Is Your Data Centre AI Ready?
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to revolutionise industries, data centres—both large and small—need to adapt. But what does “AI-ready” actually mean, especially for data centres with fewer than 50 racks?
For IT Managers overseeing smaller infrastructures, preparing for AI doesn’t have to mean building vast, high-density data farms. It requires thoughtful, scalable upgrades to handle AI workloads efficiently, making sure that data centre power, cooling, and flexibility are optimised for both current and future needs.
Data centre infrastructure demand keeps increasing with the economy’s continued digitisation. Revenue from generative AI advancements is expected to grow at a 58% compound annual growth rate from 2023 to 2028.
In this blog, we’ll explore the essential infrastructure upgrades and considerations required to make smaller data centres “AI ready.” Whether you’re looking at redesigning, upgrading, or building a new facility, it’s crucial to anticipate the demands AI will place on your power, data centre cooling, and hardware—and how Data Centre UK can help you prepare for this next technological wave.
What Does “AI Ready” Mean for Your Data Centre?
AI technology is increasingly being integrated into data centres, transforming how businesses process and store data.
However, the concept of “AI readiness” goes beyond simply installing more powerful hardware. It means building an environment capable of handling AI’s unique requirements—whether it’s inference tasks running on specialised hardware like GPUs or optimising data centre cooling and power for demanding computational tasks.
By 2025, half of cloud data centres will deploy advanced robots with AI and ML capabilities, resulting in a 30% higher operating efficiency, according to Gartner.
Even smaller data centres must consider AI-readiness. AI workloads like inference (running trained models rather than training them) don’t require massive infrastructure but can still significantly impact power consumption and cooling. This is where smaller data centres can plan strategically to stay ahead of the curve without needing to overhaul their entire operation.
Do Smaller Data Centres Need to Be AI Ready?
The Relevance of AI for Data Centres with Less Than 30 Racks
AI isn’t just for mega data centres. Many companies with smaller infrastructures—those managing 20 to 50 racks—can benefit from AI, especially for tasks like data analysis and automation. In fact, smaller AI implementations can make data centre operations more efficient, helping with predictive maintenance, security monitoring, and optimising energy usage.
Data centres will require more storage and compute capacity as business, commerce, and personal smart device usage rises. There will be over 50 billion IoT-connected devices by 2025, according to McKinsey.
The key is ensuring that even smaller AI deployments can be effectively supported. For instance, handling inference workloads typically only requires 1–2 racks of AI-dedicated hardware, but these still bring significant challenges in terms of power and heat. By preparing your data centre for AI, even if you’re not planning on training AI models, you can ensure your facility can scale to meet future needs.
Infrastructure Considerations for AI-Ready Data Centres
GPUs and AI Hardware: Power and Heat Challenges
AI-ready data centres, regardless of size, need to handle the increased power consumption and heat generated by AI hardware. GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) and chips designed for AI workloads are power-hungry and generate more heat than standard servers.
This leads to higher rack densities, and without the right infrastructure in place, your current data centre design could struggle to manage these demands. Nvidia projects that $1 trillion will be spent on AI data centre upgrades, primarily by Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta, according to Business Insider.
It’s essential to assess whether your existing power supply can cope with the spike in energy requirements from AI hardware. Similarly, cooling systems need to handle the uneven heat distribution caused by these denser, hotter racks.
Cooling Solutions for AI Workloads
One of the key challenges when integrating AI hardware into a data centre is maintaining effective cooling. Traditional data centre cooling methods may not be sufficient to handle the added heat from AI workloads. Hot aisle containment, liquid cooling, and other advanced cooling strategies can help manage these heat loads and ensure that your equipment runs optimally, extending hardware lifespan.
Real-time control of cooling equipment with sensors and AI can save up to 40% of the power spent on data centre cooling, significantly reducing energy bills and carbon footprints.
At Data Centre UK, we specialise in designing bespoke data centre cooling solutions that address these specific challenges, making sure that your AI workloads don’t compromise your overall data centre performance.
Scalable Power and Flexible Deployment
AI workloads require scalable power solutions, especially in small data centres looking to gradually integrate AI capabilities, so flexible power deployment is crucial for accommodating evolving needs. Power demands can grow significantly with the addition of AI hardware, so it’s crucial to design systems that can adapt to these evolving needs.
AI will shift data centre rack power capacities from less than 10 kW in 2023 to between 50 kW and 100 kW, necessitating a shift from air cooling to liquid cooling, according to SDXCentral.
At Data Centre UK, we ensure that power systems are scalable and flexible enough to handle future AI-driven demands. Our modular solutions allow for easy expansion, supporting the growth of your AI capabilities.
Planning for AI Readiness: New Deployments and Upgrades
Redesigning Your Current Data Centre for AI
If you’re managing an existing data centre and looking to make it AI-ready, you don’t need to start from scratch. Retrofitting is often the most cost-effective solution, focusing on upgrading power distribution, data centre cooling, and optimising space for higher-density racks.
Steps to retrofit include assessing your current power and data centre cooling capacity, determining if rack density can be increased, and implementing predictive maintenance technologies. These AI-powered systems can help monitor and optimise the performance of your infrastructure, ensuring smooth operations with minimal downtime.
Building AI-Ready Data Centres from Scratch
If you’re building a new data centre or planning a significant overhaul, AI-readiness should be built into the foundation. This includes planning for scalable power, data centre cooling, and high-density rack configurations.
Consider future-proofing your facility by implementing modular designs that allow for easy expansion as AI workloads grow. AI data centre server infrastructure spend and operating expenses are projected to reach $76 billion by 2028, according to Forbes.
For new deployments, Data Centre UK offers tailor-made solutions, combining efficient data centre cooling, flexible power systems, and optimised designs to meet the unique demands of AI hardware and workloads.
Why AI Readiness is Important, And How Data Centre UK Can Help
AI is reshaping the data centre landscape, and being AI-ready is now essential for data centres of all sizes. As AI drives greater power, cooling, and infrastructure demands, preparing your data centre for these requirements ensures you remain competitive and future-proof.
At Data Centre UK, we specialise in creating scalable, AI-ready data centres. Whether you’re looking to retrofit an existing facility or build a new one, our solutions ensure that your data centre will meet the power, cooling, and scalability demands that AI brings. Get in touch today to speak with our team of experts.
