The Data Center Frontier Show

This podcast explores EdgeConneX's innovative approach to safety excellence, emphasizing its significant impact on operations and customer loyalty. Central to our discussion is the critical role of collaboration, as showcased by the "One Team, One Mission" theme from the EdgeConneX Safety Summits. EdgeConneX's commitment to safety extends beyond ensuring the well-being of its employees; it is a vital component of building trust with customers. The podcast highlights how EdgeConneX and its partners fortify collaborations to ensure data centers are designed and operated with paramount safety. This collaborative approach involves nurturing a learning culture that empowers employees to proactively identify and address potential risks, fostering an environment of continuous improvement and vigilance.

In today's episode of the Data Center Frontier Show podcast, DCF's editors speak with hyperscale data center industry veteran Yuval Bachar, founder and CEO of hydrogen data center operator EdgeCloudLink (ECL).  Bachar has held data center leadership positions with Microsoft Azure, LinkedIn, Facebook, Cisco, and Juniper Networks. He was a founder of the Open19 project, which creates open hardware designs for enterprise users, and holds eight U.S. patents in data center, networking and system design. During the interview, we asked Bachar about ECL's flagship hydrogen data center projects near Houston, TX and Mountain View, CA. He went on to outline ECL's future plans for expansion and sustainability in response to growing AI demands. Within the context of Bachar's forecast outlook for hydrogen data centers, DCF's editors also inquired about natural gas as a transitional power source and the challenges of natural gas infrastructure.  With the AI boom is driving heavy interest in the upsides of hydrogen data centers, Bachar also took time to emphasize his company's ongoing commitments to sustainable data centers, as reflected by the industry at large. Our hydrogen production strategy discussion also touched on hyperscalers' intense needs for new energy solutions, before circling back around to sustainability in data center operations. Phased Development During our interview, Bachar said that ECL is expanding its hydrogen data center business with a focus on Texas, aiming for 100 megawatts in the first phase of campus development there and additional phases every six months. The company plans to complete four sites in the next four to five years, contingent on hydrogen availability and supply chain capabilities.  He emphasized that the urgency for data centers to meet AI demand is critical, citing estimates of the industry needing 50 to 100 gigawatts of power in the next five years, while highlighting the importance of rapid deployment and sustainable practices. He further noted that ECL is positioned as a significant off-taker for hydrogen, influencing suppliers to invest in cleaner hydrogen production facilities.  Bachar underlined his company's sustainability bona fides by stating, "We can deliver data centers which are fully sustainable right now." He noted that ECL aims to use a blend of gray and blue hydrogen initially in its data centers, transitioning to green hydrogen as production increases. 

A datacenter innovator with nearly three decades of experience, Chris Orlando co-founded ScaleMatrix in 2011, a leader in high-density colocation solutions. His passion for pushing boundaries led him to co-found DDC Solutions in 2018. DDC is recognized for delivering the highest air-cooled density data center solutions with the lowest total cost of ownership. Chris's expertise has been instrumental in collaborating with industry giants like Intel, NVIDIA, and AMD to address complex data center challenges. Following a recent investment in DDC, Chris continues to shape DDC's strategic vision as Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Officer, and Board Member.

This episode will explore the evolving role of electrical and digital infrastructure in supporting AI-driven data centers, with a particular focus on the significance of cable management systems like Legrand's Cablofil. As AI technology grows and places increasing demands on data centers, it's crucial to understand how efficient infrastructure can help these centers scale, optimize energy use, and maintain reliable, high-performance environments.

For this episode of the DCF Show podcast, DCF Editor in Chief Matt Vincent spoke with Callum Morrison, Account Director of Cologix; and Wayne Lloyd, CEO of Consensus Core. A new collaboration announced in August 20024 between Consensus Core and Cologix launches the first NVIDIA-powered GPU as a Service (GPUaaS) in the Montreal market, making Cologix’s MTL10 data center the inaugural hub for high-performance AI workloads in Montreal.  During the interview, we discuss: • What GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) is and why it’s so valuable to businesses looking to leverage AI. • Why connectivity and interconnection are critical to support AI applications.  • How Canada’s AI initiative is driving growth and adoption of AI. • The two companies' vision for the future of AI-ready data centers in Canada Cologix is the largest data center provider in Montréal with 12 facilities and has a Canadian interconnection ecosystem of 350 networks, 200+ cloud providers, 15 public cloud onramps and three internet exchanges. Cologix, who bills itself as one of the "leading network-neutral interconnection and hyperscale edge data center" companies in North America, announced the collaboration with Consensus Core, an AI cloud service provider, to support the needs of AI technologies at its MTL10 ScalelogixSM data center in Montréal, Canada.  The collaboration enables Consensus Core to launch a new, NVIDIA-powered GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) in the Canadian market and transforms MTL10 into a hub for its high-performance AI workloads. “As a registered member of the NVIDIA Partner Network, Consensus Core will supercharge AI in Canada,” said Consensus Core CEO Lloyd, who is also a company co-founder.  “Implementing AI in data centers with the powerful NVIDIA accelerated computing platform requires a specialized approach. We have selected Cologix to address this need. As a Canadian company, we sought a partner offering colocation services for GPUs for both Canadian and international clients. Cologix’s hyperscale and highly interconnected data centers enable us to densify and scale our services to meet customer demands efficiently.” Unlike general cloud services that use general-purpose platforms for a wide range of applications, GPUaaS provides specialized, high-performance computing for specific AI tasks.  This benefits companies that want to start doing AI workloads because instead of buying and maintaining their own physical servers and hardware, they can get access to NVIDIA accelerated computing on a per-hour basis from companies like Consensus Core. This means less downtime waiting for delivery and easy-to-use tools to deliver business results faster. Background In October 2024, Cologix announced capital raises of $1.5 billion USD to fuel its next stage of strategic growth by accelerating expansion of AI-ready data centers across key North American markets. Cologix plans to use the capital to support the ongoing build out of large-scale campuses in its core markets, including Ashburn, Columbus and Montréal, as well as to begin new builds on recently acquired land in Columbus, Des Moines and Vancouver. Upon full build out, all of the operator's planned data center construction can support over 650 critical megawatts (MW) of sellable capacity.   The infusion of capital received strong investor demand, underscoring investor confidence in Cologix’s proven business model, growth potential and ability to execute on its strategic initiatives.  The capital raises include a $1.0 billion USD revolving multi-asset development debt facility and an additional $500 million USD in equity from both new and existing investors.  The debt facility is structured to provide Cologix with the flexibility to add new sites over time, offering quick access to capital to fund development projects as needed.  Both the debt and equity raises received strong investor demand and were oversubscribed, underscoring their confidence in Cologix’s proven business model, growth potential and ability to execute on its strategic initiatives. "This is a significant milestone for Cologix and demonstrates the continued trust of our investors, both new and existing," said Scott Schneider, CFO of Cologix. "The combination of debt and equity financing provides us with the flexibility and capital to keep pace with the growing demand for digital infrastructure, particularly as AI, hybrid cloud and interconnection requirements expand. This financing ensures we can continue to scale and deliver on our customers’ needs in a dynamic market." The $1.5 billion USD in financing announced in October followed the company’s successful $1.13 billion USD and $1.07 billion CAD asset-backed securitizations since 2021, as well as a $3.0 billion USD equity recapitalization in 2022, all of which added to positioning Cologix for sustained growth. Deployment NVIDIA's H100 Tensor Core GPU-accelerated clusters will power Consensus Core’s GPUaaS operated in Cologix’s Montréal data center. NVIDIA H100 extends the NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPU’s global-to-shared asynchronous transfer capabilities across all address spaces and adds support for tensor memory access patterns. It enables applications to build end-to-end asynchronous pipelines that move data into and off the chip, completely overlapping and hiding data movement with computation. MTL10 is among Cologix’s largest network-neutral data centers, offering connectivity via high-count, diverse and scalable fiber with direct access to the Meet-Me-Room (MMR) in Montréal at Cologix’s MTL3 facility. The data center also offers strong interconnection capabilities to build and scale businesses with more than 100 unique network providers and low-latency connections to hyperscale cloud providers. MTL10 is a 180,000-square-foot, purpose-built facility that is ISO 27001 certified by Schellman and HIPAA, SOC1, SOC2 and PCI compliant. “We’re thrilled to partner with Consensus Core to bring its GPUaaS offering to Canada,” said Sean Maskell, President and General Manager of Cologix Canada, in a press relesae. “Consensus Core’s innovative solution fills a critical gap in the market, empowering businesses of all sizes to leverage the immense power of AI and machine learning. At Cologix, we are deeply committed to supporting the growth of the Canadian technology sector, and this collaboration demonstrates our dedication to providing the essential infrastructure and services that businesses need to thrive in today’s world.” The companies contend that their new collaboration between Cologix and Consensus Core positions MTL10 as the premier hub for high-performance AI in Canada, providing businesses with the infrastructure and tools required to take advantage of the full potential of AI technologies. Podcast During the podcast, Morrison and Lloyd discuss their companies' collaboration on the new AI service and the transition of Consensus Core from specializing in crypto infrastructure to AI, with a focus on GPU as a Service. Wayne explains how this service allows companies to access AI capabilities by overcoming challenges related to chips, power, and data center capacity. Callum highlights Cologix's partnership with Nvidia to enhance efficiency and scalability.  The conversation emphasizes the growing demand for power in AI deployment stakes and the importance of scaling deployments to achieve successful business outcomes. Specific questions for Callum and Wayne regarding the announced collaboration to empower businesses in Canada to leverage the power of AI and machine learning with NVIDIA-Powered GPU-as-a-Service included: What is GPUaaS and how does it fit into the infrastructure ecosystem? How does the collaboration between Cologix and Consensus Core deliver GPUaaS? What are the benefits for businesses? Do Cologix and Consensus Core have plans to expand their collaboration in Canada and/or other markets?

As Infrastructure Masons (iMasons) CEO Santiago Suinaga noted, the sold-out DCD Connect Virginia event in Leesburg on Nov. 6-7 was a standing-room only affair, reflecting the region's huge interest in the data center industry, in a conference which year-over-year "does not disappoint," in the words of International Data Center Authority Chief Certification Officer Mark Gusakov. Both men are key advisors to the Nomad Futurist Foundation.  Nomad Futurist is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established, per its mission statement, "to demystify the world of digital infrastructure and the related technologies that impact every aspect of our daily lives."  Committed to educating youth in underprivileged communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and opening up opportunities for growth and new career paths, the group says its "primary focus is to empower and inspire younger generations through exposure to the underlying technologies that power our digital world."  Nomad Futurist is known for appointing individuals throughout the data center industry to its ranks of Ambassadors and Advisors, who work to promote the organization's ethos and goals in their professional spheres. The group's members are a pervasive presence in the data center sector, to be found in attendance and presenting at most industry events in the U.S. and abroad. The purpose of the Data Center Frontier/Nomad Futurist: Field Report series -- aka "Nomads at the Frontier" -- is therefore to gather recurring industry insight, expertise and commentary from Nomad Futurist leaders and ambassadors, firsthand and in the field, as they participate in these events.  During this impromptu podcast discussion, as recorded on-site at Leesburg's Landsdowne Resort Convention Center, Santiago discusses key topics from the event's iMasons Member Summit, including education programs and community concerns. He highlights challenges as cited from the iMasons State of the Industry report, such as power, talent access, and sustainability planning.  For his part, drawing on perspective gained from his ongoing travels around the industry, Mark emphasizes the need for standardization and correcting misconceptions about the data center industry, while urging professionals to act as ambassadors to improve public understanding as the industry grows its vital workforce and sustainability stakes.  Santiago concurs with the pivotal need to increase data center awareness and bring more people into the industry. Mark concludes  with some vibe check remarks, taking the temperature of Datacenter Dynamics' annual confab in the world's largest data center market.

Demand for data centers has never been higher. In our latest episode, we dive deep into the exploding world of data centers together with JLL's head of Data Center Research and Strategy for the Americas, Andrew Batson. According to JLL’s U.S. Data Center Report, the first half of 2024 shattered all records, but, what does this mean for you? We explore how these facilities have become the foundation of modern society and why securing land, power, and talent is more crucial than ever. How is the industry coping with limited supply in the face of insatiable demand? We'll reveal shocking statistics about the U.S. colocation market's growth and the unbelievably low vacancy rates. Plus, we'll uncover the massive impact of AI on the data center landscape, with investments skyrocketing into the hundreds of billions. We'll discuss the ongoing struggle to find and keep skilled workers in this rapidly expanding field. And while the U.S. power grid seems stable for now, what issues could threaten the industry's future? Join us as we unpack the complexities of the data center boom and explore what it means for the future of our digital economy.

Today our guest is Bill Tierney, Chief Sales Officer for BluePrint Supply Chain.  Join us as we highlight some new research published by Data Center Frontier and BluePrint Supply Chain that addresses data center construction supply chains.  This first-of-its-kind study addresses everything from purchasing and logistics to storage and site setting.  Listeners will get a sneak peak at some of the compelling data the research has gathered and what it means for the current state of the industries construction supply chains.

For this episode of the DCF Show podcast, Data Center Frontier Editor in Chief Matt Vincent and Senior Editor David Chernicoff speak with Tom Dakich, CEO of Quantum Corridor, about compute possibilities for his company's super-fast, super-secure fiber-optic network operating in the area of Chicagoland and Northern Indiana. Almost exactly a year ago, Quantum Corridor launched what the company bills as "one of the fastest, most secure fiber-optic networks in the Western Hemisphere" with its first transmissions from the Chicago ORD 10 Data Center at 350 E. Cermak Rd. to a data center in Hammond, Indiana.  Formed in 2021 as a public-private partnership with the state of Indiana, Quantum Corridor was established to enable advanced Illinois and Indiana tech innovators to exchange data nearly instantaneously, the better to achieve frontline technology breakthroughs.  Funded through a $4.0 million grant from the state of Indiana’s READI grant program and with the cooperation of the Indiana Department of Transportation and Northwest Indiana Forum, Quantum Corridor's network is utilizing 263 miles of new and existing fiber-optic cable beneath the Indiana Toll Road to link data centers, quantum research facilities, life sciences and genome scientists and hyperscalers with industry-shattering speeds and throughput. Transmitting at data speeds reportedly 1,000x faster than traditional networks, on its launch in 2023, Quantum Corridor said the new network aims to enable regional businesses and institutions to achieve breakthroughs in the segments for defense, financial modeling, biotech, cybersecurity, machine learning, research and more. This optimism came on the heels of the Biden-Harris administration’s designation last October of of the Chicago MSA as a U.S. Regional Technology and Innovation Hub. With its first transmissions, Quantum Corridor achieved a latency of 0.266 milliseconds of information exchange over its current 12-mile network—a transmission speed 500 times faster than the blink of an eye and far exceeding the average network’s existing 12-times-longer latency.  The combination of near-instantaneous transmissions paired with massive throughput is expected to enable exponential breakthroughs in modeling and problem solving across myriad industries. Quantum Corridor continues to expand its mileage and connect research facilities. According to the company, the network already has the capacity to transmit nearly the entire current content load of the internet in a single transmission.

The purpose of the Data Center Frontier/Nomad Futurist: Field Report podcast series -- aka "Nomads at the Frontier" -- is to gather recurring industry insight, expertise and commentary from Nomad Futurist Foundation leaders and ambassadors, firsthand and in the field, as they participate in various industry events. Nomad Futurist is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established, per its mission statement, "to demystify the world of digital infrastructure and the related technologies that impact every aspect of our daily lives."  Committed to educating youth in underprivileged communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and opening up opportunities for growth and new career paths, the group says its "primary focus is to empower and inspire younger generations through exposure to the underlying technologies that power our digital world." Nomad Futurist is known for appointing individuals throughout the data center industry to its ranks of Ambassadors and Advisors, who work to promote the organization's ethos and goals in their professional spheres. Nomad Futurist's members are a pervasive presence in the data center sector, to be found in attendance and presenting at most industry events in the U.S. and abroad.  For episode two of the Nomads at the Frontier series, DCF Editor In Chief Matt Vincent moderated a tight yet pithy discussion with Nabeel Mahmood, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Nomad Futurist, and Rob Coyle, Director of Technical Program for the Open Compute Project Foundation, about the newly announced strategic alliance between the two organizations as reflected at the 2024 OCP Global Summit (Oct. 15-17), each taking a shared role in addressing workforce and education challenges in the data center industry. In the podcast, Mahmood and Coyle highlight how the significance of the new alliance between their organizations was reflected at OCP 2024, which was attended by an amazing 7,000 people, and discuss future initiatives to foster collaboration. The discussion covers how this year's event answered the need for standardization in liquid cooling solutions, and how presentation reflected the growing importance of automation and robotics in response to issues ranging from increasing rack density to labor shortages, especially in hyperscale and AI-oriented data centers. The talk also addresses the alliance's joint roadmap to formalize strategic directions for the partnership, with OCP-Nomad Futurists announcements planned over the next three to six months to possibly include events such as hackathons, designathons, and other disruptive initiatives and happenings to engage both industry insiders and newcomers.

In this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show, Matt Vincent, Editor in Chief of Data Center Frontier, is joined by Waleed Zafar, Mission Critical Director at XYZ Reality to discuss using augmented reality to improve Data Center project delivery. XYZ Reality is a leading developer of augmented reality (AR) solutions for construction that give contractors and owners an accurate and objective way to manage and deliver quality projects.

With server densities on the rise, the expansion of cloud services, the rapid adoption of high-performance computing and the explosive growth of AI, data centers need more effective cooling solutions that can handle higher heat loads. Liquid cooling systems are uniquely positioned to fill that need – while also providing a significant reduction in cooling-related energy consumption. In this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show podcast, Matt Vincent, Editor-in-Chief of Data Center Frontier, talks to Pat McGinn, Chief Operations Officer of CoolIT Systems, about how the liquid cooling market has changed in the past 12 years. They also discuss the benefits of single-phase direct-to-chip liquid cooling and McGinn predictions for the market in 2025 and beyond.  Listen to this 18-minute podcast to learn more about: The benefits of liquid cooling for data centers. The liquid cooling options available for data centers. How liquid cooling can help improve data center performance and efficiency. The role of cooling distribution units (CDUs) in liquid cooling. How liquid cooling can help with energy consumption, especially with the rise of AI. If the talk about liquid cooling capacity constraints are accurate. Why you should trust your data center to the liquid cooling experts at CoolIT.

In this episode, we delve into the complex interplay between performance and sustainability in data centers. As technology continues to advance, so too does the demand for powerful, efficient data centers. However, this growing demand also raises concerns about energy consumption and environmental impact.

For this installment of the Data Center Frontier Show podcast, we bring you the first episode in a new series with our friends from the Nomad Futurist Foundation. Nomad Futurist is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established, per the group's mission statement, "to demystify the world of digital infrastructure and the related technologies that impact every aspect of our daily lives."  Committed to educating youth in underprivileged communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and opening up opportunities for growth and new career paths, the group says its "primary focus is to empower and inspire younger generations through exposure to the underlying technologies that power our digital world."  Nomad Futurist is known for appointing individuals throughout the data center industry to its ranks of Ambassadors and Advisors, who work to promote the organization's ethos and goals in their professional spheres. The organization's members are a pervasive presence in the data center sector, to be found in attendance and presenting at most industry events in the U.S. and abroad.  The purpose of the Data Center Frontier/Nomad Futurist: Field Report series -- aka "Nomads at the Frontier" -- is therefore to gather recurring industry insight, expertise and commentary from Nomad Futurist leaders and ambassadors, firsthand and in the field, as they participate in these events.  Yotta 2024 Impressions For the first installment of Nomads at the Frontier, Data Center Frontier's Editor in Chief Matt Vincent called into Las Vegas during the debut of Yotta, an event conceived and brought forth by Data Center Dynamics aimed at unifying leaders and stakeholders in digital infrastructure industry at large. For this interview, DCF spoke with Nomad Futurist Advisors Jodie Lin, Customer Advocate and CSR with data center infrastructure company Mirapath, Inc., and Illissa Miller, CEO of iMiller Public Relations, a firm focused on the digital infrastructure industry, for their reflections and impressions from the environs of Yotta 2024. To begin, we asked Lin and Miller for their top takeaways from the show regarding the confluence between the larger world of digital infrastructure and data centers. Next, given how attuned data centers are to the AI technology shift, we asked Nomads Lin and Miller for their perceptions of the level of preparation within rest of the digital infrastructure space, as heard from at Yotta, for facing up to AI's demands and opportunities. DCF also wondered whether, based on impressions received from Yotta, the data center industry’s obsessions with power, cooling, sustainability, and managing exponential growth in wake of AI seem to be shared equally by the larger world of digital infrastructure. Finally, owing to certain breakthroughs in the areas of regulation, funding, and planned deployment, this year has felt like a tipping point in terms of optimism for advanced nuclear energy, especially in the US data center industry. As such, we asked our Nomads to gauge whether this anticipation for "new nuclear" energy was as palpable in the larger world of digital infrastructure as encountered at Yotta?

Rehlko, formerly Kohler Energy, is setting a new standard in the data center industry by offering the first generator in the data center industry with an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). The company recently released a brand new EPD in the form of a PEP ecopassport® that provides transparent, third-party verified insights into the KD Series™ generator’s environmental impact across its lifecycle. Here’s a link to the report that details how Rehlko is committed to transparently communicating its product's lifecycle footprint and how the process is accelerating data centers' efforts to measure Scope 3 emissions and work toward net-zero ambitions.

For this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show podcast, we sat down with liquid cooling data center partners Park Place Technologies and ZutaCore. During the podcast, DCF Editor in Chief Matt Vincent spoke with Chris Carreiro, Chief Technology Officer for Park Place Technologies, and Manfreid Chua, Vice President-Business Development, AI & Sustainability for ZutaCore, about how the companies' partnership is enhancing liquid cooling technology prospects for sustainable AI computing. In September, Park Place announced the expansion of its portfolio of IT infrastructure services to include the two major liquid cooling formats for data centers, i.e immersion liquid cooling and direct-to-chip cooling. ZutaCore is a key developer and supplier of direct-to-chip, waterless liquid cooling technology which formally supports NVIDIA's GPUs. Direct-to-chip advanced liquid cooling technologies apply coolant directly to the server components that generate the most heat, including CPUs and GPUs. And Park Place notes that immersion cooling empowers data center operators to do more with less: less space and less energy. Using liquid cooling methods, the company contends that businesses can increase their PUE by up to 18 times, and rack density by up to 10 times. Ultimately, this level of efficiency can lead to power savings of up to 50%, which in turn leads to lower operational costs. Park Place also notes how, from an environmental perspective, liquid cooling is significantly more efficient than traditional air cooling. The company reckons that, at present, air cooling technology only captures 30% of the heat generated by the servers, compared to the 100% captured by immersion cooling, resulting in lower carbon emissions for businesses that opt for immersion cooling methods. Park Place prides itself on providing a single-vendor outlet for the whole liquid cooling technology adoption process, from procuring the hardware, conversion of the servers for liquid cooling, to installation, maintenance, monitoring and management of the hardware and the cooling technology. “Our turn-key liquid cooling offerings have the potential to have a significant impact on our customers’ costs and carbon emissions, two of the key issues they face today,” said Carreiro.  “Park Place Technologies is ideally positioned to help organizations cut their data center operations costs, giving them the opportunity to re-invest in driving innovation across their businesses." In the course of our talk, Carreiro highlighted the challenges of data centers' AI sustainability conundrum, and the corresponding benefits of Park Place's warranties. For his part, ZutaCore's Manfreid Chua delved into the industry's shift from air to liquid cooling due to the demands of generative AI, and the advantages of his company partnering with Park Place for optimizing the energy efficiency footprint of data centers.  Additionally, Chua shared insights regarding the economic value of NVIDIA's AI accelerators, and the finer points of the race to sustainability and net zero for large-scale AI data centers. Chua talked about talk about how resources like land, energy, and water all become possible limiting factors for AI factories at scale, and how liquid cooling can help alleviate such limitations.

Join us for this podcast as we explore the dynamic landscape of data centers and how Artificial Intelligence (AI) has reshaped them. We'll delve into the shift from a 'north-south' traffic system to the sophisticated 'east-west' system that revolutionized data processing. Our guest, Dave Hessong from Corning, illustrates the crucial role of high-speed connections like 800G in meeting AI's demands. The discussion reveals how upgrading to this speed is not just beneficial, but essential in optimizing your data center. Latency, a key factor in network performance, is also a core topic of our conversation. Understanding its significance and how reducing it can enhance performance provides an edge in today's competitive market. The discussion further delves into the importance of state-of-the-art fiber optic cables, connectors, and cabling architecture in boosting a data center's performance. The complexities of AI deployment, its impact on fiber density, and the innovative solutions it necessitates are also explored. As we unveil the future of data centers, the estimated rise in AI capacity and the associated challenges are discussed. These include the increased power requirements and the need for a more organized cable and fiber infrastructure. While 800G might seem like just the beginning, the discussion elaborates on how this transition can future-proof your data centers for the next three to seven years. The extraordinary and transformative impact of AI, still in its infancy, on business and society is also a key highlight. Looking to the future, the anticipated growth in bandwidth as AI continues to evolve, and the exciting prospect of technology reaching 1.6Tbps next year, are discussed. We encourage you to tune in and engage with us as we navigate this rapidly evolving field. Regardless of your level of expertise, this conversation promises valuable insights into the future of data centers. Join us on this enlightening journey into the world of AI and data centers.

Prometheus Hyperscale is the new corporate entity formed this month which expands upon the footprint and the promise of the Wyoming Hyperscale White Box project, first reported on by DCF in 2022.  For this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show podcast, we spoke with Trenton Thornock, founder of Wyoming Hyperscale, who has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Prometheus Hyperscale; Trevor Neilson, a seasoned climate-tech CEO and energy transition investor, who joins as the company's President; and John Gross, President of J.M. Gross Engineering, who is handling the project's liquid cooling infrastructure.  The Wyoming Hyperscale White Box data center has been under construction since 2022 on 58 acres of land near Aspen Mountain Evanston, Wyoming, and represents a blueprint for creating super-efficient data centers with low impact on the environment and benefits for the local community. In the companies' transition, Wyoming Hyperscale has merged with Prometheus Hyperscale and been expanded from a 120 MW project to plans for a data center campus with 1 GW of IT capacity. The data center is being built on land owned by Thornock's family, which has been involved in ranching for 6 generations. The location benefits from ready access to renewable energy from nearby wind and solar farms. Wyoming Hyperscale has a contract with Rocky Mountain Power for 120 megawatts of power and a 138 kV substation, which is fed by the same switchgear as the renewable energy generation sites. The site sits on a major east-west fiber highway that tracks the 41st parallel, along which data center hubs have emerged in places like Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska and Utah. The Union-Pacific Railroad line, which provides key right-of-ways for fiber deployment, runs through nearby Aspen Mountain. The Evanston project underscores Prometheus Hyperscale’s commitment to sustainability and innovation. By integrating 100% renewable energy and advanced liquid cooling technology combined with heat reuse, the Evanston facility promises to be one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly data centers in the world.  Importantly, less than 10% of the project’s power development plan is grid dependent (120 MW of 1,220MW or 9.84%). The first facilities yielded by Phase 1 of the Evanston project are expected to come online within the next 18 months. Prometheus Hyperscale has also revealed plans to construct four other data centers across Arizona and Colorado. And as previously reported by DCF, this May saw the announcement of a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) by fission-based nuclear small modular reactor (SMR) specialist Oklo to deliver 100 MW of power to Prometheus, using Oklo's Aurora Powerhouse reactors for power generation. "Our partnership with Oklo not only provides us with a reliable, clean energy source but also positions us as a leader in sustainable data center operations," said Thornock. "Sam Altman’s and Jacob Dewitte’s vision for a sustainable future through advanced energy solutions aligns perfectly with our mission at Prometheus Hyperscale." During the podcast, Thornock discussed the evolution of the Wyoming hyperscale project with Prometheus, highlighting its growth to a 1 GW prospect since the groundbreaking of the Evanston County project in 2022. For his part, Trevor Nielsen emphasized increasing demand for Prometheus driven by advancements in computing power and the importance of sustainability in the energy transition.  Our conversation also covered the company's partnership with Oklo, focusing on the streamlined permitting process for small modular reactors in Wyoming and the strategic use of resources for data center energy generation.

Sustainability is a critical factor in data center design.  The topic encompasses a series of design trade offs including: reliability, site selection, water usage, operating parameters, construction materials and cooling efficiencies. Due to a couple of key paradigm shifts in the industry, today’s data center owners and operators are looking to meet their cooling demands with air cooled solutions. All this needs to be done in conjunction with optimizing energy efficiency leading to a significant change in HVAC system products and design.    In this conversation, Jeffrey Jerwers can discuss the trends driving the need for water conservation and associated equipment impact. He will detail the types of economizers available for mechanical cooling systems, application by climate zone and their associated design tradeoffs.

Data centers are complex, high-stakes environments where downtime is not an option. The sheer volume of interconnected systems and components creates a daunting challenge for operators. This is where digital twins shine. Because of this complexity, data centers require a new level of understanding. Digital twins—virtual models fed by real-time DCIM data—can offer a transformative solution. The key is that the Digital Twin is only as good as accurate real-time data. This continuous flow of real-time information allows operators to see the bigger picture, from power usage to equipment health. Imagine a live, digital replica predicting bottlenecks, optimizing cooling, and enabling proactive maintenance. A digital twin can allow your data center to analyze your infrastructure, highlight potential issues, and provide highly accurate details on the impact of proposed changes − viewable as your monitored values change. Watch an ATS or PDU view with the power load that reflects your changing values and plan. Watch a power load peak during a fail-over with your plan changes applied to the real-time data. Power management with digital twin capabilities can simulate the failure of a device or load change and accurately model the effects of that failure, including triggering failure over to redundant partners and cascade failures. With a DCIM solution with digital twin capabilities, you gain insightful reporting that identifies potential risk areas in your infrastructure. For instance, it can flag power distribution gear that represents a single point of failure, which could lead to equipment de-energization and impact customers and SLAs. This proactive approach to risk management is a vital advantage of a DCIM solution with digital twin capabilities. Imagine a planning module based on a digital twin model and its capabilities. It doesn't just show simple details like additional loads but also simulates complex scenarios. For instance, it can predict when a device will fail, reroute load in the virtual model to redundant partners, and show the effect on those devices as well. This comprehensive approach to planning is where a true digital twin adds much more value than a simple load addition or removal. By using real-time DCIM data, digital twins become intelligent partners, ensuring peak performance and a more resilient data center. While the idea of a digital twin for your data center has existed for a long time, operators now can have that digital twin fed by millions of data points per minute inside a full-fledged powerful DCIM. The view of Modius is that anything less makes it just a "Digital Cousin". The company believes its Modius ® OpenData® is the gateway to these next-gen capabilities and is using this podcast to kick off this effort.