2019 will be the year where small to mid-sized companies will finally have access to high-performance compute capabilities—at affordable prices. This fantasy will start to transition into reality because data centers and colocation facilities will now have access to new power and rack-density innovations.
Our current market finds a landscape littered with traditional, raised-floor data centers that use high-cost, low-efficiency designs to support power density that tops out at 7kW per rack. Construction in 2019 will embrace a fundamental mind shift towards a new generation of modular enclosures such as our WindChill® system that provide hot & cold aisle isolation and adiabatic cooling, to realize rack-power densities that support loads over 25kW-40kW, while also delivering a PUE of 1.15 or better. These OPEX cost-savings will enable providers to lower price points and capture businesses that have been sitting on the sidelines.
This prediction is not fantasy and precedent has been established with the Department of Energy DOE-NETL’s facility. Constructed by the founders of GIGA Data Centers, this government data center is a modular 1MW facility that can support up to 40 racks @ 35kW per rack. In addition, it operates at 50% lower cost (based on traditional data center builds) and has a PUE of 1.06.
For accuracy in our 2019 prognostications, taking a look at how the U.S. government is leveraging present-day data center efficiencies will give us all the information we need.
