Huawei’s white paper, titled ‘Top 10 Trends of Data Center Facility 2024,’ highlights key innovations and strategies shaping the future of data center infrastructure. As digital transformation accelerates, reliable manufacturing and quality control are critical for ensuring consistency in large-scale facilities. By integrating AI-driven monitoring technologies, companies can detect equipment risks early, reducing uncertainty in operational environments. The paper underscores the importance of professional deployment and ongoing operations (O&M) for maintaining high-quality data centers, focusing on structured processes and advanced emergency preparedness.
Cooling systems are a major focus, as they account for 19% of data center failures, second only to power supply issues. Centralized cooling systems, particularly in large data centers, are vulnerable to single-point failures that can cause widespread service disruptions. In response, the paper advocates for distributed cooling architectures, which offer better reliability and ease of maintenance. These systems use independent subsystems to reduce the likelihood of large-scale outages, making them ideal for modern data centers. With the rise of AI-driven data centers, distributed cooling is poised to become the industry standard.
The white paper also emphasizes the growing role of predictive maintenance, powered by AI, in data center operations. As the demand for high-density, high-performance computing grows, data centers face increasing pressure to maintain uptime and prevent failures. Predictive maintenance leverages AI algorithms to analyze real-time data and predict potential faults, shifting from reactive to proactive maintenance strategies. This approach is crucial for maintaining reliability as data centers evolve.
Additionally, the paper highlights the shift towards liquid cooling systems, particularly as power density in data centers increases. Traditional cooling methods are becoming less effective in handling the higher energy loads of advanced AI and computing technologies. The transition to air-liquid converged cooling systems offers a more efficient and adaptable solution for next-generation data centers, maximizing cooling efficiency and reducing energy consumption. Overall, Huawei’s white paper positions distributed cooling, AI-based predictive maintenance, and enhanced power solutions as the cornerstones of future data center facility design.