 20 kW/rack. This also means more heat and added cooling costs.