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How to Build an AI Data Center

Brian Potter · 10 Jun 2024

Others here said this too

Air cooling has run out of headroom for AI racks, so liquid cooling is now a requirement rather than an upgrade.

Their wordsConventional air cooling is likely limited to around 20 to 30 kilowatt racks, perhaps 50 kilowatts if rear heat exchangers are used.

Also said by Doug O'Laughlin, Austin Vernon

Read the piece on construction-physics.com ↗

5 korrents from this piece ↓

Brian Potter did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

  1. Our reading

    Available power, not land or capital, is what now limits how many data centres get built.

    Mental modelBottlenecks

    Their wordsIn particular, operating a data center requires large amounts of electricity, and available power is fast becoming the binding constraint on data center construction.

  2. Our reading

    Data centres and the grid that feeds them run on incompatible clocks: one is a two-year project, the other a multi-decade investment.

    Their wordsUtility companies see major electrical infrastructure as a long-term investment to be built in response to sustained demand growth.

  3. Our reading

    Air cooling has run out of headroom for AI racks, so liquid cooling is now a requirement rather than an upgrade.

    Their wordsConventional air cooling is likely limited to around 20 to 30 kilowatt racks, perhaps 50 kilowatts if rear heat exchangers are used.

  4. Our reading

    Data-centre electricity consumption will rise substantially even after allowing for every efficiency gain now in sight.

    Their wordsBut there's also reason to believe that data center power consumption will nevertheless rise substantially.

  5. Our reading

    The efficiency gains that kept data-centre electricity use flat for a decade are largely spent, so new demand now arrives as new power demand.

    Their wordsBut many of these gains have already been achieved: the best data centers already use just 10% of their electricity for cooling and other non-IT equipment.

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