Modern data centers demand a completely different approach. High-performance computing and its energy requirements, along with supply and production challenges in the construction industry, have turned the traditionally steady build process into a volcano. It can no longer be the case that after many years of planning, data centers are built within a year of planning being completed. The old processes are insufficient and must be changed fundamentally.
That old playbook is no longer working.
High growth rates in high-performance computing, unprecedented energy consumption, as well as supply-chain crises will, however, likely challenge the conventional building methods and thus require a completely new build strategy for future data center construction, i.e., a build strategy that is flexible, fast, and specialized.
So, what changed?
The Changing Demand Landscape
To understand why building methods must change, it is essential to recognize how facility requirements have changed over time. In the past, the facilities that were traditionally built to house IT equipment were typical of to house standard server racks with predictable power densities. However, high-density deployments were typically the exception rather than the rule. Furthermore, the traditional cooling systems used to cool the IT equipment in facilities such as these typically relied on basic air handling units, and the power infrastructure was designed with significant margins for error.
Today, everything is different.
To understand why building methods must change, you have to look at how facility requirements have evolved over time. In the past, traditional facilities were built to host standard server racks with predictable power densities. High-density deployments were the exception rather than the rule. Cooling systems relied heavily on basic air handling units, and power infrastructure was designed with significant margins for error. Today, everything is different.
Once you step into a high-density server room, the incredible changes to a traditional facility are felt immediately. Not only do the increased heat densities mandate much more sophisticated cooling systems than simple air-handling units, but, the latter remark notwithstanding, the entire power distribution system—how power is distributed throughout the room and then to individual racks—has to be reimagined too. A typical data center today is a massive power-plant-like facility, and the server racks themselves can demand hundreds of kilowatts per single installation to run the latest generation of systems.
In summary, projects today need to reach completion a lot faster than they used to. Speed to market has become a fundamental requirement for businesses, particularly technology companies, who can’t afford to wait three to four years for a data center to be completed. In the interim, while the data center is under construction, the business continues to grow and the demand for compute capacity continues to increase at an incredible rate. Therefore, the cost of delay for a data center project is greater than for virtually any other type of construction project.
Rethinking the Physical Design and Supply Chain
So, modularity is key in a new build strategy for facilities. These days, most building is based on the use of pre-fabricated components, which are assembled on site to complete the building. In the case of data center builds, there are a number of pre-fabricated building blocks, such as the electrical room, which can be constructed off-site in a factory prior to being transported to the data center site for final assembly.
Off-site construction solves several problems when building a data center facility. For a start, it speeds up the total project time because, while the site is being prepared for building, the various parts of the data center can be fabricated in a factory off-site. This, in turn, leads to improved quality, less waste, and above all, safer working conditions for the construction workforce when assembling the various parts at the construction site. So the process of building a data center facility is not just building with raw construction materials but rather a process of high-precision assembly of pre-fabricated building modules.
But what happens when key components are stuck in delivery backlogs?
Advanced modular hardware means very little if the right physical materials and components are not delivered in time. As the facility development process is influenced by a host of different supply chains delivering a wide array of physical materials and hardware, long lead times for key items of electrical plant (i.e., transformers, switchgear, etc.) are starting to influence the overall development strategy and, indeed, the procurement process.
The actual procurement of needed parts and materials can no longer be a fixed part of the overall construction of a facility, long after the initial designs of the new facility have been made and locked in place. Today’s strategic developers will order long lead items (such as transformers and switchgear) months, if not years, in advance of actual ground break. They are actually designing a facility around the availability of a developer’s preferred components in the construction industry’s various supply chains – not trying to force-fit an unwieldy and intransigent supply chain to a fixed design. That’s not an easy mindset to get into, but that’s what’s required today.
The Human Factor and Specialized Workforces
Perhaps the most important element to consider when developing a modern strategy is the workforce required to build out high-density, liquid-cooled facilities. Fiber installation, piping for liquid cooling systems, and high-voltage power distribution all require unique skill sets to install and connect together.
And the industry is feeling the squeeze.
Today’s construction market is experiencing extreme shortages in skilled labor across multiple trades, including but not limited to electricians, pipefitters, and technical project managers capable of managing a data center construction project.
I used to think that with enough money you could get anyone to build anything, but specialized skilled labor is a rare bird these days, and without them a project can grind to a standstill.
With so many variables outside of their control, acquiring the necessary skilled trade labor in time to perform the install of the electrical, fiber, and HVAC systems is fast becoming the biggest challenge facing the Industry today. To overcome these challenges, forward-thinking developers and contractors are partnering with specialist staffing providers that have the expertise to deliver the highest caliber of data center construction staffing in time to meet the project’s critical milestone dates.
In the end, even the most advanced technology is only as good as the people who build it. No matter how innovative the design or how powerful the hardware, a successful data center project depends on having the right skilled professionals in place to bring it all together.
Navigating Grid Constraints and Infrastructure Limits
In addition to the physical construction of a site, there are the surrounding grid constraints and limitations. Today’s data center requires a huge amount of power and therefore a large amount of electrical infrastructure to support it. However, local utilities are struggling to upgrade the primary distribution infrastructure, i.e., the local grid and associated transformer and transmission assets, to cope with the increasing demands of the growing number of large data centers.
What good is a completed data center facility if there is no power to turn on the lights, cool the servers, and provide connectivity?
As a result, in addition to the above mentioned elements, the strategy must also include elements related to the energy management within the data center, i.e. advanced energy management solutions that can be integrated into the design from the very start, i.e. from the blue prints, to allow for energy to be generated within the data center itself and thus to enable the data center to function even before the required power connections to the grid have been put in place. This requires the facility to have its own on-site power generation, to be able to function as a primary microgrid and to be equipped with very large amounts of battery power for peak shaving purposes in order to be able to bridge the gap until the required primary power connections to the grid have been put in place.
Perhaps a combination of microgrids for local power generation and long-term utility contracts will be the answer, or even completely new energy models. Who knows?
To overcome grid constraints and the physical limits of infrastructure supporting increasing power demand, develop build strategies and therefore buildings that incorporate all necessary power management into their core design and can start to function as soon as construction is completed.
Sustainability as a Core Requirement
These are increasingly critical issues to the new build strategies. Not only are they becoming issues of increasing regulatory focus (i.e. water use becoming a focus of state and local government) but also increasing focus of local communities. Buildings that consume large amounts of electricity and water are inherently sensitive to issues of sustainability. These therefore need to be designed with sustainability as a core requirement.
This can include choosing locations near renewable energy sources, using low-carbon building materials (e.g. recycled steel and green concrete), and implementing closed-loop liquid cooling systems. A sustainable build strategy requires considerable thought prior to the start of the build. Additionally, the rapid addition of large numbers of facilities to local power grids is placing great pressure on the grid. To ensure the operational requirements of these facilities are met, builders and developers are having to work closely with utility companies to incorporate on-site power generation, battery energy storage systems, and the facility’s own microgrid into the overall design of the build.
Looking Ahead
In conclusion, the way we construct today will have to change in order to meet the increased demand for digital infrastructure, most importantly that of artificial intelligence, in commerce and in our daily lives, and thus require a large number of very fast, very powerful, and very large data centers.
To continue increasing digital infrastructure quickly and on a large scale, building strategies must change too. They must be adapted to enable the fast and efficient construction of facilities in the future.
Madeline Miller love to writes articles about gaming, coding, and pop culture.
