Dive Brief:
- Schneider Electric is collaborating with NVIDIA to optimize data center infrastructure and produce reference designs for data center artificial intelligence and digital twin technologies.
- These designs are intended to redefine benchmarks for AI deployment and operation within data center ecosystems. In the first phase of the collaboration, Schneider Electric will provide designs tailored for NVIDIA’s data processing clusters, with a focus on enabling high-power distribution, liquid-cooling systems and controls that ensure simple commissioning and reliable operation of high-density clusters, according to a March 18 news release.
- The company said data center owners, operators, engineers and other partners can use these reference designs for existing data center rooms that need to support new deployments of high-density AI servers and new data center builds optimized for liquid-cooled AI clusters. The overarching framework is expected to speed up the implementation of NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platform within data centers, while optimizing performance, scalability and overall sustainability, Schneider Electric said.
Dive Insight:
The rapid adoption of generative AI, edge computing and digital twin technologies is expected to continue driving higher rack density in data centers, or the amount of computing equipment installed and operated in a single server rack, according to JLL’s global data center outlook. Higher densities generate substantial heat and make it more challenging to cool data centers, leading operators to increasingly shift to liquid cooling systems to offset the energy needs of higher computational power. To manage these higher densities in new and existing centers, operators will need to employ intelligent management and monitoring software to boost efficiency and cut operational costs, JLL said.
With AI applications gaining traction across industries and demanding more resources than traditional computing, there has been an exponential surge in processing power, Schneider Electric said in the release. The energy management company noted that this processing and power demand has driven transformation and complexity in data center design and operation, with building managers working to “swiftly construct and operate energy-stable facilities” that are both “energy-efficient and scalable.”
Ian Buck, vice president of hyperscale and high-performance computing at NVIDIA, said in the release that the partnership with Schneider Electric will provide organizations “with the necessary infrastructure to tap into the potential of AI, driving innovation and digital transformation across industries."
In addition to the data center reference designs, Schneider Electric subsidiary Aveva will connect its digital twin platform to NVIDIA’s Omniverse simulation platform to deliver a unified virtual environment that will enable collaboration between designers, engineers and stakeholders, accelerating the deployment of complex systems, Schneider Electric said.
The partnership comes as Schneider Electric sharpens its focus on the burgeoning data center market. To meet the growing demand for data centers, Schneider announced that it would invest $140 million in upgrading its U.S. manufacturing facilities this year.
The company’s North America energy management segment revenue grew 10% year over year to roughly $2.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 19.5% to about $11.2 billion for the full 2023 fiscal year compared with 2022.
