Efficient and Customizable: The Era of High-Density Deployment for Data Centers

Digital transformation is driving changes across all industries, including data centers that provide digital capabilities.

These centers are facing not only the challenges of digitalization but also the pressure of transforming traditional infrastructure and digital application platforms. With the rise of AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content), computing power has become the most valuable resource in the digital age. To maximize the value of computing power and optimize applications, data centers need sufficient power supply and cooling capabilities. The explosive demand for back-end computing and storage, driven by AI applications like AIGC, has brought traditional data centers to a crossroads.

Industry experts have proposed solutions to address these challenges. For instance, the demand for computing power generated by large AI models requires a new type of infrastructure to tackle various challenges, including issues of architecture and integration. In conversations with industry experts and upstream and downstream enterprises, it has become evident that the rapid iteration of GPT applications, from version 3.5 to 5.0 in just one year, has imposed new requirements on data center infrastructure. Previously, data centers calculated capacity based on the number of racks or the area. Now, it’s calculated based on power supply. As the power supply to a building increases, the rack density also rises. In the future, power consumption will be key, and the changes are happening rapidly.

In response, Chayora (a data center company) has developed its own solutions. The company’s goal is to establish high-standard, hyper-scale data center campuses in China. To meet diverse customer demands, Chayora has launched a new generation of high-density data center solutions called "Ingenuity." These solutions aim to actively promote the exploration and resolution of challenges faced by the data center industry, providing a solid digital foundation for the future of AIGC and intelligent applications.

In the AIGC era, we are on the brink of a new generation of data centersThe Dual Challenge of Power Supply and Cooling in the Face of Rapid AIGC Growth

According to data from the National Energy Administration, in 2022, data centers in China consumed about 270 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, exceeding the annual output of two Three Gorges Dams. At the same time, AIGC and other applications demand data centers to provide high-density computing power services, utilizing advanced cooling technologies and energy management systems to reduce energy consumption. With multiple demands converging, transformation in the data center field is urgent. Traditional single cabinets with 2.5KW-4KW power capacity no longer meet the needs of the AIGC market, and 20KW-40KW cabinets are gradually becoming mainstream.

In the past, discussions about data centers focused on land area and the number of cabinets, but now the market is more interested in how many megawatts a data center campus can provide. This shift in industry thinking has led to changes in applications as well. Currently, in China, most data centers are still in the application transition phase, and the hyper-scale application of AIGC has introduced new requirements for their development. Future mainstream cabinet density standards are expected to increase significantly. Achieving this requires solving real-world issues, including power supply and cooling.

The first challenge is power supply. There was a time when the standard power supply for a traditional data center cabinet was 3KW, matching the computing power levels of the time. However, now a CPU processor’s power consumption easily reaches 300W or more, while a GPU accelerator can consume nearly 1000W, far exceeding the 3KW power limit of traditional cabinets. Therefore, in the AIGC era and in response to the future needs of diversified and heterogeneous computing power, cabinet power supply efficiency must be significantly improved.

The second challenge is cooling. How do you cool a 300W CPU and a 1000W GPU? Traditional air-cooling techniques can’t handle this, leading the industry to explore liquid cooling technology early on. Today, both cold-plate and immersion liquid cooling have been commercially applied. Given the need for better cost control and more flexible deployment, some data centers are now adopting hybrid cooling techniques, using both air and liquid cooling to improve efficiency and achieve better Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) values. However, hybrid cooling also presents significant challenges in data center construction planning, leaving room for improvement.

The question then arises: how can we achieve efficient power supply and superior cooling performance to meet the growing demand for AI-driven computing and advance intelligent and digital capabilities? Hyper-scale data center providers like Chayora have provided their answers to these challenges.

In response to the rising demand for power and cooling, Chayora introduced its Ingenuity high-density data center solution, which can provide up to 40KW of power per cabinet to support AI applications like AIGC and high-performance computing loads. To ensure better cooling for high-density cabinets, Chayora’s Ingenuity solution supports a hybrid cooling system where the proportion of air and liquid cooling can be flexibly customized according to the customer’s business needs. It also offers pre-design verification solutions to ensure that deployments can adapt to changing customer requirements. Moreover, the Ingenuity solution can adjust the power configuration based on customer needs, providing a more efficient power supply model. For example, because break-point training technology enhances model saving and recovery capabilities, some customers may opt for a more efficient N+1 architecture during the model training phase to meet the power reliability requirements of that stage.

Chayora has always focused on building data centers capable of meeting the high-density deployment needs of its customers. Its data center campus in Tianjin has received Uptime Institute Tier III certifications for design, construction, and operation, demonstrating its ability to deploy high-density cabinets and provide build-to-suit solution to clients. Chayora’s build-to-suit solutions extend across multiple dimensions. For traditional data centers, hyper-scale high-density upgrades, whether through increased power supply or liquid cooling retrofits, can be costly. But since Chayora has planned for this from the beginning, it can offer build-to-suit solutions for different business needs at various scales, including modular, dedicated floors, and full data center, solving customer concerns related to space, cooling, and energy while allowing them to focus on their core business.

Beyond infrastructure customization, Chayora also offers unique expertise in software management and intelligent operations. In terms of security, Chayora advocates for complete transparency with customers, providing comprehensive operational data from access to performance. Its 360-degree centralized management system helps identify and resolve issues before they occur, ensuring proactive risk management. Leveraging the global platform of its strategic partner, EdgeConneX, Chayora can help Chinese clients expand internationally, quickly access over 50 popular markets, including India, Malaysia, and other Asia-Pacific regions.

Currently, standards related to liquid cooling, power supply, and networking, especially in connection with AIGC applications, are still in the exploration phase. Thus, data center infrastructure providers must be cautious and pragmatic in their planning and design, working closely with customers to meet their specific requirements. From the very beginning of data center design, Chayora maintains close communication with its clients to meet their diverse needs in terms of scale, timelines, and systems. By leveraging flexible customization in data center space design, power configurations, network bandwidth, and hybrid cooling systems, Chayora ensures that its solutions align with customer expectations.

Looking ahead, AIGC will undoubtedly become a core technology that reshapes many industries. Support for AIGC is critical to the future of intelligent data centers. Chayora’s focus on providing high-quality, build-to-suit solutions, hyper-scale data center campuses not only addresses industry pain points but also aligns with national policies and industry trends. It meets the high-density demands of large internet companies and, in the future, will serve a broader range of industries and applications, such as autonomous driving, scientific research, medical technology, manufacturing, and smart cities, driving the rapid development of digital China.