05/12/2024 in Views from Echelon

By Michael Martin, Director of Design, Echelon Data Centres

Data centre design is, clearly, so much more than how big the box is going to be and where the operational staff’s restrooms will be situated. Design parameters have to allow for cooling technologies, for back-up power, for battery arrays, for on-site energy generation – and now they have to be future-proofed against the demand for high-performance computing and everything that goes with it.

Unsurprisingly, you are better off starting with a blank canvas – an undeveloped brownfield site where you can work with the end user and understand their operational needs. The high-performance compute upon which the growth of AI depends requires more floor space, specific cooling considerations and, of course, more power.

Data centres being built today need to be designed for a future that isn’t here yet – we need to gear up for AI-driven capacity demand because current data centre infrastructure isn’t suitable and retro-fitting existing facilities is, at best, complex and very costly. But this poses a question – or two questions, to be more accurate.

First, is what we’re designing going to last or will it – in its turn – be overtaken by new technologies and new ways of doing things; and, second, should we be confident oversizing based on our expectations of future needs? There’s a huge risk in creating something that we might – for one reason or another – never use.

Design considerations will also be driven by sustainability considerations and by our sites, their locations and their surroundings – and by the recognition that all of this is interlinked.

Sustainability is, of course, not just about the environment but it is a key consideration and locating near sources of renewables and allowing for them in the design is key. Thinking about how the infrastructure can benefit the community – a community heating system, for example – is also important, as is taking advantage of naturally occurring resources, such as using nearby water bodies to assist cooling and improve PUE.

Another future development to take into account when considering data centre design and delivery is the ongoing constraint of the supply chain. Data centres are getting larger and more complex, and the availability of supply and materials cannot be guaranteed in today’s world of geopolitical challenge. We need to engage with procurement on day one if our plans are to be delivered on time and on budget.

Finally, and just to throw it into the mix, there’s the discussion around on-site power generation from a nuclear source via small modular reactors (SMRs). Already under consideration in some jurisdictions, they represent investment in the order of billions of dollars – but when the total cost of gigawatt data centre campuses is reckoned, that cost is not unreasonable. And that will need to be factored into the design, as well.