Schneider Electric, a global digital transformation specialist in energy management and automation, announced a partnership with Nvidia in the first quarter of this year to work together to optimize data center infrastructure and advance innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twin technologies.
Recently, at the Computing Future Data Center Forum of the 2024 Schneider Electric Innovation Summit, Schneider Electric announced the results of the cooperation between the two sides and launched the first reference design for the intelligent computing center. The design is tailored to deploy Nvidia’s high-performance accelerated computing platform, which aims to provide a standardized benchmark for AI deployment and operations within the data center ecosystem. At the same time, the reference design can also be used as a general intelligent computing center solution for high-density cabinets. This innovative reference design not only lays a solid foundation for building future-ready solutions, but also marks a new milestone in the intelligent computing center industry for efficient deployment and efficient operation.
Under the guidance of the “artificial intelligence +” strategy, the data center industry is undergoing a far-reaching change, and the intelligent computing center, as the “backbone” of this change, not only promotes the development of the industry, but also leads the future development trend. According to the Action Plan for High-quality Development of Computing Infrastructure, by 2025, the scale of China’s computing power is expected to exceed 300 EFLOPS, and the proportion of intelligent computing power will reach more than 35%. In the face of the rapidly growing demand for intelligent computing power, the deployment of high-density AI clusters has become an inevitable choice for the development of the industry. AI clusters will bring a series of subversive challenges to the design and operation of the physical infrastructure of data centers, including the increasing pressure on the demand for power supply capacity, the design of highly elastic room to adapt to future IT technology, and the digital platform to achieve intelligent operation and maintenance. Developing a standardized reference design can provide evidence-based “guidance” for addressing these challenges, helping to ensure that operators build an efficient, sustainable and scalable infrastructure for future growth.
The No. 99 reference design released by Schneider Electric covers the electromechanical system design of the renovation of the stock data center and the new intelligent computing center, focusing on four technical areas of facility power supply, refrigeration, IT room, and full life cycle software, providing a complete reference design framework for the artificial intelligence cluster with an IT capacity of up to 3770kW to meet the needs of different application scenarios:
Facility power supply optimization: Provide distributed redundant power distribution system for IT room, so as to maximize the computing power under the premise of a certain power supply capacity, or reduce the demand for the power supply capacity under the premise of a certain power supply;
Facility refrigeration optimization: The introduction of CDU cold plate refrigeration system, combined with near-end wind wall and other technologies, to achieve a perfect transition from air cooling to liquid cooling, improve the performance and reliability of the chip, but also improve the efficiency of the refrigeration system, thereby reducing the overall energy consumption;
Stock renovation & New IT room: For liquid cooling applications and high-density hardware configuration, focus on the differentiated application scenarios of stock data center upgrading and new intelligent computing center, and provide feasible reference design to realize the deployment of high-density AI cluster;
Full life cycle software: Advanced planning, design and operation tools provide basis for enterprise layout decisions, improve deployment efficiency, and realize data center visualization, reduce operational risks, and efficiently ensure the safe and reliable operation of the data center throughout the life cycle.
The “singularity” of computing power is approaching, and only a mature and clear guidance path can promote the construction of a future-oriented intelligent computing center and provide a strong guarantee for stable and long-term development. As a global leader in data centers, infrastructure and digital services for key industry applications, Schneider Electric has deep industry insights and a wealth of practice. The release of the data center reference design is based on the trend of industrial change and diverse needs. Schneider Electric firmly believes that rigorously proven, mature and evidence-based reference designs play a vital role in the full life cycle of a smart computing center. The reference design not only accelerates and simplifies the planning process in the early stage of the project, shortens the development cycle of the construction plan, but also significantly reduces the operation and maintenance risk after the data center is put into operation, and further enhances the reliability of the data center. At present, Schneider Electric has been working with partners and enterprises in the upstream and downstream of the data center industry chain on a global scale to promote the large-scale deployment and application of customized solutions to effectively ensure the commissioning and reliable operation of power distribution systems, liquid cooling systems and control system designs in high-density clusters.
In the wave of data center change accelerated by AI, Schneider Electric will continue to be committed to continuous empowerment, providing assistance for the construction of more efficient, more resilient, more applicable and more sustainable intelligent computing infrastructure, and jointly explore and innovate with industrial ecological partners to draw a more efficient, more sustainable and more transformative future blueprint for the data center industry.
