Issue 52 • April 2024

datacenterdynamics.com

3D
printing
a data center

Also inside:
Red Sea terror
Atos’ challenges
Khazna’s CEO
Contents
April 2024
6 News
Equinix’s CEO steps down, AWS’
nuclear DC, and new Nvidia GPUs

14 The Wavehouse: 3D printing a data

center
The story behind the world’s first 3D
printed data center

21 This Emirati operator who

doesn’t use diesel
Hassan Alnaqbi’s AI-backed business
is working for oil exploitation

25 
News from the hydrogen frontline
Yuval Bachar on a 1MW data center

29 
The Edge supplement
From AI to space

45  AMR - the savior of hard drives

H
14 21 What happens when hard drive
capacities double?

49 Kestler’s run
Building a hyperscale wholesaler for
the mega data center era

53 Betting on the US market

The digital infrastructure holding up
online gambling

58 
How do you solve a problem like Atos?
What next for the French IT giant?

62 
Running to the storm
Verizon prepares for natural disasters

65 Cool runnings
Oil companies like Castrol are looking

45 62 68
to data center cooling

 he Houthis and the Red Sea: A new

T
risk to subsea cables
Intentional or otherwise, terrorists are
now a threat to global connectivity
74 The non-profit approach
Talking to British Heart Foundation’s
CTO
77 Great X-pectations
Europe’s grand plan for a federal
cloud appears to have hit the buffers
80 MWC 2024
AI comes for mobile
82 I s AI the panacea the chip design
industry needs?

68 77 87
Can AI help the chip crunch?

Op-ed: The AI goldilocks zone

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 3

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>>CONTENTS

From the Editor Meet the team

172 hrs
Publisher &
Editor-in-Chief
Sebastian Moss

Making a 3D printed
@SebMoss
Senior Editor
Dan Swinhoe
@DanSwinhoe

data center Telecoms Editor

Paul Lipscombe
Compute, Storage &

C
Networking Editor
onstruction is so much All bets are on-premise Charlotte Trueman
work. Building a data center can sometimes Reporter
Wouldn't it be easier feel like a bit of a gamble. Georgia Butler
if you could just print But, for this issue, we look at the real Features Editor
your next data center? risk takers - casinos. Due to regulatory Matthew Gooding
Unfortunately, it's requirements, they have to ensure data Junior Reporter
Niva Yadav
probably not going to be as simple as centers don't stray too far from the
that. floor. Head of Partner Content
Claire Fletcher
Partner Content Editor
On-site generation When the storm comes The time it Chris Merriman
For the cover, we travel to Germany to Climate change, war, and insurrection. took to 3D @ChrisTheDJ
understand whether the future of data It's not fun to think about what the print the Designer
center construction lies in 3D printing. future holds, but at least we'll have Wavehouse. Eleni Zevgaridou
We tour The Wavehouse data Internet. We head to a US military base Head of Sales
But it was
center, the first of its kind, and talk to to learn first hand how Verizon trains Erica Baeta
spread over
the creators about the promises and for the worst. Conference
30 days. Director, Global
European failures Rebecca Davison
Trying to be a tech company in the Content & Project
3D printing could prove shadow of the US hyperscalers can be a Manager - Live Events

cheaper and faster, challenge. Gabriella Gillett-Perez

For Atos, once a French IT darling, Content & Project
while using less metal. things have gone from bad to worse.
Manager - Live Events

Elsewhere, the EU's dreams of Matthew Welch

stitching together a local cloud platform Channel Management
Team Lead
peril of on-site creation - 3D-printed has gone awry. Our new features editor
Alex Dickins
warts and all. investigates.
Channel Manager
Kat Sullivan
The CEOs Trouble at sea Emma Brooks
Across the mag, we profile three The Red Sea is in turmoil, and the Director of Marketing
different CEOs with three very different Internet is one of the casualties. Services
approaches. Houthi attacks appear to have cut Nina Bernard
First, there's Khazna's Hassan submarine cables. What does this mean CEO
Alnaqbi, who is developing large data for the future of Internet stability? Dan Loosemore
centers in the desert. Head Office
Then there's Yuval Bachar, founder Plus more DatacenterDynamics
of EdgeCloudLink, who hopes to use Why are oil companies getting into data 22 York Buildings,
John Adam Street,
hydrogen power to fulfil the dream of center cooling? How is the British Heart
London, WC2N 6JU
"zero emission and zero water use" data Foundation using the cloud? What did © 2024 Data Centre Dynamics Limited All
rights reserved. No part of this publication
centers. we learn from MWC? may be reproduced or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic,
Finally, we chat to EdgeCore's Lee We've brought on a few new writers mechanical, photocopying, recording
Kestler. After a long stint at DuPont to tell more stories about this sector Sebastian Moss or otherwise, or be stored in any
retrieval system of any nature, without
Fabros, he's tasked with building a new than ever. But don't worry, we're hiring Editor-in-Chief prior written permission of Data Centre
Dynamics Limited. Applications for
written permission should be directed
DuPont for the mega-data center era. for some more. Stay tuned! to the editorial team at editorial@
datacenterdynamics.com. Any views or
opinions expressed do not necessarily
represent the views or opinions of Data
Centre Dynamics Limited or its affiliates.
Disclaimer of liability: Whilst every effort
Dive even deeper has been made to ensure the quality and
accuracy of the information contained in
Follow the story and find out more about DCD products that can further expand your knowledge. this publication at the time of going to
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Issue 52 • April 2024 | 5

 Whitespace
>>CONTENTS

News
The biggest
NEWS IN BRIEF

Georgia Senate passes bill

suspending tax exemptions
The Georgia Senate has voted to sus-
pend tax breaks for data centers while a
data center special commission reviews grid capac-
ity in the state. The Senate voted 29-22
news stories in favor in March.

of the
Involta announces Brett
last three Lindsey as new CEO
months US colocation firm Involta has appointed
a new CEO, Brett Lindsey. He replaces
Jim Buie, who was at the company for
six years. Lindsey left Everstream in 2023,
after DigitalBridge bought its parent firm.

Equinix CEO Compass co-founder Chris

Meyers to stand Curtis joins Prologis
Logistics real estate giant Prologis has
down, Google hired Compass co-founder Chris Curtis
to lead a new data center team.
Cloud’s Adaire The company hired Curtis in a newly
created role as global head of data
Fox-Martin to centers.

take helm Kao Data appoints Doug

Equinix has appointed Google Cloud Joining Equinix as Americas president in
Loewe as CEO
UK data center firm Kao Data has
executive Adaire Fox-Martin as its new 2010, Meyers has been CEO since 2018.
appointed Doug Loewe as its new
CEO. He took over from Steve Smith, who chief executive officer (CEO).
Fox-Martin, who is currently Google resigned after “exercising poor judgment Loewe took the helm in January.
Cloud’s go-to-market president, will with respect to an employee matter.” Former CEO Lee Myall announced he
succeed Charles Meyers, who has led the was stepping down from the role in
Meyers said: “I am confident that
company for six years. April 2023; Kao founder David Bloom
Adaire’s capabilities and experience will be
had been acting as interim CEO.
Also head of Google Ireland, Fox- deeply additive to our team and our culture,
Martin has led Google Cloud’s go-to- helping us meet the evolving needs of our Network Time Protocol
market teams globally since early last year, customers, fuel our growth, and unlock the inventor Dr. David L Mills
encompassing sales, professional services, extraordinary power of Platform Equinix.
passes away
partner ecosystem, and customer success. “I am grateful to our board for their Dr. David L. Mills, the inventor of the
She has held senior global positions at support of my desired transition timeline, Network Time Protocol (NTP), has passed
Oracle and SAP, where she was a member and excited to assume the executive away aged 85.
of the company’s executive board with chairman role and actively support Adaire He created NTP in 1985 to synchronize
responsibility for sales and service globally, as she leverages her tremendous global time across different computer systems
serving more than 440,000 customers. and networks, a critical step in the
experience to extend and expand our
development of the modern Internet.
She has been a member of the Equinix market leadership.”
board of Directors since 2020. Before Equinix, Meyers held roles at Exa Infrastructure poaches
“In today’s dynamic digital landscape, Bell South (later AT&T), IBM, Level3, and Aqua Comms CEO
Equinix has uniquely amassed global reach, VeriSign. Aqua Comms CEO Jim Fagan has
highly differentiated ecosystems, strong The leadership transition will take place jumped ship and taken the top job at
partner relationships, and an innovative in Q2 2024. Peter Van Camp, currently Exa Infrastructure.
range of product and service offerings - Equinix executive chairman, will step away The two companies announced in
collectively forming a robust and future- February that Fagan was leaving Aqua
from his formal responsibilities as a board
proofed platform to address diverse Comms, effective immediately, and
member to take the role of special advisor
customer challenges,” said Fox-Martin. heading across to Exa Infrastructure,
to the board. where he will take over the CEO role in
Myers is moving into a new role as August.
bit.ly/MyeMyeCharlieMyeMye
executive chairman of the colocation giant.

6 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS DCD Magazine #52

Three major US cloud providers have cloud provider and/or on-premises, can take
dropped some egress fees ahead of incoming advantage of free network data transfer to
European regulation. Microsoft, Google, migrate their data out of Google Cloud. This
and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have each applies to all customers globally.”
dropped fees for customers looking to exit The free data transfer from Google does
their respective clouds. come with some caveats. It only applies
March saw Microsoft announce it will no to customers looking to fully exit Google’s
longer charge data egress fees for customers Cloud, their application will first be reviewed
exiting its Azure cloud, following in the by the Google Cloud Support team which
footsteps of rivals AWS and Google Cloud. must approve it. Following approval,
The company is the last of the three major customers have only 60 days to fully exit
cloud providers to make this move ahead of the provider and must then terminate their
the impending EU Data Act that will come agreement.
into effect in September 2025. The upcoming EU Data Act requires
In a blog post, Microsoft said: “We support public and private cloud computing
customer choice, including the choice to service providers to remove “obstacles to
migrate your data away from Azure. effective switching” between their own
and competing cloud services, including
To exit the provider, you must inform
commercial, contractual, technical, or
Azure of the date you plan to start the transfer
organizational hurdles.
and the amount of data you plan to egress.
Once logged, you have 60 days to comply The act came into force on January 2024,
from your start date, and must then cancel and provisions of the act will begin to apply
all subscriptions. After exiting, you can claim 20 months later meaning that businesses
credit for your egress charges. must be ready to comply by September 2025

March also saw AWS announce similar The cloud computing market has
plans to remove some of its data transfer fees been the topic of several discussions

Microsoft, for customers. Unlike Microsoft and Google,

it seems that customers do not have to fully
and investigations regarding its anti-
competitiveness.
Google, and AWS exit AWS as a customer, but similarly has a
rigorous approval process and allows only 60
The UK’s Competition and Markets
Authority has launched an investigation into
drop some data days to complete the migration. the market after Ofcom identified several

egress fees Google was the first of the big three to

waive egress fees. In January, the company
features that make it difficult for customers
to switch and use multiple cloud suppliers
announced: “Starting today, Google Cloud including egress fees, cloud repatriation fees,
customers who wish to stop using Google and discounts.
Cloud and migrate their data to another bit.ly/PassiveEgression

Nvidia announces next GPU

generation, Blackwell
Nvidia has unveiled its next GPU family - the Blackwell.
The company claimed that the new GPU architecture would allow
customers to build and run real-time generative AI on trillion-parameter
large language models at 25x less cost and energy consumption than its
predecessor, the Hopper series.
Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle Cloud, and OpenAI are among
the companies that confirmed they will deploy Blackwell GPUs later this year.
Blackwell is named in honor of David Harold Blackwell, a mathematician
who specialized in game theory and statistics, and the first Black scholar
inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.
Blackwell architecture GPUs are manufactured using a custom-built, two-
reticle limit 4NP TSMC process with GPU dies connected by 10TBps chip-to-
chip link into a single, unified GPU.
The GPU has 208 billion transistors, an increase on the 80bn in the
Hopper series. It is twice the size of the Hopper.
According to Nvidia, the B100, B200, and GB200 operate between 700W
and 1,200W, depending on the SKU and type of cooling used.

bit.ly/Blackwellwellwell

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 7

 Whitespace >>CONTENTS

Switzerland-based Neustark will capture

Microsoft the CO2 at source over the next six years, and
store it in mineral waste, such as demolition
and Google concrete.

invest in Neustark captures CO2 from biogas

plants, liquifies it, and transports it to

carbon construction waste recycling sites, where it is

injected into demolition concrete, and bound

capture permanently to the surface of the concrete

granules by a process of mineralization.
projects February also saw Microsoft annonced it
was paying climate finance firm Catona for
350,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits
from an agroforestry project in Kenya.
The Lake Victoria Watershed Agroforestry
Project in Homa Bay, Kenya will deliver the
credits in the next six years. It is financed
Microsoft and Google are making large thermal process, known as pyrolysis, enables by Catona and run by Trees for the Future; a
investments into carbon capture projects in the biochar to store large amounts of carbon. 30-year-old global agroforestry organization
an effort to reduce their carbon footprints. The resulting biochar can then be used as a based in Maryland, USA.
Microsoft, which has promised to be soil enhancer, and it is thought the biochar Agroforestry is a land use management
retains the carbon for thousands of years. system where trees or shrubs are grown
carbon negative by 2030, has made a number
of investments across several carbon capture It is the second biochar agreement around or among crops or pastureland.
methods in recent months. Microsoft has signed in recent months. The company has also invested in direct
In December 2023, it agreed a deal with air capture projects in the US and Iceland.
Microsoft has signed a carbon capture
Exomad Green, the world’s largest producer
agreement which will see it purchase 95,000 Google recently announced it will invest
of biochar, for 32,000 tons of carbon dioxide
tons of carbon dioxide removal credits from a $35 million into carbon capture projects
removal credits to be delivered by June 2024 through Frontier Climate – which makes
biochar plant in Mexico.
from its plant in Bolivia. It also previously aggregated purchases of carbon capture
It has agreed a six-year purchasing deal signed a deal with Carbon Streaming to buy credits from a number of companies
with The Next 150 and its General Biochar credits from its biochar site in Virginia. projects, and technologies.
Systems (GBS) business unit, which runs the February saw Microsoft two other carbon Google said it had made “recent
biochar plant near the city of Guanajuato. capture deals. The Redmond-based company purchases” through Frontier, but didn’t
Biochar is produced by burning paid to have 27,600 tons of carbon dioxide provide details.
biomass in a zero-oxygen environment at a removed from the atmosphere and stored in
temperature of 250°C (482°F) or above. This waste concrete. bit.ly/GottaCaptureThemAll

Death reported at London A fatal incident has been reported at an electrical substation being built to
supply power to a new Microsoft data center in London.

substation being built for It is understood that a worker was trapped after an incident involving an
aerial work platform at the Park Royal site in Ealing in February, and died of
Microsoft data center his injuries in hospital the following week.
Few details are available, but the accident took place at the Powergate
Project site, where H&MV Engineering is building an electrical substation for
Microsoft. The victim was reportedly a man in his late 20s.
A spokesperson for H&MV Engineering said the worker was not a
company employee, and it was investigating the incident.
Microsoft has a data center construction site in West Acton (recently
visited by Prince William, to discuss concerns about deaths from suicide in
construction). The event took place away from the data center site itself, at an
electrical substation being built to power the facility.
A Microsoft spokesperson said: “We are deeply saddened by an incident at
our construction site in Park Royal, Ealing in which a contractor subsequently
lost their life. Our thoughts are with their family, friends, and colleagues
at this difficult time. An incident investigation is currently underway, and
support being offered to those affected. The health and safety of anyone
working on Microsoft sites is a core priority and we are committed to
ensuring the highest standards are met in the delivery of our projects.”

bit.ly/SubstationDeathLondon

8 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

 Whitespace >>CONTENTS

Alphabet spin- SIP said the modular Verrus design

can share power assets between halls to
align capacity to loads across the facility.
Supply adapts to sync with demand

out Sidewalk improve utilization rather than stranding

capacity. Verrus can also deploy grid-
(and vice versa), rather than sitting idle,”
Verrus’ own announcement said. “Our

Infrastructure scale battery storage rather than diesel

generators that can support the grid if
optimization can dynamically calibrate
operations to sync with workload

Partners needed.
Verrus’ orchestrated software system
variability, grid interactions, and carbon
availability.”
launches data can coordinate uptime preservation
while optimizing costs, emissions, and
Verrus’ features a number of former
Google staff amongst its leadership
center unit grid support. team. The company is led by CEO Nelson
Verrus said it utilizes “innovative Abramson. Prior to joining Verrus,
cooling techniques” to support extreme Nelson served as the global head of
Alphabet spin-out Sidewalk
chip heat dissipation from power-hungry Infrastructure for X (formerly Twitter). He
Infrastructure Partners (SIP) has
GPUs – likely liquid-cooling, but without also previously worked at Google for 20
launched a new data center-focused
providing details. years, including on its data center team.
unit.
“In place of redundant, isolated, SIP was formed out of Sidewalk Labs
“SIP is taking a lead on the private
and unsustainable power assets, we in 2019 as an independent entity out of
sector solutions by bringing Verrus — a
implement optimized electrical and Alphabet.
new SIP platform company that builds
next-generation data centers — out of mechanical plant architecture to fluidly bit.ly/3TQ1deb
stealth after several years of internal
research and development,” the company
announced in March.
SIP said Verrus is “pioneering a new
generation of flexible, efficient data
centers tailored for both conventional
workloads and AI” by matching its
infrastructure to the variable uptime
requirements and actual workload needs.
As an example, SIP said separate
server halls can house availability-
sensitive computing like web searches
and flexible batch operations like AI
training. This workload-aware approach,
it said, maximizes efficiency.

AWS acquires Talen’s nuclear

Tract files for 30-building campus in
data center campus in Buckeye, Arizona
Pennsylvania Data center park developer Tract is reportedly planning a
new campus in Phoenix, Arizona.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has acquired Talen Energy’s data center Tract is said to be plotting a $14 billion master-
campus at a nuclear power station in Pennsylvania. planned data center complex across 1,000 acres in the
March saw Talen Energy Corporation announce it has sold its 960MW Buckeye area of Maricopa County.
Cumulus data center campus in Pennsylvania to a ‘major cloud service Known as Project Range, the development will span
provider’ – listed as Amazon in a Talen investor presentation. Amazon is nearly 30 buildings totaling 5.6 million square feet on
yet to comment on the news. land north and south of Yuma Road between Jackrabbit
Talen sold the site and assets of Cumulus Data for $650 million. The Trail and Perryville Road. Buildings will range from
deal comprises $350 million at close and $300m escrowed, released upon 149,000 square feet to 260,000 square feet each.
development milestones anticipated in 2024. Work on the project is set to start in 2025 and continue
First announced by DCD in July 2021, the 1,200-acre campus draws over the next 15 to 18 years.
power from Talen Energy’s neighboring 2.5GW nuclear power station Tract is led by Grant van Rooyen, president of the
in Luzerne County, the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station (SSES). The van Rooyen Group and founder of US data center firm
company broke ground in 2021 and completed the first 48MW, 300,000 Cologix. Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners acquired a
square foot (28,870 sqm) hyperscale facility early last year, along with a majority stake in the company in 2017.
separate cryptomine facility.
Tract is planning other large parks in Reno, Nevada;
Talen said AWS aims to develop a 960MW data center campus, and has Eagle Mountain, Utah; and Richmond, Virginia.
signed a 10-year PPA with the to procure power from the nearby plant.
bit.ly/3VR7cCm
bit.ly/4asZa6Y

10 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

 Turnkey Delivery of Digital Infrastructure

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winthrop.ie
 Whitespace >>CONTENTS

HPE acquires Juniper Ardian acquires

Networks for $14 billion
HPE is to acquire network gear
Verne Global; D9
maker Juniper Networks for $14
billion.
to wind down after
The all-cash transaction was
approved by the boards of both
asset sales
companies in January.
The acquisition is expected
to double HPE’s networking
business and “create a new
networking leader with a
comprehensive portfolio,”
according to the companies.
The transaction is expected to
Investment firm Ardian has completed the D9 bought Verne for £231 million in 2021 ($320m
close in late 2024 or early 2025.
acquisition of European data center firm Verne. at the time). The company operates a 24MW data
Juniper CEO Rami Rahim Verne’s previous owner, D9, is set to wind down center campus on a former NATO site near Keflavik,
will lead the combined HPE after selling off its other assets. Iceland, offering colocation and high-performance
networking business. computing services. D9 has since acquired and
Terms of the sale were not disclosed – though
Founded in 1996 and based reports suggest £465 million ($575m). merged Finnish data center firm Ficolo and
in Sunnyvale, California, London’s Volta Data Centres into the Verne brand.
Ardian said it will support the expansion of Verne
NYSE-listed Juniper provides Amid growing debt and a dropping share price, D9
with up to $1.2bn committed investment through
networking products, including initially said that it would sell a minority stake in
equity and debt to “deliver an ambitious growth
routers, switches, network Verne, but shareholders pushed for a total sale.
plan” for Northern Europe.
management software, network
Ardian said it plans to multiply Verne’s existing sold D9 is in the process of winding down and will
security products, and software-
capacity of 29MW for 2023 by “close to four times” be selling off its other assets. As well as Verne,
defined networking (SDN)
in the medium term. This will include expanding D9’s investments include subsea cable firm
technology.
existing sites and entering new locations with a Aqua Comms, UK terrestrial television and radio
HPE offers switches via broadcasting network Arqiva, Irish broadband
focus on Iceland, Finland, Sweden, and Norway,
its Aruba Networks unit – firm Elio (previously Host Ireland), a stake in the
as well as potential opportunities across the rest of
acquired in 2015 just prior to EMIC-1 cable, and the SeaEdge UK1 data center &
Northern Europe.
Hewlett Packard’s split into two cable landing station in the UK.
companies. Triple Point-owned D9 announced it was selling
Verne to Ardian in November 2023. bit.ly/4aITDZI
Since it was broken off from
HP in 2015, HPE’s acquisitions
include SGI, Cray, SimpliVity, and
Nimble Storage. This is HPE’s Peter’s factoid
largest deal since becoming a
standalone company by a wide Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang believes that, over the next four to five years,
margin and one of the largest in a trillion dollars’ worth of data center infrastructure and hardware will be
HP’s long history.
built across the world.
bit.ly/3xkwwGn

Brookfield completes Brookfield has completed its $775m

purchase of Cyxtera, merging the
Combining Evoque and Cyxtera
is “a strategic step” that “aligns
$775m deal for bankrupt provider with its Evoque
colo brand to create a combined
seamlessly” with Brookfield’s vision
for data infrastructure investments,
bankrupt Cyxtera company with more than 50 according to Udhay Mathialagan,
chair of the board at Evoque and
locations.
The deal, first announced CEO for global data centers at
in November, sees Brookfield Brookfield Infrastructure.
acquire the majority of Cyxtera’s Forty additional data centers are
assets. Evoque CEO Spencer being incorporated into Evoque as
Mullee will lead the newly merged part of the deal, most of which are
organization. based in the US and Canada.
Cyxtera filed for bankruptcy last Cyxtera was formed in 2021
June with debts of more than a out of CenturyLink’s colocation
billion dollars and regular quarterly business.
losses. bit.ly/49vmrnA

12 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

COMPREHENSIVE ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE

www.anordmardix.com
DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

The Wavehouse:
3D printing a data Dan Swinhoe
Senior Editor

center
W
alking down the street of a former US
Army Barracks in the quiet German
city of Heidelberg, one may come

The story behind the

across a strange grey building. Nestled
between some pre-WWII offices and a kindergarten,
the windowless concrete shell seems oddly out of
world’s first 3D printed place.
While the location might seem a little odd

data center on paper, in-the-know DCD readers will say a

windowless concrete building sounds like your run-
of-the-mill data center. But this one is different.
For one, it has no corners. Its rounded external
shell undulates and twists along the length of the
property. And, instead of traditional blocks or pre-
cast walls, this data center’s fascias were built up in
layers of liquid cement.
Known as the ‘Wavehouse Campbell Heidelberg,’
this building is the world’s first 3D printed data
center.

Photos: Dan Swinhoe

14 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS 3D printing construction 

3D printing a data center merging with MEG Kommunikationssysteme The Wavehouse

GmbH, Heidelberg iT can trace its roots back to
Heidelberg, located around 50 miles south Traditionally, data centers are either built using
of Frankfurt on the river Neckar, is a city the launch of its first data center in cooperation
masonry blocks or ‘tilt-up construction’ –
of around 160,000 people in the state of with MVV Manet GmbH in 2001. A second
where concrete wall panels are cast on-site and
Baden-Württemberg. It is known for having a facility was launched in 2016.
'tilted' into position using cranes. 3D printing,
reputable university and several high-quality The company is set to launch a third – however, uses a printer to extrude layers of
scientific research facilities. traditionally constructed – data center in concrete upon one another, building the walls
Fittingly, the city is home to Heidelberger the coming months that will offer 500kW up layer by liquid layer.
Druckmaschinen, a 170-year-old company – the same as the 3D printed facility. But
The Wavehouse data center is situated to
and one of the world’s largest manufacturers that unremarkable site holds few accolades
the south of the city center, on the site of the
of printing presses. The fact the city is now compared to its 3D-printed compatriot.
former US Army Barracks. Previously known as
also home to an early landmark of 3D printing, The Wavehouse simultaneously has the Baufeld 5 (literally translating to “Construction
however, is just a chance occurrence made titles of Europe’s largest 3D printed building, site 5”) prior to construction and located at
possible by a few local businessmen. the world’s first purpose-built 3D printed Billie-Holiday-Strasse 7 in Baden-Württemberg,
Originally, local managed IT services industrial building, and the world’s first 3D the single-story building totals just under 600
provider Heidelberg iT and real estate firm printed data center. sqm (6,600 sq ft); 54 meters long, 11 meters
Kraus Gruppe planned to develop a traditional The parametric design of the Wavehouse wide, and 9 meters high.
right-angled data center on the site. is in stark contrast to another data center Partners on the project include Peri 3D,
However, after reading about a 3D-printed recently launched nearby; a 2MW facility from which is part of the scaffolding firm Peri Group,
residential building built by local materials InfraRed Capital-backed Nexspace located less as well as architecture firms Mense-Korte and
firm Heidelberg Materials (formerly than a mile away and launched in late 2023. SSV, and Heidelberg Materials.
HeidelbergCement), Hans-Jörg Kraus, That building – boasting smooth green and
Peri began work on the facility last year
managing partner of the Kraus Group, decided white panels and right angles at every corner
using a Cobod BOD2 3D construction printer.
to phone his longtime friend Mattias Blatz at – is the only real competition Heidelberg iT
The facility was printed over 30 days using
Heidelberg iT and ask if he wanted to 3D print faces in a city not known for its data center
developments. around 450 tons of printing concrete from
the facility instead.
Heidelberg Materials. Printed between late
When asked why he wanted to 3D print a Heidelberg is amongst the warmest regions
March and mid-August 2023, the facility was
building, Kraus smiles at DCD and simply says; of Germany – warm enough to grow grapes,

“We had planned a data

center here. And then
my friend Kraus had
the idea with the 3D
and I said yes, I want to
do it.”
>>Mattias Blatz,
Heidelberg iT

originally due to take 140 hours, equivalent

“I am like a child. I love to make new things. It's almonds, figs, and palm trees. Blatz says the
to printing four square meters of building per
beautiful to see.” relatively small local market, temperature,
hour.
He continues: “I read in a real estate article and proximity to Frankfurt mean Heidelberg
doesn’t need a large data center ecosystem Peri3D tells DCD the total print time was
that Heidelberg Materials printed a family
and would struggle to support any hyperscale actually around 172 hours over 30 days during
house. I knew I had to build a data center for
developments. this period. Blatz jokes the print took longer
Mattias, and thought it would be perfect to
“There is only one reason to build a data due to the amount of press interest the project
print. Then I spoke with people I know from
center in Heidelberg, for the customers,” says generated: “Too many news magazines wanted
Heidelberg Materials and I said ‘I want to print
Blatz. Several healthcare organizations based to see how we print! But it was as a pleasure to
this building.’”
in the area have sensitive instruments with show all the TV stations; we’d print for an hour
“We had planned a data center here,” adds or two a day.”
low latency requirements – he gives MRI
Blatz, owner of Heidelberg iT. “And then my
equipment as an example – meaning they At the time of writing, construction on
friend [Kraus] had the idea with the 3D and I
prefer to keep IT infrastructure local. the shell had been completed and Heidelberg
said yes, I want to do it.
“There is a small business economy,” he iT will now build out the white space and
“I was very excited because I’ve known him adds. “It would make no sense in the hottest electrical room. The data center will offer
so long that I know when he has an idea, I trust city in Germany to build a data center for other 500kW and have capacity for around 100 racks.
him.” things; its better to go Iceland, Sweden, Austria, The fit-out is expected to be complete towards
Though officially launched in 2007 after or wherever, but not in Heidelberg.” the end of the summer.

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 15

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

try some more organic forms that are normally

not possible,” he says. “That was the aim for us,
to test how far can we go with it.”
“We had the chance to make this organic
form with the waves on the facade; it's a very
heavy block, but the form seems to be light.”
He notes that because this was a novel
design using a novel technology, close
collaboration with Peri 3D, Mense-Korte, and
Heidelberg Materials during the design process
was key.
“The important thing is you have to answer
various questions very early in the process.
Normally we try, and then have a back-and-
forth to change things. With this it is very
The IT firm has a long-term lease on the project. Waste heat for the facility is due to be challenging; you have to do a lot in the early
site, which Blatz says has a planned lifespan of sent to buildings in the surrounding area once stages because it's hard to change things
20 years, though he hopes it could last “much the district heating network is set up. afterwards.”
longer” than that. At the time of writing, the Certification for much of the facility has
company didn’t have an anchor tenant for the been a challenge. Most of the materials and
facility, but discussions were ongoing. A learning experience for designs for these kinds of buildings haven’t
everyone
Heidelberg iT plans to install solar panels been proven out. And so the companies had to
on the roof of the facility – around 80kW Jan van der Velden-Volkmann of SSV over-engineer in some places; – the internal
worth – and will be procuring energy from Architekten notes his firm hadn’t had any prior hall features multiple protruding support
3D printing experience before the Wavehouse, columns that Blatz said the regulators required.
hydroelectric sources to offset its remaining
but Mense-Korte had been involved in some The testing required to approve the column-
energy use. Blatz says his company generally
previous projects, which was useful for less design would likely have taken several
has more solar panels at its data centers – such
permitting. years.
as whole wall deployments – but that it was
limited by local planning regulators for this “With this technology, we had the chance to While there were design limitations, van der

“We thought we would

be in one magazine,
and a newspaper
here,” says Blatz. “We
never expected that we
would go through the
world.”
>>Mattias Blatz,
Heidelberg iT

16 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com Photos: Kraus Group

>>CONTENTS 3D printing construction 

Velden-Volkmann says working with the local

government overall was “very constructive”
during the project. Part of this was because the
volume and planned use for the site was largely
the same as the previously-planned cuboid data
center, but also because officials were keen for
the plaudits.
“They were very interested in getting
such a building in Heidelberg,” adds van der
Velden-Volkmann. “The counselor himself said
'we want to have this,' so there was pressure
enough [to get it through].”
Heidelberg iT will be targeting certification
from TÜVs – a German technical testing &
certification organization – to show the facility
is secure and resilient, alongside Blue Angel
green certification to show environmental
chops.

The foibles of printing a data

center
The handover ceremony in late January 2024
was attended by around 100 people, including
members of the construction, materials science,
and national press – a far cry from some data
center events with a handful of the same
faces over and over. DCD was disappointed
that the oversized key handed over during the
ceremony was made of styrofoam and not 3D
printed; an opportunity missed. But press of all
stripes have been regular visitors to the site.
“We thought we would be in one magazine,
and a newspaper here,” says Blatz. “We never
expected that we would go through the world;
that the Chinese might want a picture from us.
A Korean team came and wanted to see it. We
have had Americans come here. Indian TV as
well. We are proud that we have that interest.”
The walls of the Wavehouse comprise two
lines of built-up concrete a few inches apart –
also known as a double-skin wall – and linked
by steel rods. In residential developments the
space between the two rows would be filled
with insulation; here, it has been filled with
more concrete as there’s no need for more heat

Photo: Kraus Group

to be kept in and it improves wall strength.
Due to limitations around the gantry frame
that holds the printer, the Wavehouse was
printed in three segments. Connecting pieces
were then printed and put into place to seal
the facility – the seams between segments are
noticeable on the inside once pointed out.
During the design phase, Blatz says some
of the software the architecture firms were
using were struggling to work with some
of the shapes and angles being proposed,
and required additional programming to
accommodate these calculations into their 3D
models.
“They figured that out,” he says. “They also
spent a lot of time and money in the way to
find out how it can work out and how they can
calculate if these walls are thick enough.”

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 17

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

3D-printed buildings use far less metal to leave too long between printing sessions on “I personally believe that the conversion
than traditional concrete builds and often segments. of buildings is probably more powerful than
don’t require large amounts of rebar frames. “We learned a lot,” Blatz says. “[Some of it doing the 3D printing,” company founder
Blatz said this meant there is far less static for was] a lot more work than we thought.” Yuval Bachar recently told DCD (see page 25).
the Wavehouse compared to a traditional data “There's so much empty space and it's going to
While he didn’t provide a number, Mattias waste right now.”
center.
said the Wavehouse has cost around double
Blatz has also made a deliberate design Given the current construction limits
the price of the other, traditionally-built,
choice around the raised floor learned from around 3D printing in terms of physical size, it
data center the company is opening – partly
a previous facility. A one-meter recess has seems that printing a hyperscale-sized or high-
because the original plans for a data center on
been cut into the slab for raised floor, but the ceiling multi-story data center is out of reach
this site were already complete and had to be
company has opted not to put any thermal for now. For a developer willing to test the
reworked.
insulation in there (it has been waterproofed). regulatory limits with local planning boards,
He says, however, they would likely save an Edge developer could well find utility in this
As a result, the colder ambient temperature of
more money on future builds based on what new way of building. But optimism remains.
the ground reportedly provides 20kW of free
they’ve learned during the project.
cooling to the facility. Only cutting the recess “The interesting question is what comes
where racks will actually go, rather than right afterwards,” says SSV’s van der Velden-
A one-off data center?
up to the wall, also improves air circulation. Volkmann. “The technology is very new, so you
The Wavehouse may remain the only have to go step-by-step to get more knowledge
A painting robot from DAW Deutsche 3D-printed data center for the foreseeable and then to see what comes out next.”
Amphibolin-Werke by Robert Murjahn was future. While there was one on the cards in
used for painting the interior – painted While the Wavehouse is the first 3D printed
the US, the developer opted instead for a
Heidelberg iT’s shade of green to match Blatz’s data center, Peri3D is keen that it won’t be the
warehouse retrofit. Technology constraints
neon trainers. The outside, however, will last.
still limit the size of any printed building, and
remain concrete grey – though living walls are regulators are still wary of largely untested “I think that IT infrastructure and respective
set to be planted at regular intervals along the designs and materials. buildings can absolutely be something that 3D
length of the facility. While the facility won’t printing could be used for. I think we've done
In the US, EdgeCloudLink (ECL) was
have perimeter fences – a limitation of its it now,” says Lukas Bischofberger, corporate &
originally to offer hydrogen-powered off-grid
location – the site will feature multiple gates at marketing communications specialist at Peri 3D.
modular data centers, built in 1MW units, using
its entry points. The thick walls also add further “We don't necessarily think that in 20 or
3D printing construction.
security. 30 years, every building is coming out of a 3D
ECL previously said it was planning to
On the flip side, Blatz said there were printer. For some building types, other ways
partner with a local 3D printing construction
challenges around ensuring the roof of the of construction can make more sense. But we
firm for its initial build, and later buy its own
facility (flat and not 3D printed) was water-tight still think there's a lot of projects that can really
3D printers. For its first facility, however, benefit from this.”
against the ripples of the 3D printed layers the company opted to retrofit an existing
of the building. Likewise, fitting the fireproof Both Blatz and Kraus remain keen on the
warehouse instead of printing a facility, and is
doors was also a challenge. concept. Blatz says he would print another
looking to focus more on retrofitting existing
data center in future, while Kraus is already
Blatz notes that printing is made more buildings for now, potentially returning to the
planning his company’s next 3D build; a large
difficult in heavy rain, and that it was best not 3D printing concept in future.
two-story industrial building twice as tall and
three times larger in area than the Wavehouse.
“I will print again,” Kraus says. 

18 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS 3D printing construction 

3D
PRINTING:
A REVOLUTION IN CONSTRUCTION?
3D printing concrete is said to have
originated out of the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in New York
“With 3D printing, we are actually
taking out a lot of the communication
costs and inefficiency out. And the end
been approached by a number of prison
development organizations due to the
potential wall strength of 3D printed
when Joseph Pegna applied additive result will be much more in line with the projects.
manufacturing to concrete in 1997. design that the developers or the owners
Then Behrokh Khoshnevis, a professor want.”
at the University of Southern California, Most 3D printing construction firms A new skill to address a labor
3D printed an entire wall in 2004. The are either startups or subsidiaries of larger shortage
first 3D-printed house was built in 2014 in construction firms interested in exploring The Wavehouse reportedly only required
Amsterdam, the Netherlands. the technology. Founded in 1969, German two construction workers while the printer
Market reports suggest the scaffolding firm Peri began looking at was in operation. Other 3D printing
global market size of the 3D printing 3D printing in construction and what it construction projects report similarly small
construction industry was $3.5 billion in could mean for the company. It invested numbers of staff on-site.
2022, and is estimated to grow to around in Cobod in 2018, taking a minority stake
This reduction in labor is being
$523.3 billion by 2030. To date, however, in the Danish firm, and officially launched
heralded as some as a way to help address
most printing construction has been in the Peri3D in 2022. Today Peri3D sells 3D
skills shortages in the construction
residential market. printers and services, and prints its own
industry. In the UK alone, a report
buildings.
In 2018 Icon and New Story printed from last year suggested 83 percent
a 350 sq ft (32.5 sqm) home in Austin, After being involved in Germany’s first of businesses within the construction
Texas, in around 48 hours. The company 3D printed home – a two-story family industry were feeling the strain from a lack
said it was able to build a home for just house in Bekum – in 2020, Peri has been of skilled workers.
$10,000, sparking a wave of interest from involved in a multi-story, five-family
“The construction industry severely
developers – though that number was apartment building in Wallenhausen and a
suffers from labor shortages,” says
only for the concrete walls rather than the gateway sculpture in Dornstadt, Germany;
Peri3D’s Bischofberger. “It's really hard to
full build-out. a 125 sqm office building in Hausleiten,
get young people into construction and
Austria; and a single-family home in
“That really started the fire underneath it’s really hard to get good, highly qualified
Tempe, Arizona.
this whole thing,” says Ziyou Xu, founder people in construction.”
of California 3D printer provider RIC Today, the number of 3D-printed
“Getting automation into the mix and
Technology (previously Advanced buildings probably numbers in the low
construction robotics is in our opinion, a
Intelligent Construction Technology). hundreds. Printers have been used on
good way to not only sort of address the
houses in Belgium, South Africa, New
“And then in the last couple of years, shortage we have but also make the job
Zealand, Russia, France, and more, as well
buildings have been permitted in North way more attractive.”
as bridges and wind turbine prototypes.
America, and that's a big step. People According to Peri3D, it takes around six
Icon has been used to print a ‘vehicle
are starting to buy in and believe in 3D weeks to learn from scratch all the skills
hide structure’ – essentially a garage – at
printing.” needed to manage a 3D-printed build.
Camp Pendleton in California, and says it
“This has grown interest from novelists has printed more than 100 homes. CyBe “I've been working on 3D printed
and experts and universities to bold created a 3D-printed R&D lab for drone construction sites a few weeks back, and
developers. we're past the novelty phase; research in the UAE. it's much more laid back and relaxed day-
construction companies are now come in to-day work, simply because you're mainly
RIC’s Xu notes Accessory Dwelling
and wanting to try this and figure out how overseeing the printing process,” says
Units (ADUs – small secondary buildings
to make this profitable and efficient.” Bischofberger. “You're not, for example,
on residential plots and also known
Advocates tout speed and cost as as backyard cottages, granny flats, or doing heavy work putting stone and stone
major benefits, while also reducing the laneway houses) are a potential area of together.”
number of workers required on-site. Many growth for 3D printing. RIC has been working with its US
3D builds only need two or three people partner Alquist3D to develop a workforce
He says the lower cost of entry into the
to manage a printer. Xu says 3D printing development program with Aims
residential market and printer limitations
also ensures constructed buildings are Community College in Greeley, Colorado.
means that’s where most of the interest
closer to the original designs created by
around 3D printing construction is RIC’s Xu suggests that while a lot of
the project architects and site owners.
currently focused. The Wavehouse in young people might want to avoid the
“I've always looked at things from an Germany is the first time a developer has dirty work of construction, they do want
architect's standpoint, and each takes a been willing to take on the cost and risk of to play with the big robot.
huge amount of communication, effort, a commercial industrial building. “Training has come a long way. Three
and compromise,” he says. “And the
On the industrial side in future, Xu years ago, [these printers] were quite
end result is never what the architect
notes there’s promise around warehouses difficult to operate and took about a year
really wants, which is what the owner or
and cold storage facilities, and he has of training,” he says. “But we have been
developer wants.”

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 19

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

doing a lot of software development and RIC originally offered the RIC 0, a static buildings are still currently following
user interface development, and now we printer relying on a robot arm from Kuka, international building code standards
only do a two-week training course for our before moving onto the RIC-1, a printer for CMU (i.e. masonry) builds. But a new
clients to be able to use them.” that could move along fixed rails. It has building code standard for 3D printing –
moved onto the RIC M1, which has seen known as AC509 – is being developed by
Limitations and logistics the company’s printing arm attached to the International Code Council.
While 3D printing buildings can be quicker a 4x4 wheel system. The RIC-M1 Pro is a Planning regulators have been erring on
and easier than a traditional build, it isn’t combo of wheels with a fixed rail attached. the side of caution around the designs and
quite as simple as pressing a button and It also offers the RIC-2, which is attached permissioning of these projects, but once
then sitting back until a building is finished. to a scissor lift attached on rails for taller an area has its first 3D-printed building
builds. The company says its mobile go up successfully, regulators are more at
Most printing technologies require
platforms speed deployment time from ease with the concept and more likely (and
extensive set-up – which in some
days to hours. quicker) to accept proposals.
instances can take days. These frames on
which the printing nozzles sit also create Materials “It takes a little bit longer time for the
the building limitations developers must first building in that specific city to go
Where 3D printing handheld objects are through because the city officials and their
print within.
often done with heated plastic, printed engineers want to do their research before
Cobod – privately owned by General buildings are constructed using cement.
Electric, with CEMEX, Holcim, and Peri they give a permit to a building,” says Xu.
“At the end of the day, it's still your “Once they're through that learning phase,
as key shareholders – manufactures the
normal day-to-day cement. Is still it's they have no problem of proceeding with
BOD2 construction printers. It is one
basically Portland cement, plaster, it because they realize it's just any old
of the major providers of 3D printing
aggregates,” says RIC’s Xu. “The additives concrete building.”
construction machines.
they use are the same as the normal For now, many builds are over-
Like rival companies Black Buffalo, 3D construction industry; the normal engineered to ensure they meet current
Wasp, or Icon, Cobod’s technology relies accelerators, the normal plasticizers.” building requirements that weren’t
on a gantry system, requiring a scaffolding
While the materials are the same, designed for 3D prints, which companies
system, bolted to the slab or on concrete
the proportions of each component say means the technology isn’t being used
blocks, onto which the printing nozzle is
are different. The mix needs to be liquid as efficiently or innovatively as it could be.
attached.
enough to extrude cleanly and quickly, yet “There certainly is a lot of potential
Peri3D – which uses Cobod printers – viscous enough to stay where it is printed where developments can go. But as
says its maximum building dimensions are and attach itself to the previous layer. A of right now, because we have to start
13.5 m (44.3 ft) wide, 9 m (29.5 ft) high and number of companies are beginning to somewhere we need to have a look at
as long as desired. Peri says for a machine develop their own mixes specially tailored the stability, we need to look at how the
printing area of 13.5 m (44.3 ft) width, 17 for 3D printing. buildings actually hold up in the long
m (55.8 ft) length and 8 m (26.3 ft) height,
Heidelberg Materials – which supplied term.”
eight hours would be required to assemble
the cement for the Wavehouse – says Xu says that currently, the cost of
the system. The system can reportedly
its 3D printing cement 100% recyclable materials is also still a barrier – he suggests
print at speeds of 1 meter per second
as a mineral building material. It says its printing costs around $650 per yard at the
(3.3 ft); layer heights can be between 1
printed concrete also contains a binder moment, but the industry will really take
and 4 cm (0.4 - 1.5 inch) and layer widths
with around 55 percent CO2 reduction off if suppliers hit long terms of bringing
between 3 and 10 cm (1.2 - 3.9 inch).
compared to pure Portland cement that down 50 percent.
Different vendors have different mineral building material.
“Right now we are one-to-one because
systems. Icon’s uses a smaller gantry
“You really have to get a lot of the materials are quite expensive,” he
system on wheels – known as Vulcan – for
properties right so you don't have says. “Once the material costs cut by
its residential builds.
cracking,” says Peri3D’s Bischofberger. half, then we're going to actually have
Other providers – such as Vertico, “The layers that are extruded on the one about a 30 percent saving compared to a
CyBe or RIC – rely on robotic arm hand need to be soft enough or liquid conventional construction.”
systems. These can be fixed in one place, enough that they can be extruded without While 3D-printed concrete is largely
on a moving track, or attached to gantry clogging the pipes. On the other hand, it similar to traditional concrete, there is
systems. Some have their own locomotion, needs to get stable fast enough so you can still only a small number of 3D-printed
such as RIC or Constructions-3D. put the next layer on top.” buildings more than a few years old.
Xu says the gantry systems requiring “There are height limitations, simply While the industry is confident 3D
large frames are “cumbersome” and because you can only put the frame to a printed structures will last as long as their
require cranes, bobcats, and a lot of time certain height before the stability gets to a traditionally-built cousins, this has yet to
and effort to set up and tear down – point where you can't ensure the perfect be fully proven out on a long-term basis.
sometimes up to three days. layer quality anymore,” says Bischofberger. “We don't have any long-term studies,”
“By that time you've already spent “That's why right now we limit ourselves to says Bischofberger. "So that's a little
$4,000-$5,000 on labor and the printing heights of around 9 or 9.5 meters. bit of an area where we just don't have
equipment rentals,” he says. “And then But I know that the company is already the information on the lifespan yet. But
you're building a giant metal house before developing different ideas and on how to as of right now, nothing points in the
building the actual house and then taking get larger.” direction that the lifespan would be in
that metal house down after you finish Certification and permissions are still any way negatively impacted by the fact
printing, which is not what we really want a challenge for 3D-printed builds. RIC’s that 3D printing technology was used in
to achieve by doing this.” Xu notes that currently, many printed construction.” 

20 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS No diesel 

This Emirati
operator who Peter Judge

doesn’t use diesel

Executive Editor

But Hassan Alnaqbi’s AI-backed

business is working for oil
exploitation

D
ubai-based Khazna is the of the UAE’s two main telcos (formerly the
leading provider of wholesale Emirates Integrated Telecommunications
colocation in the United Arab Company) for the period from 2012 to 2014
Emirates, putting up buildings when the business was being put together.
for cloud providers and large
enterprises. It is growing fast, with 16 data The Khazna history
centers between Abu Dhabi and Duba, and “I started the operation of the company,”
has a strong link to AI, through its owner. he says. “I launched the business and
When we spoke to the CEO, Hassan launched the operation. We had two sites:
Alnaqbi, Khazna had recently opened two Abu Dhabi 1 (AUH1) in Masdar City, and
facilities, with another was due to open Dubai 1 (DXB1) in Maydan. “I remember
before this article is published. very well that the growth was very, very
Khazna is not much more than a decade slow.”
old, and started out as a state-directed Back then, there was no hyperscale
initiative. It was founded in 2012 by model to speak of, and Mubadala wanted
Mubadala Investment Company, a state- to set up a data center company to support
owned holding company or National Wealth the government and telcos. The company
Fund, which also owned AMD’s chipmaking started with 13 customers made up of
spinoff GlobalFoundries, until it went public government entities and telco operators.
via an IPO in 2021. The government business was active
“The reason Mubadala invested in this because the public sector was “very
particular sector of the business was the aggressive in the acceleration of their smart
lack of any infrastructure availability within government solution, digital transformation,
the UAE and the entire region,” explains and sectors like cybersecurity,” Alnaqbi says.
Alnaqbi. “The focus from Mubadala back And that steered Khazna towards a
then was to actually create an infrastructure wholesale model. “Our focus was mainly to
that can support the country into the digital tackle the requirements of the government,
transformation, and also provide a robust which has critical data it wants to store, and
solution for specific and niche markets.” not necessarily to go into the colo mode,” he
Alnaqbi was with Khazna more or less explains. “So Khazna is a wholesale operator
from the start, coming across from du, one that offers the flexibility of enterprises

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 21

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

and government owning their own space (which had a minority share) sold Khazna percent equity,” he says. “We consolidated all
securely, within their own remit and not to the Emirati AI technology conglomerate their data center space under Khazna and,
having a shared space, like other colo G42. with that, we became the largest data center
providers.” “G42 took over Khazna prudently, operator not only in the UAE but in the
Colo was a difficult sale back then, because they are one of the biggest users entire MENA (Middle East and North Africa)
but the telcos were a gateway: “A lot of of data centers,” explains Alnaqbi. “That region from a capacity perspective.”
enterprises had not really adopted any cloud fits with their agenda of leading in AI That’s a big deal: “What we have today
solutions, and were very protective in terms development.” is basically more than 300MW that is
of securing their IT environment,” Alnaqbi G42’s AI developments include multiple contracted in terms of capacity contracts,”
says. “The telco operators were engaging large language models (LLMs), including the Alnaqbi says. “We have about 175MW active
with small to medium businesses, and large first Arabic LLM with more than 30 billion and operational and handed over to the
enterprises on the retail side, so they built parameters, which is now being adopted by clients, the rest is being handed over as we
an ecosystem within Khazna to go and offer Microsoft Azure. It has also funded Cerebras, speak within the next 18 months.”
shared or colo solutions to the enterprise the developer of giant wafer-scale AI chips Beyond that, there is fast organic growth:
market.” “We have secured about another 250MW
The company’s involvement has changed
That was phase one, but things have Khazna’s focus from “designing specifically which is basically expanding on what we
changed since then - first to the cloud, and for the cloud layer, to looking at how we can have today within our own ecosystem.
then to AI. embrace the AI infrastructure requirement That's coming out within the next five years.”
“In 2017, we started seeing cloud players within the data center space,” says Alnaqbi. And then, there’s the projected AI boom.
coming into the region,” Alnaqbi recalls. “The In 2021, Khazna expanded through a “We have launched our first AI-ready data
enterprise mindset has changed towards the deal between G42 and the state-owned center, AUH6, which is the first of its kind
scalability that the cloud provides and the incumbent telco Etisalat (previously the within the region.”
reduced cost on them from the operational Emirates Telecommunications Group), now
perspective.” branded as e&.
Arabic AI
That was a “complete mindset shift,” he “G42 has taken a different approach to AI,” he
“Etisalat was our main competition in
says: “We have shifted our design principles says.”They realize that to take a lead on this
the UAE, in terms of providing data center
to specifically meet the demands of the ecosystem, you have to partner with global
solutions, but a lot of telco operators,
cloud players. In 2019, we started landing players. They have announced a partnership
globally, divested data centers from their
some of the global players who are leading with Microsoft, and OpenAI. They are co-
portfolio because it's not a core business
the cloud domain, on the enterprise side, developing LLMs that can sit within the Azure
to them. And that's exactly what happened
on the ERP side, and also on the full stack of platform and can be beneficial to OpenAI.”
here,” says Alnaqbi.
cloud services.” G42’s approach is to focus on “the market
“We created a joint-venture
Then in 2020, we are in,” says Alnaqbi. “G42 realized that
partnership. G42 is the
Mubadala sitting within an Arabic country, and being
majority with 60
and du part of the country's agenda of developing
percent and e& is
and taking a leading position on AI, that
the minority
means focusing on the Arabic languages.”
with 40
The world has more than 300 million
Arabic speakers, and that is a significant
opportunity, he says: “There is a huge
population that speaks Arabic that may
actually require a certain development of
LLMs that help certain sectors like banking,
financial institutions, investment sectors,
and oil and gas, where they can use the
Arabic languages to have call centers
completely digitalized and AI-driven, with
automatic response and voice recognition.”
The challenge is that training AI systems
needs source data, and there is less of this
available in Arabic than in English. “I'm not
an AI expert, but I understand it's all about
the quality of data,” Alnaqbi says. “Apart from
having data from the governments, they
went to all the Arabic libraries, books, and
encyclopedias in Arabic, and scanned books
written in Arabic day-by-day and hour-by-
hour.”
Processing and training on that data
allowed G42 to create large datasets and
build Jais, an Arabic LLM with over 30
billion parameters: “That's been recognized
by Microsoft and I was in Abu Dhabi when
Satya [Nadella, Microsoft CEO] mentioned

22 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Team player 

that we are trying to incorporate the Jais The Khazna CEO says this gives a “clear The city uses the grid for the rest of its
model within the Azure Cloud,” says Alnaqbi. focus on both sides,” explaining: “Business as needs and, as one would expect from a
At the same time, Khazna is building usual for us is taking what we have into the petro-state, that grid is heavily dependent
infrastructure tailored to the needs of next stage of growth. We focus on deploying (about 92 percent) on oil and gas, but the
G42 and LLMs like Jais, Alnaqbi says. “We cloud and hyperscale data centers for the country is rapidly developing solar and
understand that to build a data center for top players, and we will continue working nuclear power.
the cloud is a completely different ballgame, with them to deploy their cloud - because The new AUH6, one of several within
than building a data center for AI,” he that's growth by itself. There is huge growth Masdar, has its own solar plant, built by
explains. coming up, and we know the region needs a Emerge (a joint-venture between Masdar
lot of [cloud].” Energy and France’s EDF), which provides
Beyond the early training facilities,
Khazna saw a need for inference, Meanwhile, “within the company, I'm 7MW peak capacity AUH6 is projected to
where AI is applied, the CEO says: “The trying basically to structure AI completely grow to around 32MW.
AUH6 development was designed for separate from the other businesses so it Building within Masdar means Khazana
AI infrastructure from the inference doesn't get into the excitement and people had to meet environmental standards, and
perspective. We're not going to be using this lose track on the other side. AUH6 meets LEED gold, as well as Pearl 4
to train models.” “It's a challenging thing to do. But luckily, under the UAE’s own Estidama sustainable
AUH6 will deliver a mix of cloud and with the leadership, we created a completely building rating system.
inference, which Alnaqbi describes as different structure for the innovation The climate in the UAE is not like the rest
“challenging.” The inference system must be and deployment of AI. That includes the of the world, he says: “I visited Facebook's
able to access data instantly, he says, “but the design team, the project management data center in Lulea in Sweden - and the
density of the cabinet is [around 50-60kW], team delivery, and so on. That's completely challenge there was completely different,”
not as high as you need for training. For that, segregated.” Alnaqbi says.
you can need up to 100-150kW per cabinet. Within AI, he predicts that energy “They cannot pass the freezing air
That's where the challenge starts!” demands will push alternatives to Nvidia, actually coming from outside into the data
And it’s a challenge Khazna will be taking shifting “from reliance on one particular hall. They have to mix it with the hot air to
on. vendor which has a huge pipeline to other bring the temperature up and then pass it on
providers.” to the data center.
G42 has announced the Condor
Galaxy cloud AI platform consisting of Obviously, Cerebras is one of those: “In our case, we don't have the luxury
nine interconnected four exaFLOP AI “Cerebras has an AI infrastructure that allows of having cold air so we cannot design
supercomputers giving a total planned you to train models faster. They might not our facility with that mindset. We have the
capacity of 36 exaFLOPs. It has delivered yet have the right software, like Nvidia, but opposite issue, which is our hot climate. For
the first 54 million core node (CG-1), which they have a really super fast chip that allows most of the year, it is a very harsh and hot
includes 64 Cerebras CS-2 systems, and is a lot of the models to be trained faster.” environment with lots of sandstone. You
working to build two more in the US, CG-2 Commercializing new chips is a need to design your cooling solution to be
and CG-3. challenge, he says: “But I see now that a lot of reliant on what techniques and efficiency
parties are trying to find different solutions, you can do within this harsh environment.”
In the UAE, Alnaqbi reveals: “We are on
the verge of finalizing the design to go into like Qualcomm, AMD, and others.” With that in mind, AUH6 is designed
the market for building one of our biggest AI to use less water: “We are using a new
training clusters. That will come probably in
Sustainability technology which is evaporative cooling,
the next 18 to 20 months. It will be a high- Energy demands lead us to talk of and that doesn't really require a lot of water,”
density design built to cater for training sustainability which is, he says, “The other Alnaqbi claims.
AI models and it's going to be one of our element of AUH6 that we wanted. This is The technology is adiabatic cooling,
biggest clusters.” why we selected this location within Masdar which allows some cooling in the winter,
City which has been renowned as one of and uses a water sprinkler to cool the air, a
Alnaqbi has no further details, and DCD
the most sustainable developments not only technique he notes is used in some Arabic
has asked if the facility is going to be one of
within UAE but the entire region.” houses.
G42’s Condor Galaxy or a new design. Alnqbi
says the facility has to have high densities. The city is yet another state-funded There’s some liquid cooling in the
“The issue is how many servers you can put initiative, being built by Masdar, another racks he says, but not the direct-to-chip
within one cabinet, so the model is trained Mubadala subsidiary, built with at least cooling used in training architectures, at
from one server to another without having $22 billion of government money. It was least not provided by Khazna. “We allow the
to cross 90 meters of distance.” announced in 2008 as “the world’s most customer, if they want, to have chip-based
sustainable eco-city” and projected to be cooling, but this will only allow them to go to
Given those constraints, he says the
built in eight years. 150kW in certain cabinets, not for the entire
training facility will be “four or five times
what we are doing today in one cluster.” While the project was endorsed by the deployment.”
Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the The diesel generators on the site use
Balancing AI and cloud US government, others have been skeptical. biofuel, he says. “Back in October last year,
Is there a danger that Khazna might shift Professor Geoffrey Heal, of Columbia we announced we are shifting completely
too quickly to AI, and miss opportunities in Business School has called it "a gimmick, a away from diesel to biofuel.”
cloud and enterprise? “You're absolutely right. way of attracting publicity and attention."
I think this is why, within the management Eight years on from the projected 2016 Driven by government and clients
and leadership, we wanted to segregate completion date, Masdar covers around one- That decision is aligned with the
the two tracks so then we don't get into the sixth of the original area projected. It has government’s vision, he says. The UAE has
excitement of the AI track and then forget our about 10MW of solar power from the Masdar promised that the country’s operations
own organic business,” Alnaqbi says. Solar Plant, along with some rooftop solar. will achieve net-zero by 2050, which

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 23

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

is undermined by the nation’s plans to from the full ecosystem of sustainability, When UAE ministers sign MOUs with
continue exploiting oil far beyond that date. even to the point that we are probably the other countries, he says, they have “data
Although this will be burnt by others, its only operator in the region that has a zero centers as one way of collaboration.
total impact on the climate will be far from waste policy.” Our name is always put there to explore
net-zero. The zero-waste policy was announced in collaboration with these governments to
“The country has invested heavily in help them tackle the lack of data center
2023, and certification is on the way, he says.
nuclear plant,” says Alnaqbi. “It may be the infrastructure in their market. They present
“Anything you get rid of within the data us as the expert in the domain.”
only country within the region that has a centers has to be split into materials, and
nuclear plant. We have four reactors that Part of that is driven by data sovereignty:
goes to a factory that turns this waste into
provide about 6GW of clean power, and we “I think the entire region now has rules,
something - either power or usable material,”
have also heavily invested in solar plant. Abu but UAE and Bahrain, are actually ahead of
he says. “You need to make sure that it's zero
Dhabi and Dubai have invested in more than the others. They have already created data
waste to landfill.”
10GW of solar plant over the next few years, sovereignty and data localization laws.
which will contribute a lot to the grid.” Beyond the UAE "That pushes the cloud players to deploy
He concedes: “Yes, we are an oil-rich Khazna is also expanding beyond its home cloud presence within this region, not offer
country, but I think we as a company, need territory: “We came to the realization that it from other regions.”
to follow the direction of the country.” after we have penetration of data center When players like Microsoft and Google
The company’s clients also give it a availability in the UAE, the growth will be create “sovereign cloud” products it is up to
mandate to focus on the sustainability very minimal. So we started a few years back local providers to deliver facilities to support
of its infrastructure, he says: “For a lot of looking at markets that are underserved data residency, as well as security, he says:
hyperscalers and other customers that we within the region and trying to enter those “We can ensure all the way to the CPU that
deal with, sustainability becomes one of the markets with our knowledge and expertise your cloud is actually completely protected
criteria for hosting their network,” Alnaqbi and the blueprint that we created.” and completely encrypted within the public
says. cloud, so a lot of work has been done on that
It’s a plan to be “the UAE champion,” he
domain.”
Hyperscalers have global targets for says, “and transform from being the largest
sustainability, and the conditions in the local operator to the largest regional operator He says announcements from AWS
UAE need explaining, he says. “We work as a for data centers.” and others show that sovereign cloud is
partner and we openly discuss our roadmap emerging in Saudi and Qatar, for example,
Khazna has a project to build a 25MW
and their roadmap to find where's the gap.” and other players like China’s Tencent
facility which will be Egypt’s first hyperscale
(“basically the cloud of the East”) is also
Alnaqbi regularly meets with the big data center, working with local partner,
playing there.
players’ chief sustainability officers “to look Benya Group of Cairo.
at what they're doing in different regions, “We've seen a lot of momentum going,
What’s next? “We'd like to start doing and the entire region has invested heavily
how they are collaborating with other
something in countries like Saudi Arabia and in connectivity, which is a key component
operators.” He says: “We take that seriously
Kuwait and Qatar and others. We're looking for the success of cloud players within the
and set up sessions with workshops with
at different regions. Turkey is among those region. Data centers are the foundation, but
them. I personally attend a lot of workshops
markets.” on top of that they need low latency.”
with some of the hyperscaler leadership.”
The region has “huge opportunity for
Those sessions determine what is a Above all, energy
growth in the enterprise market, and a lot of
practical sustainability target: “We come up
potential for cloud adoption,” he says. Finally, he comes back to energy again,
with a common understanding. This region
And once again government backing and the unknown demands of AI: “Nobody
has its own challenges versus other regions,
comes into play, and some of the can tell you what the expectation for AI is,”
but they have criteria to follow and they
business may emerge from ‘G2G’, or Alnaqbi argues. “If you talk to people who are
need to tick a box.”
intergovernmental, deals. within that ecosystem, like G42, they expect
After this year, Alnaqbi might not have about 500GW for the next 10 years of AI
to go to so many of those workshops. The “The UAE has a very friendly relationship
growth. And that's enormous.”
company doesn’t currently have its own with the entire region, they guide us to look
at a particular region, and that's something He continues: “I think power becomes the
sustainability officer, but this year there is a
we're actually doing. The government number one constraint for everything that
plan “to have a centralized function that will
is actually looking at technology with a we do in the future. What we have witnessed
drive sustainability across all functions, not
different lens.” so far, doesn't equate to more than two
only from DCs, the design and engineering
percent of the capability of what AI can do.
side but also across the entire company.” UAE President, Mohammed bin Zayed
If you imagine increasing this to 20 percent,
Whoever fills this role, Alnaqbi is Al Nahyan, who is also the ruler of Abu
that will dramatically change.
looking forward to introducing them to Dhabi, has set up an Executive Council
for technology in general, which includes And he warns: “Energy will be a key factor
sustainability, UAE style: “It's going to be
of success. We have seen recently that there
really funny to see how they will come to the members of the board of Khazna, as well as
is a scarcity of energy, with some countries
realization about what they have to do within of G42.
and some cities tapping out from the power
this environment,” he says. “It’s completely “So you can see there's a lot of close perspective. AI cannot evolve if there is no
different here.” collaboration - but also there is a vision that, data center, and data centers cannot be
Even without a central sustainability the UAE is taking a leading position when it developed if there is no energy.
leader, Alnaqbi says Khazna’s sustainability comes to AI, that will also require extensive
“I think that's what we will see AI
efforts go beyond emissions: “We make sure investment in infrastructure, energy, data
becoming constrained in some regions and
our data centers are sustainable not just from centers, and AI infrastructures, but also a lot
some markets in the future.” 
the point of view of carbon emissions, but of investment in human capital.”

24 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Hydrogen heats up 

News from the

hydrogen frontline Peter Judge
Executive Editor

"
T
his is not a prototype,” says
Yuval Bachar. “It’s a working
site. It’s production quality.”
Back in January 2023,
Bachar told us that his brand
new company, EdgeCloudLink (ECL) would

We speak to a CEO running a 1MW build modular data centers, running on their
own hydrogen-powered microgrids, and
make them using 3D printing construction.
facility on fuel cells, with DC power One year on, he tells us that it is job done.
He is doing the final stages of integration
distribution and commissioning a 1MW data center,
running on fuel cells, at ECL’s headquarters
in Mountain View, California.
The facility, built with $7 million of
startup funding from Molex and Hyperwise,
takes hydrogen by truck from a local source,
uses a proprietary liquid cooling design, and
has no diesel generators, using batteries and
the utility grid for backup.
The only part missing so far is the 3D
printing: ECL had a vacant warehouse on
its plot, so this time around, there was no
need to call on the construction printing
contractor it had lined up. Bachar assures
us that reusing a building is greener than
printing a new one and, when 3D printing is
needed, it will be the “easy” part of delivering
a data center.
“ECL developed a fully sustainable data
center which is running on a hydrogen
microgrid, not connected to the grid,” he tells
us. “We can run our data center at 50 to 75kW
per rack, and we operate at a PUE [power
usage effectiveness] of 1.1, or better. “
At $7 million per MW, the proposal
will undercut both cloud and colocation
services, he says. With a delivery time of
eight months, it can out-deliver them. And,
depending on the source of hydrogen, it will
also have remarkably low CO2 emissions.
The pitch is a “zero-emission, zero water
use community-integrated data center."
That means one that contributes to the
community - potentially offering heat, spare
generating capacity when needed, and clean
water as a by-product of its fuel cells.

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 25

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

“We have zero refueling tank? If you don't want to do more consumption and carbon footprint, Bachar
emission and zero than two refuels per day then the size of your says. “People don't usually don't look at what
water use on our data center is limited. Around 15 to 16MW is the carbon footprint they get from the
site,” he says. “We it's starting to be a challenge. Unless these grid,” he adds. “Even in California, with one
don't use any water are hydrogen-powered trucks, it’s actually of the greenest grids in the world, you can
from the community or energy from the hurting your sustainability claims.” cut your carbon emission by 60 percent if
community around us. On the contrary, we ECL is working with delivery companies you deliver any kind of hydrogen.”
give back water to the community. That was on getting hydrogen-powered trucks, he His advice is to optimize a data center
our vision a year ago, and we have actually says “as well as actually trying to focus to use hydrogen first: “Then you source the
materialized it.” our energy into places that can get their hydrogen from the most cost-effective and
When DCD last spoke to Bachar, who has hydrogen from a pipeline." sustainable source. We're currently getting
previously held senior data center positions A lot of hydrogen reporting concentrates a blend of green, blue, and gray, and we are
at LinkedIn, Facebook, Cisco, and Microsoft, on the spectrum of hydrogen sources striving to get green only,” he says.
he was doing the final stage of integration available. “Black” or “brown” hydrogen is “By late 2025 or early 2026, we'll be able to
and commissioning at the site, preparing to made from fossil fuels, and is arguably worse supply green hydrogen to every location that
run 24/7 on hydrogen with a “very strong than its fossil sources, as energy is lost in the we need in the United States - and hopefully
battery backup system.” process. in Europe as well.
The facility fits into a 1,000 sq ft (93 sqm) Bachar disagrees: “We will show publicly “Until that time we'll do a blend, targeting
space in a building, occupying a total of in the next few weeks that getting hydrogen ‘blue’ hydrogen, which has had carbon
4,500 sq ft (418 sqm). from any source and any color today to run capture on it when it was produced - so it
data centers is superior to any grid in the has a relatively low carbon footprint. In the
Designing for hydrogen world from a sustainability perspective. Even worst case scenarios, we will blend blue with
if you take a gray hydrogen and deliver it by gray with green.”
It has a completely redesigned power
a truck you're still going to cut the emissions Data center operators’ experiments with
system, he says: “It’s a highly flexible power
of the data center by 60 to 70 percent.” hydrogen have included a 3MW generator
distribution system, built on top of the
hydrogen energy source. We eliminated the Green hydrogen is fully sustainable, powered by fuel cells, built by Microsoft
diesel generators, we eliminated the UPS but other sources of hydrogen will deliver in 2022, but most people appear to regard
systems, and we created a 4-source active- a “dramatic” improvement on power hydrogen as a possibility for the future.
active solution.” Bachar admits the hydrogen economy is
In Mountain View, ECL gets its fuel by “evolving in different areas of the world at
different paces,” but says the US is in front
truck: “We bring a tanker every seven to
eight days and it refills our onsite storage.”
We have zero emission thanks to the Biden administration’s strategy

Bachar would prefer to have a hydrogen and zero water use on to create hydrogen hubs across the country,
with a goal of getting the price of hydrogen
pipeline, and thinks these are on the way:
“You have a significant amount of pipelines
our site. We don't use to $1 per kilogram by 2031.

in the United States, and I think there's a any water from the This is still a long way off, as pump prices
in California were at $36 per kg last year.
tremendous effort right now in Europe to
build new hydrogen pipeline,” he says. “The community or energy But even so, Bachar claims it is possible to
“create energy with hydrogen prices today at
best way to actually get the hydrogen is to
connect to a pipeline.”
from the community a competitive level to what you can get from

ECL’s vision of multiple modules on a site around us. On the the grid.”
He says: “We can’t compete very well
will have to wait for the economy provided
by a pipeline: “You get a reasonable price and
contrary, we give where the electricity price is two cents or
you can create almost unlimited size data back water to the four cents per kilowatt hour, but from eight
cents to 50 is the area where we operate.”
centers,” Bachar says.
Using tankers places a limit to the
community. Overall, other factors combine to give
capacity of a site, Bachar explains. “How a hydrogen facility a lower total cost of
many times do you want to bring in a >>Yuval Bachar ownership (TCO), he says: “We can beat

26 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Hydrogen heats up 

about 60 to 70 percent of the grid prices in to get a server out of the tub
the US and in Europe, and within the next and deliver it dripping into
two years we'll be able to beat almost 100 the maintenance area, that's
percent of the grid prices.” going to be very difficult."
Bachar says the power
Availability beats price conditioning system is an
“That is,” Bachar continues, “assuming that integral part of the data
the grid is available.” center: “It's not sitting in
In many places data center builders are a separate mechanical or
facing long waiting lists for connection to electrical room. It's actually
the grid at all, but a hydrogen facility can be right there.”
built more easily: “We can drop this in any The facility has hydrogen
place,” Bachar says. “Ashburn, Virginia, does fuel cells, batteries, and
not have any power available until 2029. We cooling systems all put
work. It’s a showcase for customers: “We'll
are probably the only company who can together in a block. “Each block has its own
do testing and bring customers to test their
actually build now in Ashburn Virginia.” power conditioning system and power
workloads on-site till they feel comfortable
Quick power makes a big difference: distribution system using busways.”
with our architecture and technology,”
“Because we're not connecting to the grid, The power system, and the rear-door Bachar says.
we can turn around our data centers in eight cooling means ECL can give each rack a
Large potential customers will be let loose
months so from the moment the customer different density from 5kW to 75kW. “It gives
on up to 10 racks, the CEO says.
comes and says ‘I want this size of data us the flexibility to change the power per
center in this location.’ When traditional rack and do a mix and match of different ECL will also have its own separate high-
methods can take five years to actually powers.” density racks to show the design off: “We are
deliver a new site, that is very attractive in a working to put some AI machines there, in
With no diesel generators, the facility has
high-demand environment.” a super pod or a supercomputer footprint,
a Tesla Megapack battery that can keep the
to demonstrate the density capabilities -
ECL is aiming the facility, not at site online for eight hours. The facility is run
because most customers will not be able to
hyperscalers, but at end-user customers who by ECL’s own management system.
bring in 50 to 75 kW on day one.”
own their IT equipment: “We created the
The facility is not doing commercial
solution be a colocation site or a private data
Direct DC power
center for the customer,” Bachar says. And it
can be installed “in any location they want Running high-density racks from a local
because we are grid agnostic.” Around 15 to 16MW, power source has given ECL the opportunity
to rethink how power is moved around the
Design refueling by truck is building.
Most data centers use AC bus bars to
The design has a slab floor, so it went into
the warehouse space without any major
a challenge. Unless get electricity from the outside world to
changes. you’re using hydrogen- the racks, then converted it to DC for the
electronics in the racks. Since the fuel cell
It has a water-based cooling system:
“We're using rear-door heat exchangers to
powered trucks, if you natively produces DC power, Bachar sees no
reason to convert it twice, losing power each
cool the racks. That's how we achieve that do more than two time.
level of density with no hot-aisle, cold-aisle
isolation,” Bachar explains. refuels per day, it’s “We can actually drive any voltage of DC,
or we can drive AC,” he says. “For us, DC is
ECL stopped short of immersion cooling
because Bachar believes it's not ready, it is
actually hurting your better because we save stages of conversion.”
not approved for powerful AI processors, sustainability claims Selling capacity in 1MW units, ECL plans
and is mostly being hyped at the moment: to give the customer the choice in future
"Most techs in data centers will not accept >>Yuval Bachar builds: “We can drive a blend of them as well.
You can have half DC, half AC if you want.”
it,” he argues. “If you tell a data center tech

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 27

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

Setting up DC bus bars could be a But Bachar would rather get the social and batteries. That's all we need to do the
challenge if power densities go too high, capital from giving it away: “We see conversion.”
and the voltage remains comparatively low, ourselves as a community integrated data He continues: “I personally believe that
he says. “At the amount of power that we center,” he says. “We build only one-story the conversion of buildings is probably more
use per rack, we're going to have to drive buildings, we're trying to be as quiet as powerful than doing the 3D printing. There
thousands of amps at low voltage into possible, we are not taking power from the are ghost towns in every city, because people
distribution systems,” he says. community, and we are not taking water did not come back to the office at the same
"You could be close to 10,000-15,000 from the community.” level as they were before Covid. There's so
amps. That requires pretty special copper much empty space and it's going to waste
distribution.”
Learning from the permit process right now.
Building in Mountain View was a deliberate “We are offering to the real estate partners
He is using higher voltages, which means
tactic, says Bachar, because the city is “very that manage those sites that we can convert
a more reasonable level of current, and then
conservative” when it comes to planning them to a very profitable data center.”
stepping the voltage down at the racks.
permits.
“We're trying to put the voltage high enough Real estate companies are “very receptive”
to be safe,” he says. He explains: “We said okay, how long is to this idea, Bachar says, because ECL is
it going to take us to run for the first time, “creating an advanced data center that will
“For 1MW, we push at 800V, 750V, or 700V.
making all the mistakes and correcting extend the life of that building, and secure
That’s about 2000A, which is reasonable. To
them, and to actually get permits to build a the real estate value for years or decades to
increase that five times or six times would be
hydrogen-based data center?” come.”
a nightmare.”
He’s pleased with the result: “From start
Helping out to end, it took us about seven and a half In future - 3D printing
Running high-temperature fuel cells on site, months. And now we know exactly where Where there isn’t a vacant building, 3D
as well as racks of high-powered servers, we made mistakes, and how to accelerate the printing will come into play (for more,
ECL has a stream of potentially useful by- process. Now we have a very very extensive see the cover feature), working with
products: “We are producing a tremendous blueprint that we will take to every new environmentally-friendly building materials,
amount of hot water that we can distribute. location.” to turn out 1MW units.
We do not need it,” he says. In future, he says, “the cycle to get the “Our blocks are very small,” he says. “We
How much gets reused will depend where permits will shrink dramatically compared to will be doing 3D printing off-site, which is
a future facility is located: “If we are close what it took us on the first run.” the most sustainable way of actually doing
to the urban area, it makes sense to actually In future projects, he predicts that the construction nowadays because it's waste-
distribute it,” Bachar says. “If we're far away permit process will fold into other parts of free. There's no waste coming from the site.”
from the urban area we can distribute into the timescale: “Permitting is actually falling He also promises that ECL has selected
the building itself for heating.” into our sourcing cycle. We don't do it in a a sustainable mix of concrete for the
The hydrogen fuel cells generate water, series once we get a purchase order, we start construction printer.
which is recycled into the data center at the permits immediately and we start our ECL plans to build the blocks one at a
present. “The data center does not use water, sourcing process immediately.” time, building them “back-to-back,” he says:
because we actually have a factory [the fuel Taking the two together, sourcing and “We do not scale up, we only scale out and
cells] which produces water.” permitting will take about six months, by we optimize the way we design the data
But, because the cooling circuit is a which time ECL will have all the components center to be able to do that in a cost effective
closed loop with low loss, there will be a it needs. “We will either produce them or way,” Bachar says.
surplus of water. “We have four external purchase them and then we have about “To build a large site of 15 or 25MW, the
loops around the data center. Some of two months of integration onsite and and integration goes in cycles, so we can actually
them use some of the water that we construction.” deliver a full site in eight months, more or
actually produce but we definitely have an less.”
overproduction of water that we will give, in Re-using buildings
In the long term, ECL plans to own the
a cold state or a hot state to our neighbors.” Future construction will be quick, because ECL 3D construction printers, and make them
In Mountain View, ECL is planning to is building small and modular. Based on ECL’s available for others to use in the community
offer the water for irrigation, Bachar says. experience in Mountain View, Bachar wants when it has no construction of its own
“There's a lot of neighbors over here that to reuse more vacant buildings such as former going on, to make housing or community
require high levels of water, and we're just offices, which maybe don’t have power or are buildings: "There's no reason for us to sit on
going to give it to them,” he explains. not adequate for traditional data centers. the printer,” says Bachar.
Ironically, what the fuel cells create is “A model that we're offering to our “Our first goal is to be successful as a data
actually too pure for irrigation: “The funny customers is conversion,” he says. “We can center company,” he adds. “A secondary goal
thing is we have to dirty the water because take an existing structure and convert it to a is to send a message to the industry, that it is
it's too clean. It’s de-ionized, distilled high-end data center with no construction possible to build sustainable data centers in
water. Other customers like hospitals or work required at all.” 2024. We don't need to wait for 2025, 2030,
research labs might use distilled water. If the In Mountain View, he says, “we took a 2035, or 2050, like we hear from some of the
community asks us to give them the water, warehouse in the back of our headquarters players in this domain.”
we'll give them the water.” and converted it to one of the most advanced He explains: “We are at an inflection point
Longer term, it could conceivably be data centers in the world, without doing any in demand for data centers. If we build non-
a small revenue stream: “We produce construction. All we need to do is run our sustainable, traditional data centers because
hundreds of gallons per hour, and de- liquids and power in and out,” he says. we're in a rush, we will never get another
ionized water sells in the US for $4 per “We have a large enough parking lot opportunity like this to insert sustainable
gallon.” outside to put our hydrogen generation data centers into the market.” 

28 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

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 The Edge Supplement 

Sponsored by

Contents
32. The evolution of Satellite-connected
IoT Edge meets IoT, AI, and DCs
How can Edge support satellite-based

I
t's 2024 and conversations world, may take some time just
use cases for IoT?
around Edge continue to yet.
36. How to drive higher productivity on evolve in the data center
factory floors with industrial edge world. Betting on Edge AI
solutions There’s much debate about By 2026, Gartner predicts that
whether the industry has seen at least 50 percent of Edge
38. Banking on Edge AI the full benefits of Edge. deployments will incorporate
Intel details the opportunities at machine learning, meaning the
A lot is promised though,
the Edge for AI deployments, and need for a platform to support
with Statista projecting the Edge
disputes analyst observations that computing market to be worth
Edge AI deployments has never
Edge AI has plateaued $317 billion by 2026. That’s just
been greater.

two years away. With over 90,000 Edge

41.  Inside Flexnode's plans to solve deployments across 200 million
data center build headache If those numbers are to be processors sold in the last ten
Modular data Edge centers can believed, it show just how much years, Intel saw a gap in the
provide flexibility for the market potential there is around Edge market for an Edge AI platform.
computing, especially around all In 2022, the company hired
the use cases poised to proliferate Pallavi Mahaja to help build the
at the Edge. There’s a lot of platform that was finally unveiled
promise around VR, AR, IoT, in at Mobile World Congress earlier
this year.
particular, while AI continues to
get the industry talking. As organizations increasingly
look to deploy AI algorithms and
Satellite-connected IoT models onto local Edge devices
to speed up the decision-making
Satellites can serve a range of
and data analysis process, Mahaja
purposes. They can be used to discusses the benefits of Edge
provide cellular connectivity, AI deployments and why she’s
detailed weather updates, pleased Intel’s new platform is
broadcasting, and for other use helping the company lead the
cases. charge.
Though they have been
around for years, they can Flexnode and its Edge

32 provide a platform for IoT use

cases to thrive.
The difficulty of sourcing land
has become a headache for the
IoT goes hand in hand with data center industy, with push
Edge computing, but the early back becoming more frequent.
38 feeling in the industry is that
there’s still some way to go
This particular problem has
fueled the growth plans of one
before Edge can support satellite start-up, Flexnode, a company
companies. Satellite-IoT is seen that deploys Edge data centers,
as the catalyst to drive this, and which it says can be deployed
through the use of Edge, has the in all sorts of environments,
potential to support some critical while also more efficient for its

41 use cases, such as wildfires.

However, how soon these
applications are seen in the real
customers and serving areas
beyond the traditional data
center hubs.

The Edge Supplement | 31

 The Edge
CloudSupplement
& Hybrid Supplement >>CONTENTS

The distant
world of satellite- Georgia Butler
Reporter

connected IoT

Connecting the unconnected

T
he satellite-connected The first IoT device was a connected
Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t toaster, created in 1990 by John
new. According to Ground Romkey for a bet. It was linked to the
Control’s Alastair MacLeod, Internet via Transmission Control
some clients have been Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
using a version of the technology for and could be turned on or off remotely.
several decades. Romkey subsequently added a crane
arm to insert the bread into the device,
Ground Control designs and builds
creating an end-to-end toasting
satellite-connected technology
system.
including low-power small-form-factor
satellite IoT devices and handheld, two- Romkey’s kitchen experiments
way messaging-enabled trackers. “We came before the term IoT had even
have clients that have been with us for been coined, but in the decades since
almost 30 years, as an example of some connected devices have become
of the oldest satellite-IoT use cases we ubiquitous, with advancements such
have,” says MacLeod, highlighting a Alastair MacLeod as 5G networks and Edge computing
water company that needs to remotely Ground Control enabling rapid data transfers and
monitor its treatment sites. localized data processing which reduce
meter and 1.6-meter parabolic antenna machine-decision time. Latterly, AI
Those older cases are usually limited
- expertly installed - to enable their has added the possibility of learned
to the ultra-isolated locations where
satellite-connected IoT. pattern behavior and, as a result, better
satellite connectivity was the only
responses.
option, and if you go back to that point Things have changed drastically
30 years ago, that client would have since then, and IoT itself has This is fabulous for places with solid
needed somewhere between a 0.9 experienced significant developments. connectivity and power infrastructure

32 DCD Supplement • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Space for Edge 

- there’s no reason powerful Edge so more entrants have come into the “[NB-IoT] is using the terrestrial
computing solutions cannot be market. IoT technology and protocol, and
deployed if the requisite energy and putting it in the space segment so that,
When the so-called “space tax” was
networking infrastructure are available. eventually, you can have a device that
higher, the only motivation to use
But what about those more remote switches between the terrestrial and
satellite connectivity was if lives, or
places? What about when you are at the space network.”
millions of dollars, were at stake. But
edge of civilization?
as with any technology, as it becomes Release-17 includes a range of
Luckily, satellite technology has also more affordable, it can reach a larger specifications for 5G non-terrestrial
been undergoing a parallel revolution. commercial audience, and in 2022 networking (NTN) for platforms at
satellites were dragged into the world various orbits, including GEO, MEO
The first satellites were geostationary of 5G through the most recent update (medium earth orbit), LEO, and HAPS
(GEO) - placed at an altitude of around to 3GPP, Release-17. (high altitude pseudo satellites).
22,300 miles and directly above the
Specific to IoT is the release of 5G
equator, and not moving relative to the IoT-NTN, which provides throughputs
point on Earth directly below. ranging from one-100 Kbps, to
3GPP Release-17 Release-17 NB-IoT and eMTC (a low
By the 1980s, Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
satellites began to present a genuine 3GPP is an initiative that provides power wide area technology that
challenge to GEO. These satellites specifications across cellular provides a comparatively high data rate
reside at an altitude below 1,200 miles telecommunications technologies. It service for IoT applications) devices.
and are constantly on the move, was first founded in 1998, and set out
orbiting the Earth in 128 minutes or less to establish technical specifications
with an eccentricity of less than 0.25. and reports for a 3G mobile system - to
standardize connectivity.

Release-17 was officially frozen,

The proliferation of satellites meaning it received no further
additions or changes, in June 2022,
The
The number of active satellites in orbit and brought about a big change in the
release also
has increased from 533 in 1994, to 8,377 market.
includes two
in January 2024 - up a massive 1,472
“3GPP is the starting pistol on the frequency bands to
percent. The bulk of that growth has
convergence between space-based support this, both of which are in
occurred in the last few years, and is
IoT, or satellite IoT, and terrestrial IoT, the 5G FR1 frequency range 255 in the
concentrated around LEO craft.
on what might come next, and broadly L-band (1626.5-1660.5 MHz UL/1525-
According to Ground Control’s that is Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT),” 1559 MHz DL) with 34+34 MHz FDD
Macleod, decreasing launch costs have explains MacLeod. bandwidth, and n256 in the S-band
been a big factor.

“The cost of putting things in space

has gone down dramatically and,
depending on when you draw your
yardstick, it could be by a factor of 10,
or if you go back far enough, a factor of
100,” he says. “This has meant that the
assets put in space don't have to cost
billions of dollars or have a 30-year life,

The Cloud The

& Hybrid Supplement || 33
Edge Supplement 33
 The Edge
CloudSupplement
& Hybrid Supplement >>CONTENTS

(1980-2010 MHz UL / 2170-2200 MHz proliferated or grown For the most part,
DL) with 30+30 MHz FDD bandwidth. at scale.” if you are opting for
a satellite connection
MacLeod notes, however, that to Getting to that
rather than a
date there is no one offering devices point, MacLeod
terrestrial one, you are
truly compatible with Release-17 and predicts that we will
able to switch between space and in a remote place with
first see people using
terrestrial IoT network types seamlessly 3GPP-type standards over very limited connectivity
according to the 3GPP standards. satellite links, but they won’t of other kinds. But
immediately be interoperating. alongside limited connectivity
Andrew Nuttall, CTO and co- is often a limited power supply.
founder of Skylo, a GEO satellite “Things can change, but in order
connectivity provider, estimates that to make the space segment super “Electrical power can be as scarce or
there are currently around 10 billion efficient, it currently uses a data even more scarce than connectivity,”
devices connected over cellular protocol that's referred to as NIDD - says MacLeod.
networks. ”There’s maybe a few million non-IP-based data delivery - which is
The amount of power needed to run
mobile satellite-connected devices, so optimized for trickier links,” explains
a satellite terminal in itself can vary
if you look at those two ecosystems MacLeod.
significantly. At the higher end there
it’s around four orders of magnitude,”
“But NB-IoT doesn’t use it, so is, for example, the Gen 2 Standard
Nuttall says.
the current style of addressing data Actuated Starlink dish that uses 50-75
communication in space isn’t mirrored watts.
by that on the ground network. Of
“We’ve had customers complain
course, that will change, but none of us
because something we sell uses five
knows exactly how long it will take.”
watts, and occasionally it might reach
The silicon needed to enable devices nine when it is transmitting,” Macleod
to switch seamlessly is currently under says.
development by the likes of Qualcomm
and others, but isn’t yet widely These power constraints also apply
available. Current estimated timelines to Edge computing solutions. If you are
seem to suggest it will be later this year. struggling to find five watts for satellite
Regardless, a number of players are data transmission, you are likely also
entering the space of space and making going to be limited in the power you
their play for a part of it. can use for data processing at the
location.

But the other side of the coin is

Edge computing that satellite airtime is generally
“People often have not just one, but more expensive than terrestrial
multiple cellular devices connected in There is some disagreement on what airtime, meaning that keeping data
parallel. You can buy satellite phones this will mean for Edge computing.
to a minimum is preferable, and
and devices today, but it’s completely consolidating that data may require
IoT and Edge computing, in many
separate. You are buying separate Edge computing.
use cases, go hand-in-hand. The issue
hardware, separate equipment, and
lies in the location of these satellite-
you’re paying different people.” “What you want to do at the Edge is
connected IoT devices.
have as few end-points as possible and
The vision is that IoT, and mobile
use as little data as possible,” MacLeod
phones, will be designed so that as they
explains.
cross out of terrestrial connectivity,
they can automatically switch to “Anytime you see “A classic setup would be sensors
satellite. Devices will no longer be the sky, you have all over the place which are then
either or, they will be both, offering a connected to LoRaWAN gateways
much more reliable network as when a satellite connectivity. to do concentration, and then those
device loses contact with the terrestrial The challenge lies in gateways communicate to the satellite
network and permanently available terminal and send it back.”
alternative can be used. it being a separate
Currently, MacLeod hasn’t seen
“Satellite is wonderful from a device, and that many examples of this in the real
coverage perspective,” says Nuttall. ecosystem has not world, but Skylo’s Nuttall predicts that
“Anytime you see the sky, you have the use of Edge computing is going
satellite connectivity. The challenge really proliferated or to increase as satellite IoT grows. “If
lies in it being a separate device,
and that ecosystem has not really
grown at scale.” anything, this increases the need and
desire to do Edge computing,” he says.

34 DCD Supplement • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Edge for Space 

There are a few different motivations the convergence of ecosystems by It was a major contributor to
for Edge computing. “One, is you want eliminating behavior changes.” Release-17, and claims to be the world’s
to reduce the amount of data you first NB IoT LEO satellite operator that
“There are plenty of different ways to
backhaul, so you can make decisions is implementing that standard for the
connect devices over satellite, but there
locally,” says Nuttall. market.
is a very specific set of solutions that
The other key reason is latency, but enable that convergence,” he explains. Similarly to Skylo, however, Sateliot
if your Edge computing needs are to is not yet commercial. The company
“We want to use standardized had deployed, as of December 31, 2023,
reduce latency by a few milliseconds,
frequency bands because we don’t five prototype satellites, even though it
then realistically satellite connectivity
want to force people to choose bespoke plans around 256 in the long term. As
isn’t the way to go.
technology solutions, we want to be for when further satellites will rocket
“Additionally, this [satellite- able to use the globally harmonized into space, the company has a launch
connected IoT] is a narrowband service, regulated mobile satellite service date for some time this year, although it
this is not a broadband service. So if spectrum assets, and we want to has not been shared publicly.
you’re generating gigabytes of data provide continuous and contiguous
then you should not be backhauling connectivity. To meet those three When those satellites have been
that over this network, you should launched, and the standardized NB IoT
criteria, the only applicable satellites
be doing your analysis locally and connectivity becomes available, mobile
today are GEO.”
then just backhauling the results or network operators will be able to offer
outcomes.” The current latency for those GEO seamless connections to satellite and
satellites is around 500 milliseconds, terrestrial networks and Sateliot says it
One scenario where Edge computing which depending on your use case, will be able to serve more time-critical
and satellite connectivity could could matter a lot or not at all. applications in an affordable way.
coincide was posited by Shahbaz Ali,
head of products at Sateliot, which Skylo has yet to officially launch its Sateliot’s Ali concedes that while
provides satellite IoT services. satellite, but another company, things are moving along in the world of
OQTechnology, began investigating satellite IoT, cost is still a constraint.
“An example could be an emergency NB-IoT connected to LEO satellites in
forest fire response service in, say, the “What is stopping satellite-IoT
2016, with the plan to build a
from having massive adoption are the
Amazon rainforest,” Ali says. “Edge constellation or network specifically to existing cost barriers,” Ali says. “Satellite
computing would be necessary to take connect to low-power IoT devices. connectivity hardware prices sit
a decision right there and then based
Currently, OQ has 10 LEO satellites somewhere between $80 and $350, and
on data that sensors collected to trigger
in orbit and has global coverage which then the connectivity is between $10 to
an anti-fire system, and you can’t have
it claims is commercially viable. It also $35 per device per month
100 percent connectivity guaranteed by
any terrestrial network.” purports to be Release-17 compliant. “That is very expensive when
Connectivity via LEO satellites is looking at sectors such as agriculture
As for whether that compute would
variable because, unlike GEO, they or livestock where you need to deploy
ever happen actually on a satellite
millions of devices. There’s no business
itself, or a space-based data center type are constantly on the move. For OQ,
case for that.”
deployment, Ground Control’s MacLeod revisit time - the time between which a
is skeptical, saying he does not expect satellite will return to the same point on Overall, there is still some skepticism
to see it “in the foreseeable future.” the earth twice - sits between four-six about the technology. OQ’s Qaise puts
hours. some of this down to the bad name
This is because the cost of getting
the sector got after a lot of satellite IoT
compute into orbit, in addition to the “That’s good for some applications,”
startups appeared, only to disappear.
cost to get the data transmitted to says founder and CEO of OQ, Omar
“This gave a bad vibe that the model
space, makes such a task impractical. Qaise. “A lot of IoT devices don’t
doesn’t work for satellite operators,” he
“There’s too many things driving you have to constantly communicate
says.
in the opposite direction, the common and they are actually made for ‘burst’
sense direction, to do that,” MacLeod communication. You can have them MacLeod also dampens some of the
says. just powered by battery, and wake up to hype, dispelling what he describes as
send a burst of data, and then go back some people “throwing a lot of capital
to sleep.” up in the sky” along with claims of
radical new technologies and a “new
GEO vs LEO But as the company adds more dawn.”
satellites to its network, those periods
Skylo has committed to GEO satellites “Ultimately, the irritating thing about
of Internet desert will shrink.
for its offering. Though data transfers engineering and radio transmission
from these craft incur higher latency Sateliot, one of the companies that physics, is the laws of physics don’t
than their LEO counterparts, Nuttall drum up a lot of noise in the IoT- cease to exist. Space is always going to
says the company made this choice satellite world, is also looking to utilize be further away.” 
because its key purpose is to “solve LEO for this purpose.

The Cloud The

& Hybrid Supplement || 35
Edge Supplement 35
 The Edge Supplement >>CONTENTS

How to drive higher

productivity on factory
floors with industrial edge
solutions
Data latency is one of the main issues
driving manufacturers towards more
edge computing. Many industrial appli-
cations require rapid response to assure
product safety and quality. Computing
power and storage are being placed at
the industrial edge to lower data trans-
port time and increase availability. Edge
computing brings bandwidth-intensive
and latency-sensitive applications closer
to the user or data source.

Simplifying and standardizing

industrial edge computing
technology
A global network of technology partners
acts as a provider of these industrial

G
edge solutions. Although edge comput-
lobal market computing market was valued at $7.43 ing solutions tend to be small in size and
changes have forced billion USD in 2021, and it is expected to footprint compared to traditional data
manufacturers to rapidly expand at a compound annual growth centers, their function is often critical.
adjust their factory rate (CAGR) of 38.9% from 2022 through Users who deploy edge systems face the
systems to be more 2030. challenges of not having IT resources
flexible and agile. Part of on-site to support these systems. In ad-
the operational reassessment involves dition, edge systems are often made up
developing an ability to accommodate of multiple parts and pieces from multi-
more product variety, shorter resourcing
Why the industrial edge is ple vendors, and configuring, delivering,
of raw materials, faster production, growing and installing edge systems requires
and rapid delivery. These marketplace The industrial edge is one of the fast- collaboration.
demands are driving the increased pace est-growing segments of industrial In such an environment, strong
of digital transformation at many plant automation. Examples of devices within partnerships emerge as a critical success
sites. The trend is often referred to as industrial edge environments include factor. No one company can do it alone.
Industry 4.0, and it involves merging sensors, programmable logic control- The task of properly managing multiple,
traditional OT or operations technologies lers (PLCs), and local machines with local and remote edge systems can also
with IT edge computing systems. connectivity capabilities. To increase be complex. This is why key OT tech-
The manufacturing industry is rap- plant profitability, manufacturers must nology providers like Schneider Electric
idly deploying edge computing across correctly measure asset performance, partner with Dell Technologies, a global
a wide variety of use cases. Accord- rapidly identify problem areas, and make giant in IT server and storage solutions.
ing to Grand View Research, the edge crucial, real-time changes. With deep networks of IT and OT

36 DCD Supplement • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Schneider Electric | Advertorial 

partners across the globe, both Dell and Reference designs provide benefits to Based on the individual end user’s
Schneider Electric provide the programs both end users and partners in several business requirements, the power of
and resources needed to simplify the ways: this partner ecosystem works to manage
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Micro data centers are small, preassem- waiting for missing components. ence. Enterprise organizations want to
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• Lower risk of human error – Fewer
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people are required for systems
The racks, servers, storage devices, and OT (power, cooling, environmental
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The core elements of the system all work
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operate on their own, typically without
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When Schneider Electric’s EcoStrux-
ure ™ Micro Data Centers are matched
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• Higher sustainability – Micro data nerships give end users peace of mind
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ronment. predictable system performance.

The Edge Supplement | 37

 The Edge Supplement >>CONTENTS

Flexnode:
Deploying scalable Paul Lipscombe

modular data
Telco Editor

centers at the Edge

Following a recent seed funding, Flexnode
has its eyes on further deployments, both in
the US and internationally

"
W
e have one site
deployed so far, and
we’re going to deploy
a couple more this
year,” says Andrew
Lindsey, CEO and co-founder of Flex-
node. "A large part of this process was
creating a strong foundation,”

Flexnode designs, deploys, and

operates Edge data centers. The company
launched its first and currently only data
center last year in Long Island City, New
York, but has ambitions to deploy more so
it can serve customers beyond the East
Coast.

The site has a 1MW data room (80kW

capable racks); liquid-cooled IT (precision
immersion and now cold plate); GPU
solutions and CPU solutions operational;
digital twin running.

Lindsey, who co-founded the

company in 2019 along with Robert
Mazer, said: “If you look at what has
happened in the built environment when
you see various solutions come about,
you need to have those partners on board
long before you start going to market and
deploying things,”

He adds that the company wants to

deploy one or two more data centers by
the end of the year.

38 DCD Supplement • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Flexnode's flex 

Transition to the data center partners with, spanning engineering and

construction.
market
Flexnode works with several partners
Linsdey’s background is in construction
to deploy its data centers, which Lindsey
engineering. He previously worked at
says allows the company to build
Alpha Consortium, a company founded
everywhere. The company works with
by his father, that focuses on mission-
Arup Engineering, SHoP Architects,
critical projects.
UK-based structural engineering firm
It was while working there that he Thornton Tomasetti, Jensen Hughes, JE
identified what he saw as a challenge in Dunn Construction, and Boyce.
the data center construction industry.
US businesses have to be prepared for
“The interest came about for Flexnode an array of natural disasters, and Lindsey
Andrew
when we discovered that project adds that Flexnode has designed its
Lindsey
timelines weren't getting shorter, they modular data centers to be able to survive
were getting longer,” he says. “We were in some of the harshest environments,
seeing this in full view, where land was Building data centers at the Edge notably category-five hurricanes,
getting much more difficult to find in is the way forward to combat some of tornados, and earthquakes.
these data center hub locations, and if the challenges that the industry faces, He explains that Flexnode integrates
you could find it, it was prohibitively Lindsey argues. a system that can collapse down into
expensive.”
“We see Edge as a way to activate components, which can fit in a variety of
Sourcing power for these data centers infrastructure very quickly, where spaces. The data centers can go from four
was becoming a challenge for the today, as you know, we have a wildly low to 36-rack configurations.
industry, says Lindsey, as is the overall vacancy rate,” he says. “We have a fully digitized process that
supply chain, which he says was getting
“That should continue through the starts from the earliest stages of design
“blocked up.”
next several years, and people still need and configuration,” he says. “That digital
“We can’t train up people fast data, so we see this as a way to scale out process continues through the entire
enough to be able to deliver the kinds where we have now. We’re now on track lifecycle of a data center.”
of infrastructure that we're looking at over the next five years to be able to scale Indeed, Lindsey says his company
over the next five years,” he says. “We're out at gigawatt scale.” creates a digital twin of every data center
talking about north of a billion square
Edge is already supporting several it builds. “What it is for us is everything
feet in five years, just nutty amounts
use cases at present, such as the mining from a configurator to a management and
of infrastructure on any measure. And
industry in remote areas where power controls platform, to a training platform
as the power companies are saying
isn’t always easy to come by. It’s also for our service people to a monitoring
to us today, this is a once in a multi-
tipped to underpin autonomous vehicles, platform for our customers,” he says. “And
generational problem.”
smart grids, and medical advancements that together really makes up a digital
Flexnode, however, wasn’t created to in the coming years. twin.”
build traditional data centers, but rather
a strategy focused around developing a
modular data center approach, designed
Designed to be deployed
to be flexible and scalable. wherever
The company had identified this Flexnode’s data centers are
approach as the most sustainable long- designed to be deployed easily,
term strategy for its own data center in various locations, indoor or
growth plans. Lindsey says it had also outdoor, claims Lindsey.
become aware of the perception from the “We wanted to create an
public around data center construction in integrated platform that allows
recent years. for our customers to build and
“We have groups now that are far deploy data centers, with an
more aware of that 600,000 sq ft facility experience that's much more
that's sitting in their backyard and akin to building and buying a
communities are pretty angry about the car,” he explains, noting that
fact that they bought this new house that Flexnode focuses on connecting
had this pretty view, and now they can't three key parts.
see more than 30 ft because there's a 60 ft “The first part was an industrialized
Investment
wall behind it. Five years ago this was just building system that is designed for Flexnode raised $8.85 million in a Series A
rumblings and now it's in full view.” disassembly, configurability, adaptability, funding round in March 2023. The money
and designed to go anywhere.” will go towards helping the company
Take me to the Edge scale out its operations, says Lindsey.
The second part, he says, is focused
Requirements around the build-out of on its fully digitized process which helps The raise came after Flexnode secured
data centers have also led to a rethink its customers design and configure their a $3.5m grant from the US Department
of how these buildings need to be data centers. The final part, he adds, of Energy as part of the COOLERCHIPS
constructed. is the ecosystem of partners Flexnode

The Edge Supplement | 39

 The Edge Supplement >>CONTENTS

“I will say that we do have

international expansion in
our sights, both because of
several opportunities that are
developing in Europe and
in the APAC areas. But also
because we're designed for it.”

program in May of last year. technology will need a lot of compute several opportunities that are developing
power to operate. It will require a huge in Europe and in the APAC area, but
Working for ARPA-E – the energy
number of high-density servers to also because we're designed for it,” says
unit of the US government’s Advanced
accommodate AI workloads, and this Lindsey.
Research Projects Agency innovation
means many operators are looking at how
agency – it will develop a prefabricated, “We have the ability to go into
their facilities are designed.
modular Edge data center with a novel locations that have heat reuse
manifold microchannel heatsink, Lindsey states that Flexnode is aware requirements, and sustainability
a chassis-based hybrid immersion of the challenges that AI poses for the requirements. These are things that we
cooling approach, and an additive industry. are truly tuned for.”
manufacturing-enabled dry cooling heat
“It's a huge problem,” he says about the He says this is likely to take two to
exchanger system. This will all be housed
challenges around AI. “We’ve had a lot three years.
in a topology-optimized container.
of discussions that are ongoing around
The investment follows years of hard groups that are rolling solutions out at a
work from the company’s founding building scale that support AI.
team, Lindsey says. “For the first couple
“But these buildings are still facing
of years it was our own money,” he says.
“We bootstrapped pretty heavily, put a lot the same project challenges that every
of resources into it. And then we started other one has confronted before them.
seeking external capital, which is where Those five to seven-year project timelines
we’ve had some raises.” are still real for those other buildings,
regardless of how cool their technology is
Lindsey tells DCD that the company inside their facility.”
aims to deploy more across the US later
this year, but won’t just deploy data He notes that it’s difficult for older data
centers for the sake of it. centers to retrofit their existing buildings
because of the demands of AI. As for what’s on the horizon for the
“We’re not planning on deploying rest of this year, he says another Series A
these data centers like Bird Scooters,” he Flexnode has worked with clients
round is being lined up.
says, referring to the US micromobility to address the growing demand for AI
company which has scooters operating capabilities as part of its phased AI Edge “We are planning to start this within
across many US states. data center approach. 2024,” he adds. “We’re planning to build
out our constellation of sites where
“It’s just not our approach. Because According to Flexnode, the expansion
we can support customers to deploy
it’s a building, we don't see it as a very, focuses on air-cooled systems, providing
anywhere and everywhere.”
very large appliance, and as a result, we immediate relief to the capacity
respect the communities that we go into.” constraints. It says that this initial phase Although he admits the transition
is designed with the future in mind, into the data center world has been
He says Flexnode seeks to “offer value “allowing for a smooth transition to liquid challenging at times, Lindsey is keen for
to the broader communities that we go cooling systems as the demand for AI Flexnode to leave its stamp on the market.
into,” adding: “This isn't a lift, ship, drop, capabilities grows and the need for more
and leave - it’s about integrating into “Has it been stressful at times?
efficient cooling solutions becomes
those communities as well.” Absolutely. We have gone into the
apparent.”
deepest and darkest corners of the built
environment,” he says.
AI and the challenges it International ambitions
presents “But I will also say that it has been
Looking further into the future, Lindsey unbelievably exciting. We have a real
The emergence of AI has presented wants to take Flexnode global, specifically opportunity to revolutionize the built
challenges across all industry sectors, and in the EMEA and APAC regions. environment, not only in the world of IT,
the data center business is no exception. but the truly built world of environment,
“I will say that we have international
methodologies, and technologies.” 
But as AI promises so much, the expansion in our sights, both because of

40 DCD Supplement • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Edge AI 

Why Intel is making

big bets on Edge AI Charlotte Trueman
Compute, Storage, &
Networking Editor

Intel’s new corporate

vice president, Pallavi
A
s is the case with all things AI in recent his-
tory, Edge AI deployments have not been
immune to exponential growth.

Mahajan, talks about As the pendulum has swung from

centralized to distributed deployments, AI

the growing need for has driven the majority of growth in Edge
computing, with organizations increasingly looking
to deploy AI algorithms and models onto local Edge

Edge AI and why the devices, removing the need to constantly rely on cloud
infrastructure.

company’s new platform As a result, research from Gartner shows that at least
50 percent of Edge deployments by the year 2026 will

is so necessary
incorporate machine learning, a figure that sat at around
five percent in the year 2022.

The Edge Supplement | 41

 The Edge Supplement >>CONTENTS

Edge is not the cloud

Businesses want the Edge to bring in
the same agility and flexibility as the
cloud, said Pallavi Mahajan, corporate
vice president of Intel’s network and
Edge group software. But, she notes, it’s
important to differentiate between Edge
AI and cloud AI.

“Edge is not the cloud, it is very

different from the cloud because it is
heterogeneous,” she says. “You have
different hardware, you have different said there are three things driving The American healthcare company
servers, and you have different its growth right now: businesses wanted to use AI in advanced medical
operating systems.” looking for new and different ways to imaging to improve patient outcomes,
automate and innovate, which will in so partnered with Intel to develop a set
Such devices can include anything
turn improve their profit margins; the of AI algorithms that can detect critical
from sensors and IoT devices to routers,
growing need for real-time insights, findings on a chest X-ray.
integrated access devices (IAD), and
wide area network (WAN) access which means data has to stay at the Mahajan explains that, in real-time,
devices. Edge; and new regulations around GE’s X-ray machines scan the images
data privacy, which means companies that are being taken and automatically
One of the benefits of Edge AI is have to be more mindful about where detect if there’s something wrong with a
that by storing all your data in an Edge customer data is being stored. scan or if there’s an anomaly that needs
environment rather than a data center,
Add to that the fact that AI has now further investigation.
even when large data sets are involved,
speeds up the decision-making and become a ubiquitous workload, it's no While the patient is still at the
data analysis processes, both of which surprise that organizations across all hospital, the machine can also advise
are vital for AI applications that have sectors are looking for ways to deploy AI the physician to take more images,
been designed to provide real-time at the Edge. perhaps from different angles, to make
insights to organizations. sure nothing is being missed.
A large number of organizations
Another benefit borne out of the deploy smart devices to support their The AI algorithm is embedded in the
proliferation of generative AI is that, day-to-day business operations, be that imaging device, instead of being on the
inferencing can happen in an Edge MRI machines in hospitals, sensors in cloud or a centralized server, meaning
environment, reducing the time factories, or cameras in shops, all of any potentially critical conditions can
required to send data to a centralized which generate a lot of data that can be identified and prioritized almost
server and receive a response. deliver valuable real-time insights. immediately.

Meanwhile, talent shortages, the GE Healthcare is one Intel customer “Experiences are changing,” Mahajan
growing need for efficiency, and that uses Edge AI to support the real- says. “How quickly you can consume
the desire to improve time to market time insights generated by its medical the data and how quickly you can use
through the delivery of new services devices. the data to get real-time insights, that’s
have all caused businesses to double what Edge AI is all about.”
down on automation.

Alluding to the aforementioned

Intel brings AI to the Edge
benefits of Edge computing, Mahajan “There are three Mahajan joined Intel in 2022, having
things driving Edge previously held software engineering
roles at Juniper Networks and HPE. She
computing’s growth explains she was hired specifically to
right now: businesses help build Intel’s new Edge AI platform.
looking for new and Unveiled at Mobile World Congress
different ways to (MWC) in February 2024, the platform is
an evolution of the solution codenamed
automate and innovate; Project Strata that Intel first announced
the growing need for at its Intel Innovation event last year.

real-time insights; and “[Intel] has been working at the Edge

for many, many years… and we felt
new regulations around there was a need for a platform for the
Pallavi Mahajan
data privacy” Edge,” she explains. Intel says it has over

42 DCD Supplement • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Edge AI 

“According to Gartner, at
least 50 percent of Edge
deployments by the year
2026 will incorporate
machine learning, a
figure that sat at around
five percent in the year
2022”

90,000 Edge deployments across 200 This layer consists of a number Alongside its Edge AI platform, Intel
million processors sold in the last ten of capabilities and tools, including also previewed its Granite Rapids-D
years. application orchestration, low-code and processor at MWC.
high-code AI model and application
Traditionally, businesses looking to Designed for Edge solutions, it has
development, and horizontal and
deploy automation have had to do so in built-in AI acceleration and will feature
industry-specific Edge services such as
a very siloed way. In contrast, Mahajan the latest generation of Performance-
data thinning and annotation.
explains that Intel’s new platform cores (P-cores).
will enable customers to have one The final layer consists of the
Writing on X, the social media
server that can host multiple solutions industry solutions and, to demonstrate platform previously known as Twitter, in
simultaneously. the wide range of use cases the platform October 2023, Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger
can support, it has been launched said: “Our focus at Intel is to bring AI
The company has described alongside an ecosystem of partners, everywhere – making it more accessible
its Edge AI offering as a “modular including Amazon Web Services, to all, and easier to integrate at scale
and open software platform that Capgemini, Lenovo, L&T Technology across the continuum of workloads,
enables enterprises to build, deploy, Services, Red Hat, SAP, Vericast, Verizon from client and Edge to the network and
run, manage and scale Edge and AI Business, and Wipro. cloud.”
solutions on standard hardware.”
Mahajan also lists some of the As demonstrated by the recent slew
The new platform has been designed specific solutions Intel’s customers have of announcements, Intel believes that
to help customers take advantage of already deployed on the platform, citing Edge AI has just reached its peak, with
Edge AI opportunities and will include one manufacturer that is automatically Mahajan stating that all industries go
support for heterogeneous components detecting welding defects by training through what she described as “the S
in addition to providing lower total cost its AI tool on photos of good and bad Curve of maturity.”
of ownership and zero-touch, policy- welding jobs.
based management of infrastructure Within this curve, the bottom of the
and applications, and AI across a fleet of “What this platform enables you to ‘S’ represents those tentative first forays
Edge nodes with a single pane of glass. do is build and deploy these Edge native into exploring a new technology, where
applications which have AI in them, organizations run pilot programs and
The platform consists of three key and then you can go out and manage, proof-of-concepts, while the top of the
components: the infrastructure layer operate, and scale all these Edge devices curve is the point at which the market
and the AI application layer, with the in a very secure manner,” Mahajan says. has fully matured.
industry solutions layer sitting on top.
At the time of writing, a release date “This is where I think we are now,”
Intel provides the software, the had not been confirmed for Intel’s Edge she says, with the platform representing
infrastructure, and its silicon, and AI platform. However, during MWC, the level of maturity. She believes Intel
Intel’s customers then deploy their the company said it would be “later this was “the first to read the need for [an
solutions directly on top of it. quarter.” Edge AI] platform.”

“The infrastructure layer enables you She continues: “This is the feedback
to go out and securely onboard all of
‘AI Everywhere’ that we got back from after the launch at
your devices,” Mahajan says. “It enables Although Gartner predicted in 2023 MWC, that everybody was saying ‘Yes,
you to remotely manage these devices that Edge AI had two years before it this market needs a platform.'
and abstracts the heterogeneity of the hit its plateau, Intel is confident this is “I’m sure there will be more platforms
hardware that exists at the Edge. Then, not the case, and has made the Edge to come but I'm glad that Intel has been
on top of it, we have the AI application AI platform a central part of its ‘AI a leader here.” 
layer.” Everywhere’ vision.

The Edge Supplement | 43

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>>CONTENTS HAMR time 

HAMR - the savior

of hard drives Peter Judge
Executive Editor

What happens when hard drive

capacities double?

F
or years now, solid-state storage will take over disk drives, but I think with the density of the data they can hold.
makers have been telling us that innovation, it's always proven itself to be “We are reducing the size of the
hard disk drives (HDDs) have a the mass capacity storage of choice.” magnetic particles, and we're also
limited life ahead of them, as their squeezing them a lot tighter together,” he
performance is eclipsed by Flash HAMR time says. “The result is a dramatic increase in
memory, He is talking to DCD because he has an areal density,”
Against that, hard drive makers keep announcement to make: “This is not just The basics of the technique are easy
increasing their capacity and delivering any technology announcement. I would to explain. HDDs work by writing and
lower costs per Tbyte of storage, which categorize this as one of the most impactful rewriting the magnetic polarity of tiny
have kept HDDs in use for the majority of and significant technology shifts, that the grains in the disk platters as they spin.
storage. [hard drive] industry has seen, in its entire Density increases as the particles get
“In the data center and the enterprise history.” smaller, but so does the risk that the
environment, right now, about 90 percent That’s a big claim, but he’s talking about grains will lose their magnetism, or be
of all data sits on disk drives,” says B S heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), remagnetized by nearby reads and writes.
Teh, chief commercial officer at Seagate. a technology which is set to double the “If you put two magnetic particles too
“There's always talk about technology that capacity of HDDs, by yet again increasing

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 45

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

closely together, it becomes unstable,” says from the year 2000.” 20 percent CAGR of the areal density,” he
Teh. “That's just physics.” Secondly, he says: “There is the beams. “To put it another way, in about
It’s possible to magnetize smaller continuous innovation of the existing four years, you can see a doubling of the
grains, in a platinum alloy medium, but technology.” Thanks to the addition of capacity in areal density and consequently
there’s a problem. It doesn’t work at room helium, and other tweaks, “the older in the size of the disk drive that you see.”
temperature. HAMR gets around that technology continued to have legs, so we As well as greater capacities HAMR will
by quickly heating up a tiny dot on the were able to extend the lifecycle of the also address demands for space and power,
medium, so it can be magnetized, and then technology and push out the platform he says. HDDs will hold more storage in the
letting it cool and stabilize. transition.” same size units, which have essentially the
“To raise the temperature so you can Alongside the development of HAMR, same cost and environmental footprint.
write on it,” he explains, “we use a laser there have been other ideas including a “For a given floor space, you can increase
beam that will zap the magnetic bit, and stopgap called “shingled” recording and the amount of capacity that you can deploy
heat it up so that we can then read and microwave assisted magnetic recording in a data center,” he says, “If you take out all
write.” (MAMR) which he sees as “bridging” the 16TB drives and replace them with 30TB
technologies: “MAMR iss not a technology units, you immediately save 40 percent in
Stagnant HDDs that will allow you to go from A to B, but it, Watts per terabyte.”
It’s a significant moment because, frankly, may take you from A to A+.” He thinks that the new units will have
HDDs have been in the doldrums. the same service life, lasting around 10
Shipments of HDDs have been dropping
Boost in demand years: “We've got every reason to believe
for the last two years, and Seagate’s revenue Now is the time to announce the change that it'll be just as reliable or even more
fell by 50 percent. To be honest, some may because AI will demand more storage, reliable than previous generations.”
be wondering whether we should care especially as it moves from a focus on
Adding tiny lasers to the read/write
about his new change, training to inference (application): “Training
head will add an increment to the price, he
is very GPU and compute-centric, but
Teh thinks HDDs have been hit by a admits. While Seagate has produced the
when you move to inference, where you're
general slowdown in the economy, supply new heads and media in-house, along with
actually using the models, your compute
chain problems, and also a period during the controller chips, the laser is new: “We
requirement drops dramatically.
the Covid pandemic when customers never used a laser before, and went with an
overbought: “The fact is that the last "You don't need those expensive GPUs outside partner to develop that.”
few years was a very tough time for the to run every query, and it becomes more
The partner produces lasers that are
industry.” and more data-centric, because you're
fast and focused enough to operate on tiny
Against that backdrop, HAMR, which generating and creating more data as you
grains moving at speed, and small enough
Seagate is launching under the name use the application.”
to mount on the read/write head. In time
Mozaic 3, is not actually that new and Between 2022 and 2026, he believes Seagate will make its own lasers: “We've felt
surprising. Seagate first planned to deliver it the global “datasphere” (the world’s total the need to develop it in-house as well, to
way back in 2009, and that date got pushed storage) will more than double. HAMR complement the external partner that we
to 2015, 2019, and 2021. DCD has been will enable that, he says, “With HAMR have.”
hearing about it for years. technology, we're able to double the growth
Teh explains: “I think there are two that we've seen in the last 10 years.” Price and space
challenges. Number one, is the challenge of In recent times, faced with slack As to the price, he says: “The overall cost
productizing the technology. There’s been demand, densities have gone up by less per terabyte is still lower than the previous
more than 20 years of R&D and hundreds than 10 percent a year, he says: “Now, generations, I will say that there is no
of millions of dollars in investment, starting we're talking about doubling that to over premium - in fact, you get TCO benefits by

46 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS HAMR time 

moving into the new platform versus the

older platform on a cost per Tbyte basis.”
The first qualification units are already
shipping and Teh hopes to get major
customers buying it in quantity by the end
of Q1 2024. The first customers will be large
cloud service providers, but eventually
lower-end drives will have HAMR.
“We're coming up with variations of the
drive,” he says. “Today, if you were to buy a
12TB hard disk, you probably need one with
at least six platters inside. In the future we're
coming out with variants drive with fewer
platters, so you could conceivably get 12TB
with five disks or less, which actually makes
it a lower cost product.”
Other vendors will follow with HAMR,
he says: “We certainly hope they will,
because it's just going to be beneficial for
the industry.”
For now, though: “We are the only
company that has this technology
in the declining market for HDDs than Teh times more per gigabyte.”
commercially available. We're the first to be
able to announce and ship a three-terabyte likes to admit. Considering the possibility that all HDDs
hard disk product. And the good news is “It's our view is that all the devices that would be replaced by solid-state drives, he
that we've got follow-on products to grow are in mass production today have a role to says: “They're going to have to invest over
to four terabytes per disk and five terabyte play,” he says, adding in tape to the array of $200 billion in capex just to have enough
products as well. options. “It's all complimentary. We don't capacity - and consider the amount of time
to actually get the fabs up. No, the industry
“This not just a one-trick pony. It's a new see a scenario where one technology takes
doesn't have the money to invest $200
platform, an inflection point that will take us over the other completely.”
billion.
to bigger and better places. “ HAMR will let HDDs keep their price
“Over time, yes, solid state will have a
advantage he says: “Solid State is at least
Eye on the competition higher percentage of the share overall. But
five times more expensive. If you're a no, it's not going to replace hard drives for a
Solid-state drives continue to expand - and cloud service provider, and you are selling long, long time.” 
their presence clearly has had a bigger role gigabytes for dollars, you can't pay five

HARD DRIVE HISTORY

H ard disks drives (HDDs) have been
around for nearly 70 years, and have
come a long way since the first units
magnetizing individual grains to record
bits.
During this time, storage densities
per Tbyte lower than the competition -
essentially finding any way to make the
size of the grains smaller, while keeping
invented by IBM, which were the size of their magnetization stable.
on the platters went from 2000 bits per
“two refrigerators” and stored less than 4
square inch in 1957, to densities above 1.4 From 2005, hard drives began using
Mbyte on 52 removable platters.
Tbits per square inch - an improvement of perpendicular recording. Magnetic
IBM followed up with he “Winchester” 700 million to one. Prices fell, by a factor domains pointing downward took
drive in 1973, which set the pattern for of about seven billion, starting at more less space. Since then, Western Digital
the next 50 years, with non-removable than $9,000 per Mbyte and falling to less introduced the idea of filling the drive
media, and ever increasing densities that than $15 per Tbyte. with helium, which reduced friction and
boosted storage. At the same time the size turbulence, allowing more platters in the
of the platers shrank from 14in, to 8in, and Despite these improvements, HDDs
have been under pressure from solid-state drive, and smaller recording tracks, so
then on to 5¼ in and 3½ in units which
drives (SSDs) using technologies including more data can be packed on each one.
became standard in PCs during the 1980s.
NAND, which have higher data-transfer Meanwhile, the number of platters in
The platters are made of glass, alloy
rates, higher storage density, and much a drive has increased to 12 in high-end
or ceramic material, coated with a
lower latency and access time. models.
magnetic layer 10,000 times thinner than
a piece of paper. In that layer are grains In response, HDD makers led Right now, the next step is HAMR (heat
of material which can be magnetized, by Seagate, Western Digital, and assisted magnetic recording) but beyond
storing data. The platters spin, and the Toshiba, have come up with a series of that, who knows what other techniques
magnetic recording heads “fly” over them, improvements that have kept HDD price might keep hard drives in play. 

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 47

equansdatacenters.com
>>CONTENTS The return of DuPont Fabros 

Kestler’s run
Sebastian Moss
Editor-in-Chief

EdgeCore’s CEO on
E
dgeCore CEO Lee Kestler wouldn't want you to
think his company is exciting.

building a hyperscale "We're not an innovation company, some

pretend to be. We are not. We are a real estate

wholesaler for the mega developer. We are very focused, we're deliberate and
intentional with what we're doing. We have very

data center era ruthless prioritization.”

EdgeCore was founded in 2018 with a plan to build
wholesale data centers for the largest data center
companies. “We're looking to acquire land parcels and
operate at the intersection of energy and networks,”
Kestler said.

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 49

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

"When we started
DuPont Fabros, that
was the first time you
ever saw something
more than 30MW in a
building. Everybody
thought we were nuts.
This industry pushes
itself to a point where
success is always
teetering with failure"
Lee Kestler
CEO, EdgeCore

The company has styled itself after NextEra. "I now understand renewables, "We think we understand where the
DuPont Fabros, which was acquired a year hydrogen, battery storage, and a lot about puck is going," Kestler said. "This industry
before EdgeCore’s founding by Digital EV charging," he said. "I understand what is not short for self promotion on what's
Realty for $8 billion - ending a decade- it means to sit with somebody at the utility happening. I mean, come on, let's get real.
long run as a huge wholesale data center level, and I can understand exactly what's Everybody talks about Ohio and Salt Lake in
operator. going on." the Pacific Northwest. Atlanta is getting a lot
In late 2022, EdgeCore was itself acquired This, he hopes, will give his company of attention, and Texas."
by Swiss investment firm Partners Group an edge in finding reliable power at a time But "there's not enough money for any
with a plan to double down on that strategy, when the grid is increasingly constrained of us to go out and buy land at all those
backed by a $1.2 billion war chest. The and data centers are increasingly power- locations. So you pick your spot, and then
operator has also secured more than $2bn in hungry. "We are going to be 300MVA you work to monetize the vision."
green loans to fund its build-out. or bigger. It's not like you need 30MW
Over the next decade, Kestler believes
Kestler was brought in alongside the anymore."
that "a wave of these 300+ MVA type
Partners acquisition with a clear mandate to To adapt to the bigger and denser deployments are necessary because of the
build his own DuPont - something he had realities of today, EdgeCore has rolled out constraints in the utility market, the needs
prior form for, after spending more than a new data center design based on 12MW for future planning of that capacity," he
eight years at that company. blocks and 36MW floor plates. "They're explained.
"When I joined DuPont Fabros, we were pretty capable, and are still using air-
"And it's proven - when we started
one of the early pioneers of wholesale, cooled chillers," he said. "We are not going
DuPont Fabros, that was the first time you
large-scale, energy-efficient data centers," to use a lot of water. We're not developing
he recalled. "And that turned out very well evaporative chilled water plants in our ever saw something more than 30MW in a
for us. The industry has just exploded since." designs." building. Everybody thought we were nuts.
This industry pushes itself to a point where
Between his lengthy run at DuPont, The market's demands for liquid cooling
success is always teetering with failure."
and his past year at EdgeCore, Kestler had may change, however, so EdgeCore is pre-
two other roles that he believes will deeply installing support at the mechanical level so The market is now much larger than
inform how he hopes to build the company. that it is easier to upgrade in the future. the days of DuPont, which means a much
greater opportunity for success. “We will
The first was at Vantage, where - as While the company is looking for places
chief commercial officer - he helped the have three to five new markets in the next
to support large-scale developments, it will
data center firm grow with private equity three years,” Kestler said, “with 300MVA plus
build at those sites in increments. "I could
backing. "It was in a very similar spot to campuses.”
build a 144MW building across four stories,
where EdgeCore is now," he said. but I may only take up two floors to start," he “The market is not going to go away; AI
The second job may end up proving said. "It may be seven or eight years before is not a sugar rush. The development cycle
more useful for the inflection point that the the rest of it gets filled. And that's okay." for all of these types of projects is 36 to 48
sector now faces. "When I left Vantage [in Hyperscalers are already talking about months out.”
2021], I intentionally retired from the data infrastructure eight years ahead, he said, At the same time, hyperscalers are
center sector," he said. making planning for the long run in a ramping up their own data center build-
Instead, Kestler moved over to the utility period of AI-fueled potentially short-term outs. “But they need help - and they've said
space, spending a year at energy developer excess possible. that. So I feel good about it.” 

50 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

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>>CONTENTS Gambling on racks 

Betting on the US
market Georgia Butler
Reporter

The digital infrastructure holding up

online gambling

I
f you have ever been to a Las Vegas casino, it’s likely
you will remember the experience vividly. The lack
of windows, and clocks. The sound of coins jingling,
of slot machines, of cries of delight and angry
frustration. If you aren’t a gambler, you may have marveled
at the sheer lack of seats available for anything other than
betting or playing.
Casinos are an experience all of their own, like a candy
store where the sugar high comes from the constant flow
of money rushing to and from - let’s face it, mostly to - the
house. The chance, however small, of myriad financial
problems being solved by a single spin of the roulette
wheel means gambling remains an enticing prospect for
many, so it is no wonder that the sector seems endlessly
popular, and this popularity is spreading to the online,
virtual world.

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 53

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

This happened earlier in Europe than in the

US but slowly, state by state, online gambling -
also known as iGaming or simply ‘gaming’ by "The transactions have
those in the industry - has opened up on the
other side of the Atlantic too. to happen inside an
As with anything based on the Internet, actual casino, so we
iGaming needs to be hosted somewhere, and
that appears to be where significant complexity haven’t yet managed to
has arisen.
get to a position where
Continent 8 Technologies is one company
providing the digital infrastructure for the we could take a data
gaming industry. It offers colocation and cloud
services specifically to the gaming and online
Justin Cosnett center or even build a
Head of Solution Architecture
gambling markets. “It’s a credit to our founder, data center in a casino
Michael Tobin,” says Justin Cosnett, chief
product officer at Continent 8, of the business’s property"
move into the US market.

“Michael always had the ambition to service in Europe as the market is, according to
the US market once it was regulated. He took Vikström, 10-15 years ahead of the US in terms
the incredibly unusual step of getting a casino of regulations.
license in Atlantic City to service New Jersey This is not to say that gambling was not
and then build a data center in Atlantic City.” popular in the US, but that a variety of federal
From there, Continent 8 has been opening and state laws have held the sector back.
colocation sites as each state legalizes the In 1961, the Interstate or Federal Wire Act connection with the participation of another
online gaming industry. was established, prohibiting “the transmission person in a bet or wager that involves the use
in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or of the Internet and that is unlawful under any
“We do data centers where other people
wagers or information assisting in the placing federal or state law."
wouldn’t, because lots of other data center
of bets or wagers on any sporting event or
providers are looking for cheap power and In combination, these three laws make the
contest” or a communication that enables the
great connectivity. We don’t actually need to be US a hostile environment for online gambling,
recipient to receive money or credit for bets or
in those places, we go where the vertical takes and sports betting - both major parts of
wagers via a wire communication facility.
us and locations are needed for regulatory iGaming
purposes.” “The Wire Act prevents you from placing
However, in 2018 PASPA was overturned,
bets on sporting events across state lines,”
This technique of keeping a keen eye on thus freeing up states to begin making their
explains Cosnett. “It’s meant that each state
where new locations are opening up is also own choices.
has to regulate and have that transaction
being followed by competitor Internet Vikings. This has created an extremely challenging
happening in the state - so even users on their
Rickard Vikström, founder and CEO of mobile devices using a mobile app have to be market, with each state having its own
Internet Vikings, told DCD that, similarly, the in that state.” regulations, and hosting service providers must
company is attempting to offer its services in get licensed to comply with every set of rules.
Beyond that, there was the Professional
every state applicable. and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of “It depends on which state you are in. It’s
1992 which effectively outlawed sports betting so fragmented because every state has its own
nationwide excluding a few states, and then the rule book so it's impossible to just know ‘In this
Moving into the US 2007 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement state, you do this or do that’,” explains Vikström.
Internet Vikings is based in Sweden, and along Act which prohibited gambling businesses “I’ve had to send in fingerprints and tax
with Continent 8 began its operations from "knowingly accepting payments in

54 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Gambling on racks 

returns for the last 10 years, I’ve had interviews

with investigators. Everything in my life has
been gone through. Then they need to check
the servers and our company to make sure we
are a good supplier, and also the shareholders
behind us.”
These regulations slow down the process
of business expansion for the likes of Internet
Vikings and Continent 8, but they have both
now made the process as efficient as possible.
According to Cosnett, Continent 8 was, at
one point, opening new locations once every
two months over a period of six months as
new states added wiggle room for iGaming
activities.
“There’s no guarantee that every state is
going to regulate, but all of our customers
that want to come to the US want to be first to
market, so we’ve had to compress our ability to against MGM Resorts brought down the casino tell a regulator or a state or government, ‘please
open up a new location to between two and six and hotel group’s slot machines and hotel regulate us, please take our tax money,’” says
weeks we can be ready for customers to start room key systems in Las Vegas, as well as its Vikström.
installing their equipment,” explains Cosnett. website.
New York is one market the vendors are
Currently, Continent 8 has been leasing Cosnett continues: “It is just as viable a studying closely. Late last year it was revealed
space in other colocation facilities - always at threat to an online business as it is to a land- that it is expecting its budget deficit to reach
a Tier III quality and with good connectivity based casino. Almost more so because all these $4.3 billion. Senator Joseph Addabbo proposed
and capacity availability - but in the future, guys are doing is servicing the bet, so every legislation to authorize iGaming and iLottery
the company is looking to acquire and own its second that a site is down or unable to service in New York, arguing that it could produce
premises. its customers, significant potential revenue $1bn in tax revenue for the state. Despite this,
Not only do the likes of Internet Vikings is lost. And that’s not just for the gaming the state has not included the sector in its 2024
and Continent 8 need to be licensed, but in company, but for the regulator in tax revenue Senate Budget Proposal.
some states the colocation facility they operate as well.”
While iGaming as a whole is not allowed in
from will need licensing. “That is a bit of a Beyond security implications, latency is a New York, online sports betting is, though only
competitive differentiator,” argues Cosnett. “We key consideration. from a few select locations - the casino resorts.
might look like we're just buying or leasing “Online sports book, in particular, have a “The transactions have to happen inside
someone else's data center, but we're also competitive advantage by having low latency an actual casino, so we haven’t yet managed
bringing that regulatory approval to operate connectivity and being able to deliver the to get to a position where we could take a data
and provide our customers as well as the user the latest possible betting odds and center or even build a data center in a casino
network and cybersecurity.” information about a game, particularly with property,” explains Cosnett.
But even beyond the complex regulatory options like cashing out,” says Cosnett.
Instead, Continent 8 intends to provide
landscape, iGaming as a sector has a key set of Because of this, Continent 8 drags its casinos that already have their own servers
needs. multiprotocol label-switching (MPLS) network with better connectivity. That could help them
to all of its locations to try and speed things up. connect with iGamers elsewhere in the state,
Label switching can be faster than a routing and also potentially the hyperscale cloud
Speed and safety table lookup because switching can take place providers as many online gaming platforms
According to Vikström, iGaming is very similar directly within the switched fabric and avoids use cloud services.
as a sector to e-commerce in terms of its IT CPU and software involvement. Depending
According to Vikström, New York currently
needs. on the data center in question and its location,
has four licensed locations. “There are a lot
which is sometimes impacted by the state it is
“It’s more about security, more about of rules, and it costs a lot of money to set up
based in, this could be even more important.
making sure it's always online, rather than a lot commercial operations there,” he says.
of capacity needed because, at the end of the These casinos do not have a secret and vast
day, it's not that much data,” says Vikström. colocation data center in their basements for
State-by-state process
Cosnett reaffirms this, noting that this purpose - Vikström suggests it is closer
Continent 8 has been offering services The debate in each state as to whether they to “a few racks than a big commercial data
including DDoS (distributed denial of service) should legalize iGaming is a complicated one. center.” As with anything with limited supply,
protection, WAF (Web App Firewall), and has Currently, iGaming is only fully legal in seven these casinos are able to charge a premium for
added a SOC and SIM service and end-point states, though several more allow online sport hosting there.
protection. betting and other limited gambling services.
“At the end of the day, we [Internet Vikings]
“It's a rich target for cyber attacks,” says A major driver in favor of iGaming is, are not paying for it, it's the operators. We
Cosnett. “We've seen that in the press in the predictably, money. Once something is forward that cost to them, and they then
land-based casino world over the last year regulated, it can be taxed, and such a popular forward it to the player,” says Vikström.
or so.” While he does not explicitly name any sector has the potential to bring in a lot of tax
DCD reached out to the licensed casinos in
particular incident, one heavily reported on revenue.
the state, but did not receive any comment.
was in September 2023, when a cyber attack “There are few industries in the world that
Notably in New York, those casinos that

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 55

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

are licensed for sports betting exclude any on At every level of iGaming, each service
Native American land, in line with the Indian provider, be it the gambling platform or the
Gaming Regulatory Act. A Native American IT hosting company, relies on the customer
casino operator that asked not to be named continuing to place bets that will end in failure.
confirmed this limitation to DCD, adding that
Cosnett is philosophical about this.
some are in negotiations with the state for a
“Everyone will have their own personal view,”
new Compact - an agreement with the state
he says. “Continent 8 isn’t a company that is
that Indian Gaming sites need to operate - that
full of gamblers. We are a technology provider,
would enable tribal casinos to take part.
rather than a gambling company ourselves. My
The tribal casinos are, in many states, a normal response is that what we’ve seen is that
motivation to not allow iGaming, according to the best regulation and regulated companies
Vikström. will offer the best consumer protection.”
“The reason states don’t want to legalize it Continent 8 remains in favor of regulation,
is the Native American tribes,” he says. “Tribal with Cosnett saying that, if asked by regulators,
gaming and casinos have a big influence they will switch customer’s operations off.
politically, and online casinos would cause
“Total prohibition has been tried in
them to lose a lot of money.
certain environments, and it's not necessarily
“The government would then have to successful,” he adds. “People respond
give something back to the Native American accordingly, they carry on doing it but in ways
facilities.” that aren’t necessarily the most suitable to the
The history connecting Native Americans providers or the consumer.”
with casinos and gambling is complex and rife This philosophy is further supported by
with colonialism, dating back to the invasion Internet Vikings’ Vikström.
of the US by European countries in the 1500s
“For me, it’s easy. It needs to be regulated,
which led to conflict with tribes and saw many
licensed, and controlled by someone because
Native Americans displaced as their land was
it's an industry that can come with a lot of
annexed.
implications, like alcohol, tobacco, or anything
Centuries later, Native American
reservations were established by treaties and “The reason states don’t like that. People will always do it, so it's much
better that it's regulated,” he says.
executive orders, returning some of that land
that should never have been stolen in the first
want to legalize it is Regulations mean you have to prove things
such as source of funds, Vikström says. “If you
place. the Native American want to bet with $100,000, you need to prove
Inequalities prevailed, though, with federal
and state government, regulations and grant
tribes - tribal gaming that it is legal money and that you actually
have an income that can support that kind of
funding’ often leaving the reservations with and casinos have a big gambling.
few and limiting their ability to empower
themselves. influence politically, “In unregulated gaming, they will try and
squeeze as much money out of every single
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, many and online casinos person as possible.”
Native American tribal governments began
establishing casinos and gambling locations would cause them to Indeed, besides Nevada, which is home to
Las Vegas, there does not seem to be a clear
which brought in significant revenue to the
reservations. In 1988, the Indian Gaming
lose a lot of money" link between a state’s “friendliness” to gambling
and gambling addiction statistics - the results
Regulatory Act (IGRA) was established, which
are mostly scattered, but the data itself is also
is a federal law that dictates the jurisdictional
hard to establish. It relies on self-reporting,
framework governing gaming sites on tribal the server remained within tribal lands, judges which many gambling addicts would not do.
land. ruled this was in contravention of the act as the
The US is unlikely to see a widespread
According to the act, the purpose of it is patron would not necessarily be within tribal
opening up to iGaming. Cosnett puts this
to protect gaming as a means of generating land. Thus, the Iipay Nation was not allowed
down to politics: “At a federal level, trying to get
revenue for the tribes and to boost economic to continue its operations of the online bingo
approval has been almost impossible,” he says.
development. But the IGRA states that all game.
Indian gaming must take place on native land, “We [Continent 8] view it as part of the
DCD contacted several tribal gaming
which is problematic for igaming, which is entertainment industry but, morally, you can
establishments and gaming regulatory boards
mobile by nature. have different views on gambling, and no
for comment, but none were willing to do so.
one is going to win votes by legalizing and or
An example of such can be found in the
making gambling easier.”
2018 court case of the State of California vs
While the political in some states means
Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel. The federally The ethical dilemma
recognized Indian tribe tried to “revitalize its legalization of iGaming is unlikely to ever
Another important layer for digital happen, there does seem to be a continuous
gaming revenue stream” by establishing a infrastructure providers in the sector is the
served-based bingo game over the Internet. trickle of states changing their policies,
ethics of gambling itself. The phrase “the with Rhode Island among those joining the
Those servers were located in Iipay’s casino on house always wins” is well-known, and not
tribal lands which has since closed down. legalization list this year.
inaccurate, because the business model of
The casino had an on-site staff member Be it for better or worse, demand for
casinos relies on them winning more money
who was supposed to act as a proxy for the iGaming is unlikely to go away. 
than they lose.
patron by placing bets. While the proxy and

56 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

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DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

How do you solve

a problem like Matthew Gooding
Features Editor

Atos?

Plagued by debt and bad decisions, is there any way

back for the French IT giant?

G
iven that he built a reputation as strategic blunders and a mounting pile of debt, Distancing himself from Atos’s struggles,
France’s premier magicien when with its market cap falling from €8.2 billion Breton reportedly told members of France’s
it comes to turning around failing ($8.8bn) at the end of 2020 to just over €190 financial press association at a meeting in
businesses, it is perhaps no surprise million ($312m) at the time of writing. March that he has “no responsibility, zero,”
that Thierry Breton is not keen to be associated The company’s financial results for 2023, for Atos’s travails, saying they started after
with the problems that have beset one of his released at the end of March did not make for his departure. Bloomberg reported that the
former companies, Atos. pretty reading, showing a record annual loss of 69-year-old went even further, with his team
Breton, now European Commissioner for €3.44 billion ($3.73bn), up from €1bn ($1.08bn) issuing a three-page document outlining the
the internal market, made his name in the in 2022. wrong turns taken by the company, including
1990s by successfully waving his magic wand the names of the CEOs in charge at the time.
over a trio of struggling state-backed French Wherever the finger of blame lays - and for
organizations - national computer maker several politicians and shareholders, it is firmly
Groupe Bull, consumer electronics vendor pointed in Breton’s direction for laying shaky
Thomson, and telco France Telecom - and foundations that have caused the current
steering them back to profitability. problems - it is clear that Atos is facing a
potentially existential threat. And even if it does
For a long time, it appeared Breton had
survive, one of France’s biggest technology
also pulled a rabbit out of his hat at Atos.
companies will never be the same again.
Taking over as CEO in 2009, he helped grow
the company into a business of national
strategic importance in France, providing
digital infrastructure and services to clients Cracks in the (Tech) Foundations
across Europe and beyond. Annual revenue Atos was founded in 1997 when two French
at Atos, which was €5.6bn ($6bn) in 2009, had IT businesses, Axime and Sligos, merged. In
doubled to €11.5bn ($12.5bn) by the time Breton 2000 it joined forces with Dutch tech vendor
departed for Brussels a decade later. Origin to form Atos Origin (the Origin part of
the name was eventually dropped in 2011) and
But since 2019, life at Atos has more closely
began a period of rapid growth driven by a
resembled one of the rides at another of
series of acquisitions.
Breton’s projects, Paris theme park Futuroscope
(he was part of the team that originally It snapped up the UK and Netherlands
designed the park in 1986). The company’s consulting arm of KPMG in 2002, and two
share price has dipped more sharply than years later acquired SchlumbergerSema,
the scariest of rollercoasters amid a series of Schlumberger’s IT infrastructure division.

58 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Atos in trouble 

Following Breton’s appointment, Atos got Tech Foundations remain two sides of the
even bolder, paying €850 million ($925m) same coin and Atos has spent much of the
for Siemens’ IT business, and expanding last three years struggling to come to terms
into the US through the purchases of Xerox with its debt, which has mounted as income
IT outsourcing (€918 million) and a similar fell. The company has loans of €3.65 billion
company Syntel, for which it paid €3.1bn ($3.9bn) maturing in 2025, and has been
($3.5bn) in 2018. Along the way, it added one forced to consider drastic action. This included
of Breton’s former companies, Bull and its potentially selling part of its prized BDS
supercomputing expertise, for good measure. business unit, a part of Eviden which covers
The result was a business that, at its 2017 cybersecurity, to Airbus in a deal that would’ve
peak, was deriving the majority of its income, brought in €1.8 billion ($2bn). However, the
some €7 billion ($7.6bn) annually, managing companies announced in March that talks
digital infrastructure. It operates five of its own between them had stalled and the deal was off.
Thierry Breton
data centers according to Data Center Platform, Tech Foundations is also up for sale, and
three in France and one each in Austria and last year, a deal was agreed to sell the business
Germany in its entirety to EPEI, an investment fund run
So where did it all go wrong? “With these by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinskiy. Under
companies, it can often take a long time for “Atos needs to leverage the agreement, Atos would have received
€100 million ($108m) and unburdened itself
the rot to set in and for it to be visible when
the problems were already there,” says James what they’re good of debt of €1.8bn. Kretinskiy also promised to
participate in a €900 million ($980m) share
Preece, principal analyst at Megabuyte. “Atos is
a long-standing business and in my mind just
it, which is the HPC issue to raise funds for Eviden.
made a few strategic missteps. business, and try and But in November Atos revealed it was
seeking to renegotiate its deal with EPEI,
“They are probably perceived as a legacy
service provider and were slower than others
sell HPC-as-a-service, apparently to try and squeeze a few more Euros
to transition into the world of cloud computing packaging that for the out of Kretinskiy. This did not go well, and in
February the two companies said the take-over
and digital services. On top of that, they’ve
paid a lot for assets that they’ve struggled to get new AI world,” was off, with the Eviden fundraising canceled
value from.” too.

Indeed, with such high exposure to >>Beatriz Valle Churn in the boardroom probably hasn’t
helped. Atos is onto its fourth CEO in three
managed infrastructure, it is perhaps GlobalData
years, with current incumbent Paul Saleh
understandable that Atos was hit harder than
taking on the job in January, replacing Yves
most by the advent of cloud computing and
Bernaert, who himself had only been in post
the willingness of businesses to embrace IT
since October 2023. Bernaert said his departure
delivered as a service via the hyperscale public The business split that never was was driven by a “difference of opinion on the
cloud platforms.
The planned split was a sensible idea says governance to adjust and execute the strategy.”
Atos did not help itself with an aborted Christopher Wiles, senior director analyst Atos chairman Bernard Meunier, one of the
attempt to buy DXC, a company similarly at Gartner. “The services they put into prime movers behind the split plan, also left the
invested in outdated on-premises systems. Tech Foundations are those focused on company last year.
It saw a $10bn take-over bid rejected by the the cost, delivered via automation, process Megabuyte’s Preece said dividing the
US vendor in 2021 and walked away from the efficiencies, and offshore delivery models business was “a massive undertaking” for Atos.
deal, but not before its share price had taken a like data center and workplace,” Wiles says. “If you announce something like that, you
battering as puzzled investors questioned the “They have put what I'd call the more value- need to make sure you can make it happen
value of adding another legacy business to its focused technologies, supporting cloud and because you’ve told the world about it,” he says.
portfolio. Later that year, $1 billion was wiped cloud migration, big data, data analytics and “If it doesn't go exactly to plan, then you're
off the company’s value after accounting errors cybersecurity, into Eviden. going to find yourself in a world of pain.”
were discovered.
“I can understand why they split it that Macroeconomic factors outside the
Breton has pointed to the fact that Atos way, there are a lot of parallels with the IBM company’s control haven’t helped, Preece
was one of the first companies to partner with and Kyndryl separation though not necessarily adds. “Market conditions significantly
Google Cloud to offer private cloud services as their reasons for doing it.” deteriorated after that announcement, through
evidence that, under his stewardship, Atos was
Kyndryl is the ITSP formed when IBM spun no fault of their own,” he explains. “So they
heading in the right direction. But by summer
off its managed services division in 2021. After tried to do all this logistical work around
2021 the company was in the doldrums and,
struggling to make in-roads initially, its share creating two separate entities and manage an
with revenue flatlining, its directors decided to
price has been steadily climbing in recent underperforming business, at the same time as
take radical action, announcing it would slice
months on the back of a series of contract wins the markets were collapsing around them.”
its business in two, with its legacy managed
and partnerships signed with the hyperscale
infrastructure business renamed Tech
cloud providers.
Foundations, and cloud, cybersecurity and
big data divisions rebranded as Eviden. Both Any thoughts that Tech Foundations might What does the future hold for
companies, it was said at the time, would be do similar have been quashed by the fact that, Atos?
publicly traded and operate separately under well, the split hasn’t happened yet. Despite With Kretinskiy seemingly out of the picture,
the Atos umbrella. now operating as separate brands, Eviden and Atos has appointed a mandataire ad hoc, or

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 59

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

independent broker, to negotiate with its banks GlobalData, disposing of Tech Foundations - or
in a bid to refinance some of its debt and buy making some potentially painful decisions - “If it doesn't go
the company some much-needed breathing will be key to Atos forging a profitable future.
space. “The problem with the [Tech Foundations] exactly to plan, then
Speaking to investors after its 2023 results
part of the business is that nobody is bidding
against Atos for those legacy outsourcing
you're going to find
were announced, Saleh said the company is
“in discussions with our financial creditors
contracts because they don’t make any money,” yourself in a world of
Valle says. If Atos ends up retaining Tech
with a view to reaching a refinancing plan
by July within the framework of an amicable
Foundations, she adds, it may be forced to cut a pain”
large number of jobs to reduce costs.
conciliation procedure.”
Digital consultancy OnePoint, which holds
Valle believes Atos can flourish providing >>James Preece
11 percent of Atos shares, has offered to step in
it trades off its strengths in areas like high- Megabuyte
performance computing. It has scored
with additional funds if necessary according
a string of contracts with the EuroHPC
to its CEO David Layani. The Atos board says
joint undertaking, the European Union’s
it has yet to consider or approve such an
supercomputing project, and two machines explains: “It's not necessarily whether they've
intervention.
backed by EuroHPC and based on Eviden’s got the capabilities that people are worried
The French government is also closely BullSequana XH3000 direct liquid-cooled about, it's the ramifications of their financial
monitoring the situation, with 10,000 Atos architecture - the Leonardo supercomputer situation.”
staff based in France. The company also holds in Italy and the MareNostrum system at the
a string of public sector contracts; it is a major Wiles says businesses he has spoken to that
Barcelona Supercomputing System - featured
IT supplier to the French armed forces, and use Atos products and services are “looking at
at positions five and eight respectively in
its infrastructure underpins France’s nuclear risk mitigation strategies” in case it goes into
the latest Top500 list of the world’s fastest
industry through its Bull supercomputing debt protection measures equivalent to the
supercomputers.
subsidiary. Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in the US. “The
Eviden has also been awarded a €500 concern level of our clients [about Atos] has
It is also a technology partner of the million ($525m) contract to develop Jupiter, been raised since the turn of the year,” Wiles
International Olympic Committee, meaning it Europe’s first exascale machine, which will be says. “Nobody is acting yet, but people are
will be responsible for providing much of the based in Germany. putting plans in place.”
digital infrastructure underpinning the 2024
“Atos needs to leverage what they’re good This illustrates the precarious position
Summer Olympic Games, being held in Paris.
it, which is the HPC business, and try and the company finds itself in, and Megabuyte’s
Though Bruno Le Maire, France’s minister sell HPC-as-a-service, packaging that for the Preece says any further missteps could have
for the economy and finance, has rejected new AI world,” Valle says. “They don’t have the a potentially devastating impact. “Atos, in its
calls for the state to take over the company, he expertise that a company like IBM has in AI, entirety, is burning cash at north of €1bn a year
told Les Echoes that the government would but they could do something like that through and it has €5bn of debt,” he says.
“use all the means at its disposal to preserve partnerships, and leverage the compliance
the strategic activities of Atos.” It is thought “You can see the writing is on the wall - they
knowledge they have to offer a ‘sovereign
this will mainly involve discouraging foreign are running out of cash, and they need either
cloud’ product for European companies.”
buyers from making a move for Eviden or Tech flexibility from lenders on refinancing or a big
Gartner’s Wiles also believes Atos remains transaction to cover a significant chunk of
Foundations, though there are unlikely to be
“a strong player in infrastructure services,” and the debt they need to pay off in the next year.
many takers for the latter.
says “those capabilities haven’t changed.” He They’re fighting a lot of fires.” 
For Beatriz Valle, senior analyst at

60 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 61
DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

Running to the storm:

How Verizon prepares Paul Lipscombe

for natural disasters

Telecoms Editor

While most run away from storms, network operators

have no such option, their networks are critical
infrastructure for those in desperate need of help

I
n August 2005, New Orleans was on the “We see crisis and change as opportunities, the Air Force, Mississippi National Guard, and
receiving end of one of the worst-ever not threats. We run to a crisis, not away,” the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency
hurricanes to ever hit the United States. company often states. (MEMA).
The Category 5 hurricane killed 1,836 “When natural disasters strike, our team Dubbed “Patriot 24,” the exercise sought
people in the country, across seven states and is always ready because we've invested to simulate multiple realistic, high-intensity
caused an estimated $125 billion in damage - heavily and train relentlessly to be deployed crisis scenarios, including a Category Four
the joint most in history. at a moment’s notice to assist with rapid hurricane damaging critical communications
recovery efforts of critical communications at a hospital and a tornado causing a nuclear
It’s sadly not uncommon for such disasters radiation release with network restoration
infrastructure,” says Julie Slattery, senior vice
to hit the US, with hurricanes a regular president of core engineering & operations, needed in a hot zone.
occurrence each year, though each varies in Verizon. The purpose of these drills is for
strength and destruction.
preparation, says Verizon.
In the event of any natural disaster, be it a Patriot 24 drill
“All of these teams do training exercises to
hurricane, a tornado, or a wildfire, power will Verizon paired with the US Military to carry out sharpen their skills and prepare themselves
often shut off quickly and mobile networks will a training exercise in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. throughout the year,” adds Mark Paff, director
go down. The location is pretty poignant, as it’s only a for business continuity & event management
couple of hours away from where Hurricane at Verizon.
Getting these networks back up and
Katrina caused mass devastation.
running can be a matter of life and death, and
Lasting for six days, the training drill saw
the US carriers recognize this.
the Verizon Response Team work alongside
In February, DCD was invited by US carrier
Verizon to view first-hand how telcos prepare
for such disasters.

62 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Patriot 24 

“But this is the first opportunity where we such as search and rescue. to lend its support during these humanitarian
had all of them together coordinating on a joint efforts.
response. We’re also doing it with the Air and
Verizon’s approach to training The military supported the rescue efforts
Army National Guard so to the extent that we during Hurricane Katrina and will attempt to
can train, learn from each other, and be better During the drill exercise, the various Verizon
save lives and deliver supplies.
prepared for when a situation does occur, teams were tasked with a range of drills.
“So within the first 72 hours, we have our
that’s what makes this training opportunity so Paff explains that the drills are necessary
National Guard assets, and they can be on
special.” for the various teams to competently and
scene usually very quickly if they're in the local
confidently respond when needed during a
area,” says Lt Colonel Ashley Nickloes, director
crisis.
Networks go offline of Exercise Patriot.
“We drill all time time,” he tells DCD. “We
When natural disasters strike, they usually Nickloes says the National Guard carries
design our networks for resiliency. A major
tend to knock out power, causing telcos to lose out a drill once a year, to prepare troops for a
storm can sometimes have disruptions for that
their network coverage, thus impacting the real-life scenario.
high resiliency, so we train all the time.
customers that rely on these networks. It’s no secret that military forces will
“We also do situational awareness. So
It means that carriers such as Verizon need communicate in a different way to the average
my team does 24-7 365 monitoring globally
to be on high alert when the networks go person, and this could even be a barrier during
of anything in the world that could disrupt
down. a rescue mission, however, Nickloes says that
communications, we are a global service
For example, in 2022, when Hurricane they try to keep it as simple as possible.
provider so we have services in all the major
Ian hit Florida and South Carolina, Verizon, countries in the world. “Air Force has a different terminology and
along with T-Mobile and AT&T, was on hand to acronyms that we use to what the army does,”
This means we're constantly monitoring for
restore telecommunication services to those she says, noting that even this can lead to
weather threats, natural disasters, or even man-
affected. confusion.
made events, such as civil unrest, and things of
During that occasion, Verizon deployed its that nature.” “One of the things we’ve tried to do at
Wireless Emergency Communication Centers Patriot is say, 'hey, we can't use acronyms
When a hurricane looks likely to occur, Paff
(WECC) in areas of Southwestern Florida that here,' because we're working with our civilian
says that Verizon will usually have advanced
were impacted by the storm. The WECC are partners. We want to make sure that when
warning before it works on its checklists.
generator-powered mobile units that have we're talking, everybody's talking on the same
“So, we have three sets of checklists that page, and from the same script so that we can
device charging and computer workstations,
we follow, with the first pre-incident checklist, maximize what we're doing, and that nobody
along with wireless phones, tablets, and other
these are the things that we're doing to prepare feels intimidated. It's about breaking down
devices.
all of our response teams in advance of an those barriers.”
On this occasion, the telco had to complete oncoming threat.
site surveys of impaired cell sites, while
“After this, we have our incident checklist
moving portable generators, and mobile cell Driving a response
which is after the event occurs, and when
towers where needed. Typically when a powerful storm hits, or a
we're responding to it, we're making sure that
These sorts of responses are the norm all of the teams are following through with our tornado sweeps through a settlement, cellular
during these outages, but to get to this point, a checklist.” coverage is lost. This happens regularly during
serious amount of preparation is required. these disasters and was an important part of
He notes that during this phase, Verizon
Several teams took part during the drill. This the simulation held during Patriot 24.
needs to ensure it has people with the right
consisted of the carrier’s Major Emergency skillsets in the right areas carrying out repairs. To support the response efforts, Verizon has
Response Incident Team (MERIT), Dedicated The final checks that Verizon carries out are a substantial fleet of vehicles on hand across
Impact Response Team (DIRT), Emergency post-incident, where the carrier ensures that the country.
Response Team (ERT), and Verizon’s Frontline everything is closed down. The telco says it has more than 550 of
team. these portable assets scattered nationwide in
Once the incident is finalized, Verizon will
MERIT focuses specifically on responding then hold after-action reviews and analyze anticipation of disasters. The vehicles include
to hazmat conditions, while DIRT takes care what worked and what maybe didn’t during its fully functional, generator-powered cell sites
of Verizon’s Radio Access Network (RAN) response efforts, adds Paff. that can replace or enhance network coverage
infrastructure. The role of the ERT team is to where necessary.
keep on top of fiber infrastructure, while the It’s hard to miss the vehicles too, which are
Support from the military
Frontline squad works with local and public heavily branded in red with signage including
safety agencies. Also on hand at the drill, were the Air Force and ‘Verizon Response’ on them. Verizon says the
the National Guard. The Military plays a pretty branding is deliberate, as it aims to bring a
The Frontline team is made up of many
important role during natural disasters. source of comfort to those in need of support
people who are first responders themselves and
is focused on providing solutions to aid first Although it’s the job of carriers such as during disasters.
responders at the offset of a disaster. Frontline Verizon to get the network up and running in One of Verizon’s advancements in its fleet
often provides solutions for critical functions the wake of a disaster, the Army is also required

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 63

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

in recent years is THOR (Tactical Humanitarian repairs that they need to bring our useful, as they can scale heights that are
Operations Response), which is essentially a communication infrastructures back online, otherwise impossible.
custom Ford F650 that can deploy a 5G mast including splicing fiber optic cables that are “Drones are a great asset for getting those
and satellite dish as it responds to emergencies. damaged.” eyes on the ground where it may be unsafe for
THOR runs on Verizon’s ultra-wideband 5G people to go in there,” says Paff.
network, which includes mmWave and Edge Repairing infrastructure Verizon has previously showcased its usage
compute capabilities. Unsurprisingly, when a hurricane or bad storm of drones, doing so during Hurricane Ian,
hits, cell towers are caught up in the chaos of where drones were deployed to provide cell
A job for the dog it all. coverage to responders and residents over an
If a cell tower is taken down it can be some approximate five to seven-mile radius.
One particular scenario that played out at Camp
Shelby, saw a tornado cause a nuclear radiation time before it’s safe to erect a replacement site Drones have also been used to assess
release with network restoration needed in a or fix an existing damaged cell structure. wildfires and floods in California and to help
hot zone. During an event, if this is to occur, Verizon’s spot people trapped in ice in Colorado.
The drill saw Verizon demo its Robotic ERT team is tasked with handling the landline The telco says these drones can fly for up
Emergency Dog, otherwise known more and fiber optic parts of the network. Because to 1,000 hours and can go as high as 400ft,
affectionately as RED. But it’s not just any dog, fiber optics connect Verizon’s cell towers to the providing it has the connection.
RED can provide a secure and reliable private network, if they are damaged during a storm Significantly, the drones are also
5G network for communication event, it’s the job of the ERT team to restore 5G-enabled and use Verizon’s ultraband
RED can be controlled by a handler, using them. spectrum. The drones are operated by FAA
a tablet-like device for navigation in between However, any fixes to the actual towers (Federal Aviation Authority) certified handlers
areas. Verizon says it has about seven of these themselves are carried out by the DIRT team, too.
robotic 5G canines. explains Paff. “Drones are absolutely mission-critical
The purpose of RED is for the robotic dog “Our DIRT team is focused on the wireless pieces of equipment,” states Chris Sanders,
to go into potentially dangerous areas to scope component of our network, and those are senior manager, Verizon Frontline crisis
situations. Verizon says it’s easily deployable all the people that can restore and fix any response team. “Our drones are able to provide
and can be used in remote locations and under damaged towers,” he says. live real-time streaming, both electro-optical
harsh conditions. He adds that they’ll inspect the tower and thermal imagery to our public safety
and base station on the ground to assess agency via our robust network.”
During this particular drill, RED was tasked
with finding various sources of radiation in the any damage to determine if it’s from a
buildings. power perspective or a backhaul fiber optic Preparing for the future
With the chemical leak in full flow, the perspective, allowing Verizon to initiate the The overall purpose of the drills is to prepare
engineers in full hazmat were called in to next step in its restoration process. for future disasters, but the learnings gained
carry out their tasks of clearing the area, along “There’s satellite dishes that provide the from the events and widespread collaboration
with some who would be splicing fiber cables backhaul antennas that can go up 60 feet, are key, says Nickloes.
to replace the damaged comms. To splice a and we have portable towers that we can “The biggest takeaway from these exercises
fiber cable is a tough task at the best of times, bring up even higher so they can quickly and is from meeting partners and building
but MERIT teams are trained to do this while temporarily restore communications.” relationships so that we know who we can
wearing a full hazmat suit and thick gloves. Paff says that small cells can even be put depend on when we hit the ground. That’s
“This particular drill is satisfying some of into its drones so that they can fly up and really what the exercise is all about.”
the hazmat requirements that our MERIT team propagate RF signals to a certain area. She adds that technological advancements
is required to take. Our MERIT team consists of To ensure that Verizon can bring temporary mean more can be learned from the drills.
about 40 engineers and technicians whose day communications to people in need, it has a While US operators typically compete with
job is to operate and run all aspects of Verizon’s range of solutions, including its COWs (cells on each other for market share, this mindset is
network,” says Paff. wheels) and TOWs (towers on wheels). forgotten during times of disaster, adds Paff.
He adds that the MERIT team is also trained If power isn’t easily available, Verizon has “We have entered into relationships with
hazmat technicians, at the “same level that a other reserves in tow, adds Paff. other carriers so that if they are damaged and
fire department hazmat team would have to
“We design our networks with multiple need services they can come to us,” he says.
be.” These members of the team are required to
sources of power, with battery reserves at “So, if we've got the capacity and the
do 80 hours of hazmat training each year, plus
all of our sites, so if it loses power, we have equipment, we will help them because
one drill.
generators in almost all of our major sites. again, we're all supporting customers and
“They are trained to go into those very
“We have national fueling agreements with communities and the first responders, so
dangerous situations, we always say that
major fuel suppliers to make sure that our that the whole competitive thing goes by the
we run to a crisis, and respond to bring
generators stay fueled during a crisis event. wayside when you're dealing with a natural
communication services up which are so
We have a fleet of portable generators. So if disaster or trying to bring communications
critical for our customers, communities, and
everything fails we will strategically place these back up.”
first responders.
mobile generators so that we can quickly get With hurricane season fast approaching
“They'll be in the protective gear is a out there and restore power.” in the US, along with the threat of other
specially designed suit with breathing
unpredictable weather, the US carriers will
apparatus that allows them to be solely fully
self-contained. Eye in the sky likely put their skills into action once again,
To get the networks back up, a range of to provide the critical connectivity that
"They can go into those hazardous millions rely on. 
situations and do the kinds of communicant technology is used. Drones are particularly

64 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Cool runnings 

Cool runnings
Matthew Gooding
Features Editor

Oil companies like Castrol are

looking to data center cooling as a
new income stream

S
ituated atop Whitchurch Hill in the another vendor, Submer, Castrol intends to Uptime’s global survey of the sector last year
peaceful Oxfordshire countryside, use the 100kW ‘MegaPod’ to demonstrate the found that 56 percent of data center operators
Bozedown House offers a glimpse of effectiveness of cooling fluids it has devised for were still using air cooling for their highest
bucolic Edwardian England. Initially servers. DCD scaled Whitchurch Hill - no mean density, 40kW and above, cabinets - interest in
constructed in the late 1800s, the manor house feat given its surprisingly steep gradient - to the technologies is growing.
was completely rebuilt following a fire in 1907, take a look. Castrol is, perhaps unsurprisingly, keen to
and its red-brick frontage and imposing gables capitalize on this demand, according to Nick
have remained largely unchanged ever since. From electric vehicles to data Barrett, the company’s senior engineer for
But while the exterior of Bozedown House
centers advanced electrification testing. “Castrol sees
is a window into the past, those working inside Recent years have seen liquid cooling a huge opportunity to diversify into industrial
are looking to the future. Since 1976, it has been techniques emerge as a realistic alternative to thermal solutions for data centers - a market
home to the Pangbourne Technology Centre air cooling for data center operators looking to that is large and growing fast - and has existing
operated by lubricant specialist Castrol. Best keep their hardware chilled. expertise in thermal management,” Barrett
known for making the oil that flows through Traditional air cooling systems often says.
your car’s engine, Castrol, now owned by BP, consume a large amount of energy and Indeed, thermal management is a key issue
has big plans for Pangbourne as it looks to are becoming less effective as rack density facing OEMs developing parts for electric
develop the next generation of fluids. increases. Added to this, high demand for AI vehicles, and as a result, Castrol is building
Given the automotive industry’s rapid products and services means data centers are labs at the Pangbourne Technology Centre
transition to electric vehicles (EVs), it is no being filled with more powerful components, where components such as batteries can be
surprise that a big focus of Castrol’s work is such as GPUs, which generate more heat than put through their paces. The megapod forms
creating the fluids required to keep EVs on the their predecessors. part of this array of testing facilities. “We’ve
road. But it is also turning its expertise to the Liquid is better at dispersing heat than been working in partnership with OEM car
data center, and earlier this year took delivery air, so liquid cooling techniques are seen as a makers for 125 years, and with electrification
of an immersion cooling pod. Delivered by possible solution for reducing emissions and coming in their needs are changing,” says
modular data center provider Sonic Edge potentially cutting energy bills. While take-up Chris Lockett, Castrol VP for electrification
and products innovation. “Part of that involves
and featuring immersion cooling tanks from of these systems has so far been mixed -
engineering cooling fluids for
electric vehicles, and it makes sense
to extend that work into the data
center world.”

Getting immersed in
immersion cooling
The MegaPod, which from the
outside resembles a humble shipping
container, houses two 50kW Submer
Megapod immersion tanks for
immersion cooling, a type of liquid
cooling which sees IT equipment
submerged in liters of dielectric, or non-
conducting, fluid.
Simon Coggins, Submer sales director
for UK & Ireland, helped deliver the project

65 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com Issue 52 • April 2024 | 65

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

L-R: Castrol’s Chris Lockett,

Castrol’s Nick Barrett, Submer’s
Simon Coggins and Stuart Priest
of Sonic Edge

with colleague Franco Caroli, and told DCD the

tanks are set up for single-phase immersion
cooling, where the cooling fluid remains in
standard 800mm deep servers you would find
a liquid state at all times. This differs from
in the average rack, as well as larger 900mm
two-phase immersion cooling, which involves
models.
boiling the liquid in the tanks, causing heat to
be dispersed as gas. A mega opportunity
Explaining how the system works, Coggins Castrol’s Barrett says the MegaPod will give
said: “The immersion tank contains a cooling the company the “capability to conduct fluid
distribution unit, comprising a pump and a research and development, IT hardware
plate heat exchanger. The pump circulates the testing and validation and demonstration of
dielectric fluid within the tank, extracting heat immersion cooling technology.”
from the servers.” two-phase immersion. PFAS chemicals have
It is the validation element that is likely
The heated dielectric fluid then passes also been classified hazardous by the US
to be most beneficial in the short term, with
through the plate heat exchanger, where it is Environmental Protection Agency, and are
Castrol keen to use the pods to show that its
cooled by water. Single-phase immersion does heavily controlled in Europe, making their
fluids interact effectively with data center
not require airtight vessels because “hardly any deployment more tricky.
equipment. At the time of writing, a test run
coolant evaporates,” Coggins says, and as such No such problems impact single- has been carried out at the pod ahead of the
the tanks are known as “open baths.” phase immersion, where cooling fluids first customers being welcomed onto the site
can be manufactured in a variety of more in the coming months.
Though single-phase immersion cooling
environmentally friendly ways. Submer has
is not as efficient as its two-phase counterpart, Moving forward, Castrol hopes to use the
its own cooling fluid made out of a synthetic
it may prove a more practical solution for the MegaPod to demonstrate how data center heat
hydrocarbon, while others on the market are
high-density data centers of the future, those can be reused. The system emits waste heat
based on hydrocarbon compounds such as
running high-performance computing and in liquid form, making it easier to capture and
vegetable oils, mineral oils, and fluorocarbons.
AI workloads. This is because the cooling reuse than in other cooling systems.
Another oil company, Shell, offers a range of
equipment required is simpler to install Submer’s Coggins said partnerships like
immersion cooling fluid S3 X, which it says is
and run than for two-phase, and the fluids the ones with Castrol are key to encouraging
made from natural gas using the company’s
themselves often come with a lower price tag. more adoption of immersion cooling. Castrol’s
gas-to-liquids process.
The long-term viability of two-phase fluids were validated for use with Submer
The tanks in the Castrol MegaPod are each
immersion has also been called into question equipment last year, and Coggins says one of
filled with one of the company’s two data
due to the environmental impact of the the main barriers stopping companies from
center cooling fluids, known as DC15 and
chemicals used in its cooling fluids. In late taking the, er, plunge is a lack of available kit.
DC20. Castrol is tight-lipped on the make-up of
2022 US manufacturer 3M announced it “One of the perceived drawbacks is the lack
the fluids: “That would be telling,” Barrett says
phase out poly-fluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) of an immersion-ready catalog,” he says. “We
when asked what goes into the products. But
manufacturing from its product line by 2025, collaborate with component manufacturers to
both are synthetic dielectric liquids designed
because of increasing concerns over their ensure end-to-end solutions, and are seeing a
with slightly different viscosities for different
safety. lot more immersion-born SKUs and a growth
use cases and markets.
in support.
PFAS, or so-called “forever chemicals,” Both are capable of housing all types of
do not break down when released into the “It’s an area where demand is growing fast,
electrical equipment (DCD asks if we can
environment, and thus can build up in people particularly in the UK. We’re seeing a lot of
drop our phone in to test this out, but is told
or animals over time. 3M’s announcement that customers becoming more open to the idea of
it may take a while to clean afterwards), and
it is phasing out PFAS covers two compounds, immersion cooling.” 
the Submer pods are designed to cater for the
Novec and Fluorinert, which are used in

66 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

 EUROPEAN
DATA CENTRE
POWER CABLE
EXPERTS

POWERING A
SUSTAINABLE
FUTURE

TALK TO US ABOUT
CPD CABLE TRAINING

OUR ACCREDITATIONS AND COMMITMENTS

www.elandcables.com
DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

The Houthis and

the Red Sea: Dan Swinhoe
Senior Editor

A new risk to
subsea cables
Intentional or otherwise, terrorists are now
a threat to global connectivity

T
he Red Sea is a major artery of the Rebel groups actively attacking ships in the percent of all Europe-Asia capacity is carried by
global Internet. More than a dozen Red Sea have indirectly damaged a number of cables through this channel. The firm estimates
subsea cables pass through it cables after a listing vessel dragged its anchor. for the likes of India, Kenya, and the UAE, more
connecting Europe to the Middle East, Others have accused the groups of making than 40 percent of each country’s interregional
Africa, and APAC, transporting huge swathes of direct threats against cables in the area. But bandwidth is connected to Europe via Red Sea
data traffic. how real is the threat? cables.
But this choke point presents a risk. For Also known as the Gate of Grief or the Gate
years the industry has been looking for an
Yemen, subsea cables, and the of Tears, the 26km (14-mile) strait runs between
alternative way to reach the Indian Ocean
Houthis Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti
from the Mediterranean Sea, but mostly to The Red Sea spans around 2,250km (1,400 and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa, connecting to
avoid Egypt and the pricey cost-of-entry miles), running from the Suez Canal in the the Gulf of Aden (and onto the Indian Ocean).
requirements to run cables alongside the Suez north to the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the south, Despite only being the landing point for
Canal. However, at the other end of the Red before meeting the Arabian Sea and Indian four cables, around 15 cables currently pass
Sea, a more urgent and violent risk is now Ocean. by Yemeni waters. More cables including the
causing issues for global connectivity. TeleGeography estimates that more than 90 Blue-Raman, India-Europe-Xpress, and 2Africa

68 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS YEMEN 

systems are due online in the coming years, all

inevitably passing through the strait.
Who are the Houthis?
The Bab al-Mandab is a natural bottleneck Officially known as Ansar Allah, the other in Aden, recognized internationally.
between the Middle East and the coast of Houthis are a Shia Islamist political and As well as the former capital, Houthi
Africa, meaning any subsea cables connecting military organization that emerged in insurgents currently control large
Europe to Asia are almost certain to pass close Yemen in the 1990s. The group is largely swaths of coastland and all of the former
to Yemeni waters (and by extension, Houthi- made up of Zaidi Shia from the Houthi North Yemen except the eastern Marib
controlled areas). tribe of northern Yemen. Governorate.

On the other side of the strait lies Eritrea, Originally a moderate movement, the “This division extends to
an isolationist country described as the ‘North group was focused on promoting a ‘Zaidi telecommunications, with each
Korea of Africa,’ with no subsea cables and little revival’ in the country and removing US government overseeing different aspects
Internet freedom. Bertrand Clesca, partner at and Saudi influences in Yemen. Over the of the sector,” says Ahmed Nagi of Crisis
subsea consulting firm Pioneer Consulting, years the group’s numbers and arsenal Group. “Notably, a significant portion of
tells DCD most cable operators have generally have grown quickly – it is widely believed the telecommunications infrastructure,
laid cables in Yemeni waters as the country was they are being supported by Iran. including that related to the Internet and
historically easier to deal with than Eritrea. After years of growing guerrilla warfare, Red Sea cables, is located within Houthi-
the group took part in the 2011 Yemen controlled areas.”
Revolution and refused to concede to a The SeaWeMe-5 and Falcon cables land
The Houthi cable threat – real or Gulf Cooperation Council deal to quell the in Al Hudaydah, under Houthi control.
imagined? uprising. By 2014 the group was in control Falcon also lands in Al Ghaydah to
Like cell towers and data centers, subsea of parts of the capital city, Sanaʽa, and the east, currently under the control of
cables are critical infrastructure, providing officially took control of the government the Saudi-led coalition supporting the
connectivity to the outside world. This has long the following year. UN-backed government. Aden, which
been known and exploited during times of A Saudi-led coalition within Yemen lands the Aden-Djibouti and Asia Africa
conflict; one of the first such moves was made has reclaimed some territory in the name Europe-1 (AAE-1) cables, is under the
by the British during World War One and saw of the UN-backed government. But the control of the Southern Transitional
them cut Germany's undersea telegraph cables. conflict has led to the existence of two Council, a secessionist movement
A cable connecting Manila to mainland Asia concurrent Yemeni governments: one currently allied to the internationally
was cut in 1898, during the Spanish-American in Sana'a under Houthi control, and the recognized government.
War.
But intentional threats of violence against
cables are often perceived through the lens Houthi military capabilities.
of nation-states in deep waters. A 2017 “They didn't directly threaten the subsea
Policy Exchange report produced by UK cables,” Milliken tells DCD. “But they alluded
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – then merely to the fact that they were so important in the
an MP – warned of ‘aggressive Russian area. Which, for an organization that has been
submarines in the Atlantic’ and the need for launching maritime attacks, is obviously a
more international treaties. Few, if any reports, concerning statement.”
have ever really considered threats to subsea Government ministries and telecoms firms
cables from terrorist groups, given their backed by the UN-recognized government
relative obscurity and difficulty in reaching the condemned the reported threats to the region’s
seafloor. cable infrastructure, while Houthi-backed
However, that changed in late 2023. The agencies said the reports were untrue.
Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) The General Corporation for
– a think tank founded by a former Israeli Telecommunications and the Yemeni
Intelligence officer and a political scientist International Telecommunications Company
described as a ‘neoconservative and revisionist (TeleYemen), in Aden [i.e. the UN-backed
Zionist’ on Wikipedia – said Telegram channels “They didn't directly government], said it “strongly condemned” the
reportedly affiliated with the Houthis had made threaten the subsea threats of the Houthis to target international
implied threats against subsea cables in the
Red Sea.
cables. But they alluded marine cables.
The Ministry of Communications and
"There are maps of international cables to the fact that they were Information Technology (MTIT) in Sanaa [i.e.
connecting all regions of the world through so important in the area. the Houthi-controlled ministry] denied there
the sea. It seems that Yemen is in a strategic was any danger to subsea cables in the regions.
location, as Internet lines that connect entire
Which, for an organization In a comment made through the Internet
continents – not only countries – pass near it,” launching maritime Society, the Ministry said reports of threats
one Telegram post said, accompanying a map
of cables in the region.
attacks, is a concerning were “fabricated lies” being told to “cover the
crimes committed by the Zionist entity in the
This news was later picked up in statement” Gaza Strip.”
mainstream media worldwide after Emily “The approach of the Government of
Milliken, SVP and lead analyst at US-based >>Emily Milliken Yemen, through the MTIT, is to focus on
defense intelligence consulting firm Askari Defense & Intelligence building and developing the telecom and
Askari Defense & Intelligence, wrote a blog Internet services, and expanding the range
highlighting the MEMRI research, the criticality of services through the licensed telecom
of the Red Sea in telecoms, and some of the

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 69

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

institutions and companies,” the MTIT added in

a separate statement.
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi “The circumstances
movement, went so far as publishing a video that led to that ship
saying the group has “no intention” of targeting
submarine Internet cables in the region.
being attacked,
While she acknowledges it might not be in that could happen
their best long-term interest, Milliken says she today. The threat is
views the threats to cables as “credible” and is
“dismissive” of Houthi claims to the contrary,
continuing, they’re necessarily matter if something is in Iran’s
best interest. They are more than happy to do
given previous promises to only target Israeli- still shooting at ships. attacks that don't necessarily benefit Iran and
related shipping.
We’re not out of the in some cases are detrimental.”
“They're trying to show themselves as a
bigger threat in the region in order to garner
woods.”
more support and show themselves as an Are cables really under threat?
active part of Iran’s resistance groups,” she says. >>Doug Madory
Did the Houthis really make a veiled threat at
But there may be a kernel of truth in Houthi Kentik Inc. the cables? It’s hard to say. MEMRI no doubt
claims to want to keep data flowing in the has a pro-Israeli slant that might influence
region, though for purely monetary reasons. the Houthis have said they want to inflict the their assessment of the posts. But it’s a fact they
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a most damage on. are attack ships of all stripes in the Red Sea and
not-for-profit policy organization aiming to “They wouldn't really hurt the Western that is impacting cables indirectly.
‘combat extremist ideologies,’ has said the countries that they are targeting; it's not The Houthis – officially known as Ansar
Houthis have been using its control of large going to really affect Israel or Great Britain, Allah – have been attacking commercial ships
swathes of Yemen’s telecoms infrastructure – certainly not the United States,” says Doug passing by Yemeni water since November
including operator Yemen Mobile – to monitor Madory, director of Internet analysis at Internet 2023. Dozens of ships have been attacked by
and censor its populace while profiting from a monitoring firm Kentik Inc. “It's mostly drones, missiles, and speedboats. The Houthis
growing Internet user base. countries either to the south or to the east claim to only be targeting Israel-linked vessels
The group has reportedly repeatedly raised that are affected by the loss of connectivity in support of Palestinians in Gaza amid the
prices while failing to invest in the country’s including Iran, which is their primary backer.” ongoing invasion by Israel.
infrastructure. In 2022, the United Nations However, cable damage in the Red Sea US Central Command condemned what it
described the telecommunications industry in could impact Yemen’s Saudi neighbors, which calls the “reckless and indiscriminate attacks”
Yemen as “a major source of revenue” for the could be a boon for the Houthis and Iranians. on civilian cargo ships by the Houthis. The
Houthis – CEP estimates potentially tens of
“It's essential to consider all possibilities,” US State Department has labeled the Houthis
millions of dollars.
Ahmed Nagi, senior analyst for Yemen at non- as a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist
Intentional damage against digital profit think tank Crisis Group, tells DCD. “The group’-- meaning they have committed or
infrastructure by groups isn’t new. Cell towers Houthis might indeed pose a threat to subsea pose a significant risk of committing acts of
are often the target of conspiracy theorists, cables, especially if tensions in the maritime terrorism – ranking them alongside Al-Qaeda,
and terrestrial fiber cables have previously lanes escalate further.” ISIS, Hamas, and Hezbollah.
been purposefully cut. But this is the first time
One Red Sea cable – the Global Cloud At the time of writing, the Israel-Gaza
a terrorist group has been said to be a threat to
Xchange-owned Falcon system – lands in conflict continues and Houthis continue to
subsea infrastructure – and motive remains a
Iran as well as Saudi and Yemen, so attacking target ships in the Red Sea.
question if the Houthis really were interested in
it could impact the Houthis and their only But could the Houthis directly attack subsea
attacking cables.
ally. But damaging the Saudi enemy could still cables in the Red Sea if they wanted to? Some
Israel is largely dependent on terrestrial appeal. military experts have said the Houthis may
cables and subsea cables landing on its
“The Houthis are not a wholly owned have the ability, but others still have doubts.
Mediterranean coastline, so any cuts in the Red
subsidiary of Iran,” Milliken says. “It doesn’t “I can’t see any part of the Houthi arsenal
Sea would have minimal impact on the country

70 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS YEMEN 

actually being dangerous for the subsea cables,” including an 11km segment identified as also acknowledged an impact. Early reports –
Bruce Jones, senior fellow at the Brookings belonging to the SeaMeWe-3 cable. especially those in Israel – were quick to say
Institution, told Foreign Policy. “The question Askari’s Milliken points out that the Houthis the cables had been deliberately damaged by
becomes, do the Iranians have the capability, are backed by Iran, which has provided a the Houthis, with the Rubymar details only
and would the Iranians take that step?” large amount of arms and equipment to coming out later.
"I assess it's a bluff, unless it's an attack build weapons, including maritime-focused DCD’s sources say damage to the other
on a terminal," former Royal Navy submarine equipment. They have been known to use cables has also been confirmed – and though
commander Rear Adm John Gower told the waterborne explosive devices, and the the Rubymar theory hasn’t been completely
BBC. "It would need an ally with the capability Combating Terrorism Center, an academic confirmed, at time of writing it is the industry’s
[of] a submersible plus the ability to locate [the institution at the US Military Academy, best guess consensus as to the cause of the
cables].” suggests the Houthis have previously damage.
"There is nothing I've seen in the Iranian undertaken combat diver training on Zuqur In a sector where accidental damage
orbat (Order of Battle) that could touch these and Bawardi islands in the Red Sea. to cables by fishing boats and anchors is
cables, certainly not their submarines," added Regardless of their interest and ability common, this is likely the first time a cable has
former Royal Navy Cdr Tom Sharpe. "Diving to directly attack cables, their very real and been damaged as a by-product of attacks on
is an option but it's deep and busy so I think it direct attacks on boats are having an impact ships.
would be pushing it.” on future cables set to be laid in the Red Sea. The MTIT – controlled by the Houthi
Wilson Jones, defense analyst at GlobalData, TeleGeography noted in a recent blog that administration in Sana'a – denied any
told AirForce Technology: “Yemen is near a a segment of the 2Africa cable set to lie in involvement in any cable damage.
disproportionate number of international Yemeni waters is yet to be laid.
"MTIT and Government of Yemen reaffirm
undersea Internet cables. It would be very Multiple industry sources named the likes of its obligation to the general position of the
difficult to stop the Houthis if they made a Blue-Raman, Africa-1, and SeaMeWe-6 as other Yemen Republic toward the submarine cables
determined effort to target these cables.” upcoming cables that are likely to be delayed in [and] keen to keep all telecom submarine
Carolina Pinto, thematic analyst at the Red Sea because of the situation. cables and its relevant services away from any
GlobalData, added that while they likely do not possible risks," the ministry said.
have the technological capabilities to reach Yemen’s Transportation Ministry, currently
cables that are hundreds, if not thousands, of Direct threat or friendly fire? under Houthi control, said the “hostilities on
meters underwater, they could “maybe target Regardless of whether the Houthis have the Yemen by the British and US naval military
one or two of the shallowest cables.” motivation or capabilities to directly attack a units” actually caused the disruption, which
While it reaches a maximum depth of cable, their attacks on the region’s shipping “jeopardized the security and safety of
3,040m (9,970ft) in the central Suakin Trough, industry have indirectly achieved the same end international communications and the normal
the Red Sea averages a depth of around 490 result. flow of information.”
m (1,610ft). At its shallowest, however, some February 18 saw the M/V Rubymar struck by The MTIT said it was "keen" to facilitate the
points are at depths of as little as 100m (330 ft). an anti-ship ballistic missile. While one missile repair of any submarine cables in the region,
While the Houthis might not have missed, the missile that did hit caused the crew so long as parties obtain the required licenses
submarines, undersea robots, or the ability to to evacuate to a coalition warship and nearby and permits from the Sana'a Maritime Affairs
hit the deepest parts of the Red Sea, it’s possible merchant vessel. The drifting and listing Authority.
to inflict damage on subsea cables without the Rubymar, however, is thought to have caused
"The Sana'a MTIT and GoY also brings to
backing of a major navy. significant damage to a number of cables in the
notice that the Yemen's decision to ban the
region.
In March 2013, three divers were arrested by passage of Israeli ships does not pertain [to]
the Egyptian Navy off the coast of Alexandria The Rubymar crew left the ship anchored the other international ships which have been
after cutting the SeaMeWe-4 cable by but slowly taking on water. It began drifting licensed to execute submarine works within
detonating underwater explosives. Internet and it’s thought that the ship is to blame for the Yemeni territorial waters," the ministry said.
speeds reportedly fell around 60 percent after damage caused to three cables in the area.
The Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, UK-
the incident. A motive wasn’t revealed and it’s The AAE-1, Seacom/TGN, and Europe India
owned bulk carrier, sank on March 2 at
unclear if they were charged and/or sentenced Gateway (EIG) cables were all said to have been
approximately 2:15 a.m. (Sana'a time),
for the damage. impacted around the same time in the area the
according to a US CENTCOM update. It was
ship was drifting.
In 2007, it was reported that police had carrying approximately 21,000 metric tons
seized more than 500km of telecom cable Seacom was initially the only company to of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer
taken by fishing vessels to sell for scrap – publicly confirm cable issues, but Tata later at the time, which present an immediate

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 71

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

environmental risk to the area. the break, while SeaMeWe-4 recently benefited "The ICPC urges governments to coordinate
Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, the foreign from an upgrade that doubled its capacity from with operators to identify and mitigate causes
minister of Yemen's internationally-recognized 65Tbps to 122Tbps. of damage, expedite permits for repairs, and
government in Aden, said in a post on X: "The Hong Kong’s HGC said that while the cable provide security for vessels engaged in such
sinking of the Rubymar is an environmental breaks had “limited” impact in Hong Kong, repairs."
catastrophe that Yemen and the region have the company had “devised a comprehensive The ICPC does have recommended
never experienced before. It is a new tragedy diversity plan to reroute affected traffic.” best practices for governments to
for our country and our people. Every day we “Having a few faults is a normal thing to protect submarine cables and maintain
pay the price for the adventures of the Houthi plan and accommodate for, it happens,” says communications in the event of damage,
militia.” TeleGeography’s Mauldin. “But if you have a but these include expected behaviors such
higher number of breaks on higher capacity as observing treaty obligations including the
cables, there'll be a point where it will start United Nations Convention on the Law of the
No easy fix having a major impact on connectivity [in the Sea, engaging with other states, and treating
region].” subsea cable ships as neutral in disputes.
The situation may get worse before it gets
better. The cable damage has been felt across
Africa and Asia, and at time of writing, no
repairs have been made.
“It doesn't matter what caused it, right now
what matters is how fast can we repair the
cables,” says Alan Mauldin, research director at
TeleGeography. “That's what the focus should
be; how challenging is it going to be to get
the permits? Can you get insurance? And as
a maintenance company; do even you want
to send your crew and vessel into an area
where there could be active military activity
happening?”
The Red Sea still has a number of
undamaged cables serving Asia and the east
coast of Africa. Normally cable operators
have maintenance contracts with cable ship
companies to ensure cable breaks are dealt
with quickly, but in an active conflict area, the
picture is more complicated. “It’s a very unique scenario,” says Kentik’s
Mauldin says we’re “not close to that point
Some industry experts have suggested the yet”, but a suspected undersea landslide that Madory. “But the circumstances that led to that
current conflict situation may trigger some damaged several cables off the coast of Côte ship being attacked, that could happen today.
force majeure clauses in the contracts, but DCD d'Ivoire a few weeks after the Rubymar incident The threat is continuing, they’re still shooting
has been unable to confirm this. The Houthi- has added to the continent’s capacity crunch at ships. We’re not out of the woods.”
controlled MTIT may have promised safe and is unlikely to help matters. The long-term danger, however, is that
passage to cable ship operators with the right even if there is a ceasefire in Israel, the Houthis
Repairs in the Red Sea are possible, though.
permits, but that may be of little reassurance to will continue to attack shipping lanes in the
In November, Global Cloud Xchange was able
those aboard when the group has previously area. Askari’s Milliken says the attacks have
to complete scheduled maintenance on the
kidnapped UN and Red Cross staff. been “beneficial” to the group, and even after
company’s Falcon cable in Yemeni waters “in
“I don't know that anybody wants to bet conjunction with the Yemen cable landing a ceasefire in Gaza, could continue attacking
their life on, whether the Houthis correctly or party” – likely Houthi-controlled YemenNet. ships, and even shift to a more profit-focused
incorrectly ascribe your ship to being a part of piracy model.
“This maintenance event had been in
their enemy or not,” says Kentik’s Madory. “I don’t think it in their best interest to stop
planning for the past three months and
Even for cable ship companies willing to was notified to all relevant parties and was right now,” she says. “I think they're getting
put their crews at risk, bureaucracy might be completed successfully within the agreed too much domestic support out of it that they
more of a stumbling block. It will be difficult to maintenance window,” the company said. wouldn't stop even if Iran compelled them
find insurance that covers sending ships into to. They have more than enough capability
Pioneer Consulting’s Clesca tells DCD it’s
dangerous waters, and there are likely legal stockpiled to continue on alone.”
likely that any repairs to the damaged cables in
ramifications of doing business dealings with That could, however, lead to a more “wide-
the Red Sea will be made with the protection
sanctioned organizations linked to terrorist scale response” from international forces
of warships; he doesn’t think they will remain
groups to try and secure permits. looking to pacify the area and help business
unfixed for months.
For now, there is enough spare capacity on return to usual.
“A few years ago when piracy was a
the remaining cables and alternative routes – “Should military tensions in the Red
problem, it was a simple measure to have
combined with backup satellite capacity – to Sea heighten, the possibility of the Houthis
armed guards on board. But here in the Red
mitigate much of the damage. undertaking such actions increases,” says Crisis
Sea, if you want to protect yourself, you may
Intelsat has said its satellites are providing need heavier protection,” he says. Group’s Nagi. “[But] this could lead to negative
backup connectivity for a number of customers consequences for the Houthis, underscoring
The International Cable Protection
that were sending data via subsea cable before the complex implications of regional conflicts
Committee (ICPC) released a statement urging
the incident. The operators of SeaMeWe-5 have on global connectivity.” 
calm to allow the cable to be fixed.
said demand on its cable has gone up since

72 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

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Issue 52 • April 2024 | 73

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

The non-profit
approach: British Georgia Butler
Reporter

Heart Foundation
CTO, Alex Duncan
How the third sector organization is
using IT to save lives

W
e often refer to data centers But a lack of problems does not mean The organization is currently only working
as the ‘digital backbone,’ but continuing the status quo, and BHF isn’t shying with Microsoft for its cloud computing
one could argue that it is in away from change. transformation, though Duncan says that
fact the heart, and a key part According to Duncan, the non-profit they are not under an exclusivity agreement.
of the cardiovascular system of modern currently has two data centers that house Should a use case require it, or innovation be
organizations. around half of its operations, the rest is in made, BHF would look at other providers as
The UK charity ‘British Heart Foundation’ the cloud. The organization was unable to well. But for now, Duncan says “our needs at
share the location of said data centers, though the moment mean we don’t really need to go
(BHF) was founded in 1961, and is still beating
conceded that it is a mix of on-premise and beyond one provider.”
strong over 60 years later, propped up by its
data centers and use of cloud computing. colocation. The cloud migration is a multiyear strategy
“Our core systems are currently and not one that will be rushed.
A non-profit, BHF raises money for research
into heart disease, with a mission to eventually predominantly on-premise, but we do have “Anytime you do [migrate data to the cloud],
a cloud-first strategy so anything new is it's an upheaval, so we are trying to make
eradicate it. But as a large proportion of this
deployed into the cloud, and we are working sure that we do it at the right time,” explains
comes from BHF stores and shops, the non-
on getting all of our systems onto the cloud as Duncan.
profit’s IT needs are similar to that of any other
retailer. quickly as possible,“ says Duncan. The charity is currently working on its
cloud migration roadmap. “We are looking at all
“We’ve got 700 shops and stores around the
of our systems and essentially evaluating what
country, and five or six offices. We are a large
the future is for each of them - how do we
retailer on our own without even taking into make sure that we’ve got the right foundational
consideration fundraising,” says Alex Duncan, layers in terms of the platform data and the
CTO at BHF. integration architecture?”
In 2023, BHF’s retail net profits were £24.9 Once the game plan has been finalized, BHF
million ($31.8m). The charity raised a total of is expecting the migration process to kick off
£180.6 million ($231m) for the year. later this year.
Duncan joined BHF in 2022, having BHF is also looking at how it can use its
previously served in similar roles with data to help external organizations to influence
companies such as Costa Coffee and the research, and potentially policy as well.
Ambassador Theatre Group. The charity assists with the collection
Fortunately for Duncan, it was not a story of of external data looking at the state of
joining an organization with its IT in a mess, cardiovascular research and related issues
“BHF’s technology was already in a really good across the UK.
position,” says Duncan. “So it’s not like there “We use that to generate reports which help
were any burning problems that needed to be to influence government and policy. Some
fixed.” examples of that are reports on the state of

74 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS BHF 

“We are very conscious

of running efficiently
given that we are a
charity, and of every
penny that we spend
that doesn’t go on
research,”
>>Alex Duncan
British Heart Foundation CTO

cardiovascular care after Covid, the health an example of this.

of the research community and pipelines Antoniades’ research has found an AI
of talent, and health inequalities among the algorithm that can detect previously invisible
general population as well.” changes to the fat around the arteries, enabling
While like any other retailer in many senses, doctors to look up to eight years in the future
as a non-profit organization, there is a different and evaluate if a patient is likely to have a heart
approach to spending. attack.
“We are very conscious of running “It’s changing the way we practice
efficiently given that we are a charity, and of medicine,” says Duncan of this research. “If
every penny that we spend that doesn’t go on you are flagged as being at risk, you can have
research,” agrees Duncan. medicine that prevents the heart attack from
actually happening.”
The charity’s accounts are publicly available
for anybody to see, and BHF has to report BHF and Alex Duncan believe so much in
on the percentage spent on research and our data for reporting insights, and we are AI and data-science-based research, that the
charitable endeavors, versus on overhead costs. increasingly looking at how we can use that non-profit is investing around £20 million
For example, in the year ending March 2023, data to personalize our communications with ($25.6m) over the next few years in a data
BHF reports spending £6.9 million ($8.84m) customers and their journey on the website,” science center.
on Information Technology, up from £4.9m says Duncan. “We're in a wonderful position as a
($6.28m) the year prior. not-for-profit to be able to bring together
Additionally, BHF uses said data to ensure
In total, BHF had £29.1m ($37.3m) of IT that it is operating securely, and is as “efficient whole population data in a way that private
equipment and software under use in 2023, and cost-effective as possible.” organizations can't, and just think about what
conversely down by more than £5m ($6.41m) we can achieve with that when we add AI
Using AI internally is still very early
from the year prior. into the mix,” said Duncan at the Microsoft
days for BHF. During a recent talk at the
conference.
This keeps non-profits honest, but it is by Microsoft Global Non-Profit Leaders Summit
no means a reluctance or refusal to invest in 2024, Duncan spoke about how the charity As for issues such as sustainability, Duncan
technology. Duncan instead argues that it is bringing AI into its logistics, including says that BHF is currently reviewing its ESG
makes BHF spend smarter. optimizing stock management, and also strategy. “It’s very much top of mind, but we
employee productivity. haven’t finished it yet.”
According to the charity’s 2023 accounts,
around 80 percent of its total income is Duncan puts BHF’s ability to explore new “Overall, we’re in pretty good shape, and
available for research and medical innovation. technologies, in part, down to the nature of a in some ways, we are net positive because we
Duncan estimates that, on average, BHF funds third-sector organization. contribute to sustainability by the fact that our
around £100 million (£128.1m) of research a business model is essentially recycling people's
“In some ways, it’s easier because the
year, and around £450 million ($576.55m) of unwanted goods every day. But beyond that,
benefit of being a charity is that we are making
research is happening at any one time. we are working on a strategy to make sure our
decisions with a much longer timeline and
operations are as sustainable as possible.”
“We are very conscious that every pound distant horizon, whereas some publicly listed
should be spent in the right way. But that companies or retailers may need to focus on Ultimately, the non-profit is investing in its
short-term results,” says Duncan. IT in so much as it furthers its mission.
doesn’t always mean the cheapest way,
because that isn’t necessarily the best way. “We can focus on the longevity of “Where we are different is that we have a
It's about being clear on what it is we are investments, and evaluate them from that wonderful purpose and mission. When our
trying to do, and the best way of achieving perspective, which changes your decision- employees come to BHF to work, it’s because
that,” she says. making paradigm.” they believe in what we are doing. It also makes
it easier to slip technology in, because we are
For example, BHF, like many for-profit BHF, despite the relatively recent foray into
clear on our purpose,” says Duncan.
companies, is exploring the use of artificial AI for internal operations, has been funding
intelligence (AI) to improve efficiency. AI-based research for several years. “Our job is to save lives and save as many as
possible through funding research.” 
The organization is always gathering Professor Charalambos Antoniades’ work is
data, similar to that of other retailers. “We use

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 75

>>CONTENTS X doesn't mark the spot 

Great X-pectations
Matthew Gooding
Features Editor

Gaia-X, Europe’s
grand plan for a
federal cloud to take
on the hyperscalers,
appears to have hit
the buffers.

N
extCloud CEO Frank Karlitschek has most recent publicly available data for the
been banging the drum for Gaia-X continent, from September 2022, showing a 72
since before it was even called percent combined market share for the three
Gaia-X. companies.
“I’ve been running around for the last 15-20 When one factors in that less than half (42
years speaking to politicians about the problem percent) of European businesses bought cloud
of monopolies in the cloud sector, and I was services in 2023, per figures from the EU’s
in contact with the people in the Ministry of Eurostat, it seems likely this stranglehold will
Economics in Germany when they came up be strengthened as the overall market grows.
with the original Gaia-X idea,” he recalls. “I stem from excessive bureaucracy which Europe-based cloud companies have long
was talking to them about it before that name has plagued the scheme since its inception. claimed that the hyperscalers use their, well,
existed, so I’ve been involved from the very Whatever the cause, it now seems unlikely scale to garner an unfair advantage and stifle
beginning.” Gaia-X will deliver its original vision. But could competition in the market. Trade association
The prospect of Gaia-X was an enticing a European federated cloud emerge anyway? CISPE (which, somewhat ironically, counts
one: a federated European cloud platform big And what role will the Gaia-X association AWS among its members) has lodged a formal
enough to challenge the market dominance of play in the continent’s rapidly evolving digital complaint with the European Union against
the US hyperscale providers and meet the data infrastructure? Microsoft over alleged unfair licensing terms
sovereignty needs of businesses. for some of its cloud products, which remains
unsettled at the time of writing.
Organizations from across Europe
including NextCloud, an open-source
Gaia-X: The story so far As the hyperscaler dominance builds,
enterprise collaboration platform akin to Slack Gaia-X was conceived to solve two problems businesses and public sector organizations
or Google Workspace, signed up to the Gaia-X in the European market for cloud computing have been increasingly concerned with data
association, which was formed to put the grand infrastructure. sovereignty, or where information that is stored
plan into action. But since its launch in 2019, in the public cloud geographically resides. The
One was the dominance of the market
the project’s form has changed somewhat, legality of data transfers in and out of Europe to
by the hyperscale providers, most of which
much to the displeasure of Kalitschek, who servers and data centers in the US - a practice
are based in the US. Globally, three platforms
says it has been “diluted” and that he no longer commonly used by many cloud companies -
- Amazon’s AWS, Microsoft Azure, and
attends association meetings. has been repeatedly challenged in court, with
Google Cloud - controlled 66 percent of
various data-sharing agreements between the
Kalitschek, who believes the project the public cloud market at the end of 2023
EU and the US government being successfully
has been sabotaged from within by the according to data from industry analysts
struck down by privacy campaigners because
hyperscalers themselves, is not alone in losing Synergy Research Group. In Europe, the trio
US law is not as stringent as the EU’s GDPR
faith in Gaia-X. For others, the problems reigns even more supreme, with Synergy’s

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 77

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

when it comes to data protection. factors are to blame for this. In the case of the
Faced with the threat of GDPR former, he explains: “When you understand the
infringements (and potentially hefty fines), “Some people wanted power of the data economy, you realize you
can do things by sharing data that you cannot
ensuring European data was stored on servers
in Europe suddenly became a priority for many
a cloud champion, do by yourself. There is money to be made or
organizations, particularly those working in some people wanted a saved by sharing data in a secure, confidential
environment, without having to spend
heavily regulated industries, like financial
services or healthcare, where much of the regulator, some people anything on technology.
information concerned is highly sensitive.
wanted a standards “So the investment in European data spaces
is a very positive thing, but this data economy
Enter Gaia-X, which Kalitschek says
started out as an attempt to build “Airbus, but body, and some just still runs on data platforms that are not under
for the cloud market.” He explains: “Airbus European control.”
was an organization founded in Europe as a
wanted restrictions to The political problems stem from the make-
counterpart to [US manufacturer] Boeing - a cut out the Americans.” up of the Gaia-X association, which spans
Europe-wide company that builds planes. small and medium-sized businesses right up
“The question was: did we need a >>Francesco Bonfiglio to the hyperscalers, which were welcomed
in amid some controversy. These members,
Europe-wide company that does cloud? I
was very happy when the conversation went Bonfiglio says, have very different agendas.
in a different direction, because rather than “There are a lot of internal conflicts of interest
for digital sovereignty, data protection, between European companies, European
building one company it was decided we
transparency, accountability and data sharing countries, and non-European members of the
should try and create a virtual hyperscaler.”
across the globe,” Claps says. association,” he explains. “With an organization
Instead of starting from scratch to try and
To demonstrate how this works, the Gaia-X of 350+ members, a lot of which are small and
come up with the next AWS, Gaia-X’s architects
initiative launched a series of ‘lighthouse’ medium businesses, not all of them can set
in the French and German governments
projects in different industry verticals which the strategy and it’s inevitable it will be driven
resolved to pool the resources of the various
allow businesses that are certified as Gaia-X by the bigger companies which can influence
smaller companies in the market to create a
compatible to work together through shared governments.”
catalog of products comparable to those on
data infrastructure. This is in line with the Some European governments have also
offer from a single hyperscale platform. “You
European Union’s 2020 data strategy, which changed their position on the US cloud
would pick the services you want and combine
aims to create a series of ‘data spaces’ across providers since the announcement of Gaia-X
them together,” Kalitschek says. “So you would
the continent where businesses could pool and in 2019, Bonfiglio says. “At that time we had a
buy storage from [French business] OVHcloud,
share information securely to try and promote Trump administration and the signs from the
some compute from [German cloud company]
economic growth. European politicians had to be strong. They
Ionos and payment services from another
vendor and mix and match them together.” Last year it also set up two digital clearing had to say they wanted to build a European
houses, automated systems for certifying that cloud champion,” he says. “But between 2019
Championed by Germany’s then minister
a business is Gaia-X compliant and allowing and 2021, when I started at Gaia-X, things
of economic affairs, Peter Altmaier, and his
them to access other Gaia-X services. These are changed. By then, some people wanted a cloud
French counterpart, Bruno Le Maire, the
operated by Italian cloud provider Aruba and champion, some people wanted a regulator,
Gaia-X association launched in 2019 with 22
German telco T-Systems. some people wanted a standards body, and
member companies, but really started ramping
some just wanted restrictions to cut out the
up its operations two years later. A further 212 These digital clearing houses are
Americans.”
companies, including a host of big names significant, says Dario Maisto, senior analyst
from computing and telecoms, joined the at Forrester, because they take Gaia-X “from a Indeed, despite preaching on the
association, while Francesco Bonfiglio was few slides on a Powerpoint to actual services merits of digital sovereignty, European
appointed CEO. that businesses can consume.” He explains: “It’s governments continue to spend money with
something we can see, that the initiative has the US hyperscalers, with Germany reportedly
Bonfiglio, an Italian with 30 years of
achieved for real, and shows that it is working committing $3 billion to Oracle Cloud
experience in the IT industry on his CV, left
towards an objective.” Infrastructure in its 2024 budget.
the Gaia-X association last year, and says he
is proud of his achievements during his time But he adds, “How many applications have Bonfiglio is diplomatic when describing
at the helm. “I had three objectives when I I seen of the clearing house? Not many. No this situation, but his frustration is palpable.
joined the association,” he says. “The first was company has asked me, as an analyst, ‘How “The world has changed a little bit and these
to define what Gaia-X was, which I did in 2021. do we access the clearing house?’ or ‘What is changes were reflected in the association,”
In 2022, we clarified how Gaia-X solves the it for?’ So it is proving the initiative is working, he says. “But I'm not a politician, I wanted to
problems it intends to solve, and in 2023 we but whether it meets a market need is a make something happen and I knew what
made Gaia-X available to everyone.” different story.” was needed. But when it was the moment to
change things and make things run faster,
Talk of data spaces and digital clearing
things were slowed down by these internal
houses is far removed from the virtual
differences. That's when I decided to step out.”
Enter the hyperscalers hyperscaler plan, but was always part of the
initiative’s ambition. Bonfiglio explains: “The X NextCloud’s Karlitschek is clear that the
What Gaia-X has created so far is a series of
in Gaia-X is meant to represent two things - the involvement of the hyperscalers killed off the
standards for sharing data in the cloud explains
upper part is for data ecosystems, and the lower Gaia-X idea in its original form. “I think it was
Max Claps, research director for government
part is for the cloud infrastructure. For many actively pushed in [its current] direction by
insights at IDC. “It quickly morphed into into
reasons, the lower part has been neglected the hyperscalers,” he says. “What we’ve got is
an international initiative that was less about
by the association, even though it is the most some specifications and some not-so-useful
protecting the sovereignty of the European
urgent part we need to address.” paperwork. To follow all this kind of paperwork
digital infrastructure, and more about creating
is not possible for mid-size companies.”
blueprints that become the gold standard Bonfiglio says economic and political

78 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Why do things called X struggle? 

“It started with a

bold vision and
ended up being
a community
where people with
good intentions
meet and don't
achieve much in
terms of practical
outcomes”
>>Max Claps

Bonfiglio disputes that the hyperscalers are imperative to understand that data has become institutional initiative like Gaia-X,” he says. “I
the problem, and says that, even though the a strategic asset driving sustainability and think what’s on the market now is sufficient to
decision to admit non-European companies competitive advantage across various business meet the digital sovereignty requirements of 95
was made before he took up his post, he domains. Moreover, there’s a growing need for percent of use cases, even in heavily regulated
would have done the same thing. “The statutes global collaboration facilitated by shared data.” industries. Gaia-X has helped accelerate these
of the Gaia-X association were, and are still Ahle continued that Gaia-X is rooted in regulatory-compliant regional investments
are, strong enough to prevent anyone from European values and remains “dedicated to from the cloud providers, but at this point, I
hijacking the project and driving it in the designing a high-performance, competitive, don’t think an additional product is necessary,
wrong direction,” he says. “That the project has secure, and trustworthy federated data because it would only confuse things.”
become watered down is not the result of the infrastructure. Bonfiglio believes the idea of a European
Americans being involved. There were forces federal cloud still has legs, and since leaving
He says: “As ‘data doesn’t flow on rainbows,’
on the Gaia-X board, driven by European Gaia-X has formed his own company, Dynamo,
this infrastructure serves as the backbone for
companies, that were not always going in the to try and make this a reality.
enabling data spaces and fostering seamless
same direction.”
collaboration while upholding the principles of He explains that it will offer a catalog of
Of the relationship between Gaia-X and the sovereignty and security. cloud products, and any cloud vendor which
hyperscalers, he adds: “Cloud - and business is signed up to Dynamo will be able to deliver
“Thus, our approach ensures a balanced
in general - are very pragmatic things. If you their customers services from this catalog
emphasis on data and digital infrastructure,
want to win the battle you have to fight on alongside their core offering. The services will
aligning with the evolving demands of the
the battlefield, rather than saying ‘I don’t want need to be compliant with Gaia-X standards to
digital economy and the values driving Gaia-
to fight them because they’re too strong.’ We prove their trustworthiness.
X’s mission.”
wanted to find new weapons for the fight [with
IDC’s Claps believes the current form of As for Gaia-X itself, he says: “I think
the hyperscalers] and I think that was the right
Gaia-X is likely to be the extent of its ambitions. the common data spaces will be the focus
thing to do.”
“It started with a bold vision and ended up of the association, and it won’t evolve the
being a community where people with good infrastructure technology side of things too
intentions meet and don't achieve much in much.
Looking to the future
terms of practical outcomes,” he says. “In that area I think it has reached the limit
The Gaia-X association is continuing its work
“That’s not to say it isn’t useful, it has built a of what it can do, but I am looking forward to
under a new CEO, Ulrich Ahle, and has set
community that has advanced the discussions continuing to work with the Gaia-X members
out a 2024 strategy based around four pillars:
on this topic, but I don’t think it will deliver a because what we’re doing with Dynamo will be
end-user adoption, market readiness of Gaia-X
product, and nor should it.” the fulfillment of the promise we made at the
technology, globalization of the initiative and
very beginning.”
ecosystem growth. Claps argues that the need for a European
cloud provider has been reduced by new As Bonfiglio presses ahead, NextCloud’s
According to Ahle, the association’s
products on offer from the hyperscalers. All Karlitschek says his Gaia-X journey is coming
mission continues to encompass “both
the major cloud vendors now offer some sort to an end. “It’s very sad, because I really liked
the data and digital infrastructure aspects,
of sovereign cloud option that guarantees data the original idea,” he says.
recognizing their crucial role in today’s digital
is stored on servers in a territory of the user’s “We’re still a member, but I guess I should
landscape.”
choice. terminate it at some point to save money. I
He told DCD: “As data spaces are becoming
“The cloud service providers are always don’t see a lot of benefits there anymore.” 
increasingly important for AI some may
going to deliver products faster than an
perceive a focus on data spaces, [but] it’s

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 79

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

MWC 2024:
An industry turning Paul Lipscombe

slowly towards the

Telecoms Editor

AI future
Though many of the hot topics at this year’s show
were familiar, AI is new buzzword in town

L
ast year Mobile World Congress AI impossible to ignore What do we want from AI?
was dominated by themes such as
AI was undoubtedly a hot topic on the show It’s tricky to know exactly what AI will bring.
sustainability, and the battle between
floor. Whether people were bigging up the For all the promise, there’s also a lot of
mobile operators and Big Tech over
technology, or in some cases skeptical about its skepticism, as well as fears from some quarters
fair share payments for the usage of mobile potential, it was nigh impossible to avoid. that it render a lot of job roles redundant.
networks.
During one keynote, Vodafone CTO Scott BT has said as much, noting that a fifth of
This year, however, felt a bit different. Petty claimed AI is “overhyped at the moment.” the 55,000 jobs it plans to cut by the end of the
It was the biggest show since the pandemic, Some may argue that he has a point given decade will be replaced by AI. This won’t be
with 101,000 people attending the mobile some of the more outlandish predictions about something that is just confined to the telecoms
industry’s showpiece event in Barcelona, sector either.
its potential, but it is clear telcos are taking
Spain. The King of Spain, Felipe VI was one AI seriously. Members of the Global Telco AI Jürgen Hatheier, chief technology officer
of those in attendance, along with Pedro Alliance (GTAA) are planning to establish a joint for APAC and EMEA at networking solutions
Sánchez, the country’s Prime Minister. venture later this year specifically aimed at vendor Ciena, told DCD that there are still a lot
developing Large Language Models (LLMs). of questions to be asked of AI.
Unsurprisingly AI was discussed at length,
In a joint statement, Deutsche Telekom, e& “At Ciena, we’re currently focusing on the
but this should come as no surprise given the
Group, Singtel, SoftBank Corp., and SK Telecom opportunities around AI, and how we can use
hype around the technology in the past 18
revealed the plans after holding the inaugural AI to provide better services, and to beef up our
months or so and the soaring demand for AI
meeting at the trade show. products with those capabilities,” he says.
products and services.
Collectively the quintet claim that AI will “If you stay around in observation mode
This year’s show stretched far beyond for too long, watching AI. It's going to be very
enable chatbots to become even more human-
telecoms, with flying cars, helicopters, and centric, and say the JV will bring Europe and hard to catch up. It's not only a technology
other use cases on display. But all have Asia closer together. challenge, I think it's going to be a big
one thing in common, they’ll need reliable commercial modeling challenge, to work out
networks to underpin them. how you can intercept the big money that's
expected from AI.”

More Open RAN

Away from AI, a topic that was pretty hot once
again was Open RAN. More telcos announced
partnerships around this, including Kyivstar
and Rakuten Symphony, and NTT and AWS.
Telcos are expected to invest more than $30
billion in Open RAN by the end of the decade.
Analyst firm Counterpoint Research expects
investments will start to increase year-on-year
(YoY) after 2025.

80 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS MWC 2024 

The technology promotes a new breed of to stamp its mark in the Open RAN race. “We should have the same spectrum policy
telecoms kit that allows providers to mix and “With Samsung, when we get into a throughout Europe and push for more timely
match solutions from multiple vendors, rather business, we don't want be the either the fourth and affordable options."
than being tied to proprietary equipment or third best player,” Ojert says. “We ultimately Breton says the mobile industry needs to do
supplied by a single vendor. It is hoped this will want to be the number one, we want to be the better with the allocation of 6G spectrum.
promote competition in the market and offer best, or the top vendor in the world.” "In regard to 6G, we cannot afford to
better value to customers.
The Open RAN approach makes this encounter delays in the spectrum licensing
Towards the end of last year, AT&T and possible, Ojert says. He believes it has opened process with huge disparities in timelines
Ericsson sealed a lucrative $14 billion Open- the market up for a number of different players, between member states," Breton said. "We
RAN deal. A big advocate for the technology, including chip companies and software cannot tolerate the same outcome as for 5G
AT&T expects 70 percent of its mobile network companies which wouldn’t have usually been where the process is still not complete after
traffic to flow across Open RAN by 2026. involved in the network buildout. eight years.
At this year’s show, the duo completed “Investment is needed now to bridge the
a cloud RAN call, using Ericsson's cloud gap. No less than €200 billion ($216bn) [is]
technology over AT&T's commercial 5G 5G Advanced in Malaysia needed over the next five to six years, and this
network. With 5G now commonplace in multiple is only for completing the rollout of 5G," he
“This [Cloud RAN call] was a huge markets around the world, attention has turned added.
accomplishment for us, and was a good step to 5G Advanced (5G-A), or 5.5G as some have A separate debate on how much spectrum
in the direction of going down the path of labeled it. is required for 6G was also held during MWC.
this open multi-vendor, programmable RAN 5G-A is tipped to drive AI-based capabilities This saw Doug Kirkpatrick, president and CEO
network that we that we envisioned,” Adam to 5G RAN, core, and operation domains. at radio-unit maker Eridan, argue that the
Loddeke, AVP of RAN technology at AT&T, told existing spectrum should be repurposed.
Chinese vendor Huawei was talking
DCD. “From a technology perspective, we don’t
particularly loud about the technology, a
The call was carried out in the South Dallas few days after it revealed it had worked with need any more spectrum," Kirkpatrick told
area. Further calls will take place, but Loddeke Malaysian telco Maxis to complete the first delegates. "The challenge is not the spectrum,
warns it will take some time - and lessons will 5G-Advanced technology trial in the country the challenge is pushing the technologists
be learned. and Southeast Asia. to push the pieces that you need, we have
“We'll grow the existing trial area in South probably the spectrum in the wrong places.
Huawei boasted that it was able to
Dallas into other areas later this year,” he says. demonstrate peak speeds of up to 8Gbps. "We need to think more about what kind
“The exact volume is still being determined. of spectrum we want to use for what kind
For context, Opensignal revealed in a
I would say we're approaching it like a crawl, of applications. Moving applications from
study last year that South Korea has the fastest
walk, run scenario. one spectrum to another is not a zero-sum
average 5G download speeds at 432.5Mbps.
“We’re currently at the crawl stage, game; you’re going to have a transition period
It wasn’t just Huawei talking about 5G-A, in between. So we will likely need some
where we’re learning lessons about how to
Ericsson also waded into the discussion. Once intermediate spectrum in order to make those
operationalize.” again the 5G Advanced conversation centered movements happen, but when we’re done, the
He noted that Ericsson will be working around Malaysia, with Ericsson signing an MoU answer should be zero.”
through its own learnings from the software. with Malaysia's Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB)
“We also have to do some development to deploy 5G-A in the country.
within AT&T to support the inclusion of Cloud Ericsson is the network provider for the What next?
RAN within our network, so there's IT system DNB, which is Malaysia’s first shared 5G
The industry is very much in its 5G era now, be
development that has to occur, along with network.
that through the 5G standalone deployments,
processing skills training, because it's new for "This new '5G Advanced' technology will various spectrum launches, and Open RAN
AT&T, and so you have to scale the workforce bring advanced radio security, superior user architecture underpinning these networks.
as well,” Loddeke adds. experience, and enterprise capabilities, as
Next up is 6G, and although it’s not
well as empowering sustainability through
expected to launch commercially before the
enhanced energy management," claimed
end of the decade, that doesn’t mean it’s not
Samsung wants to go big Nasution Mohamed, chief operating officer at
being discussed.
One of the promises of Open RAN is that DNB.
“6G is still very raw,” says Youssef Latoyef,
it will bring on board more hardware and
VP head of strategy and portfolio and cloud
software players, so there were probably a few
services at Ericsson. “The bulk of 6G will be on
laughs when some of the big announcements Spectrum splits opinion
the radio side.
featured the same old names, such as Ericsson It’s not a telecoms conference without a
or Nokia. “From a core perspective, we look at 6G
discussion about spectrum, and this year’s
as a bit of an evolution of 5G, especially on
But one new vendor that wants to make show was no different.
the standalone core. So for us, it's about how
some waves in the Open RAN arena is Thierry Breton, The European we continue driving and leveraging the
Samsung Networks. Commissioner for Internal Markets, was even capabilities we introduced in standalone to
The Korean electronics giant has struck drawn into the conversation on spectrum apply to the 6G networks.”
Open RAN partnerships with Dish Wireless allocation, which is always a divisive issue.
For many, AI will make more of an impact
in the US, KDDI in Japan, and more recently “European businesses and citizens are on the telecoms industry when 6G becomes a
Canadian telco Telus Networks. always at the center of our ambition, but we reality. For now, it’s a waiting game, but there’s
Magnus Ojert, senior vice president, must balance the focus with the need for a a good chance there will be more 6G talk at
networks business, Samsung Electronics competitive and modern economy,” Breton next year’s show. 
America, told DCD that it sees a real opportunity said.

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 81

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

Using AI to help
chip design Charlotte Trueman
Compute, Storage, &
Networking Editor

Chip companies are currently

competing to bring increasingly
powerful AI chips to market,
but does the technology itself
hold the key to helping chip
designers make that a reality?

AI
is everywhere. It underpins the those logic blocks to transistors on the silicon “If you go back in time, the first chip I ever
tools you use in your workplace, surface; and then testing and validating the chip designed was drawn on paper by hand, and
it determines the deals offered to ensure it does what is intended of it. when they made the masks, that was all cut
to you when you go grocery Within almost all of these steps, he said that out by hand. So, we've already added computer
shopping, the customer service representative AI tools could be theoretically deployed to speed technology to assist with stuff like the layout
you reach out to is probably a chatbot, and it up the design process, such as automating design.”
is increasingly trying its hand at journalism layout optimization tasks like floor planning and Referencing modern-day CPUs, which can
(although not in this case). routing, or simulating the behavior of a chip in contain anything from a few million to billions
Another area where AI is becoming different scenarios, thus reducing the need for of transistors, Priestley adds: “You can't design a
increasingly pervasive is in the chipmaking physical prototypes. current-generation chip using the techniques
industry. Currently, it can take between 18 that were out there 30 or 40 years ago; you need
Using emerging technologies to assist
months to two years to design a chip, and as sophisticated computer technology to design
with chip design is not a new concept Priestly
compute requirements increase, it’s a process it today. Adding AI techniques into that design
argues, noting that the technology used to
that is becoming increasingly costly and time- process is just the next step.”
develop chips today is incredibly complex by
consuming. In July 2023, speaking at the World Artificial
comparison to that of yesteryear.
The manufacturing process, while less Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai,
Priestly, who also has an engineering degree
time-consuming, is no less complex and can AMD’s CEO, Dr. Lisa Su, said that the company
and worked at International Computers and
involve hundreds of steps, making the shift from had already started to use artificial intelligence
Intel in the past, has some hands-on experience
design to mass production deeply laborious. for designing chips, adding that she expected
with how things have changed.
It’s therefore unsurprising that chip companies that AI-enabled tools would eventually
have started to dip their toe into the AI pool to dominate chip design as the complexity of
see if the technology can bring efficiencies to modern processors continues to increase
the industry.
“You can't you can't exponentially.
When it comes to chip design, Alan Priestley, design a current The company’s interest in AI-powered
VP Analyst at Gartner, said that on a very generation chip using the chip design was elaborated upon by Andrej
simplistic level, there are a number of things to Zdravkovic, senior vice president of GPU
consider, namely what you want the chip to do,
techniques that were out technologies and engineering software and
which is reliant on the function of logic blocks; there 30 or 40 years ago.” chief software officer at AMD, in comments to
the layout of the chip and the conversion of DCD.
82 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com
>>CONTENTS Chip design 

executive director of product line management,

at Synopsys EDA Group.
However, the company realized that by “The challenges currently
bringing AI into the process, it would provide facing the semiconductor
its customers with the ability to run millions
of combinations within the design space in a industry are arguably
reduced time, allowing designers to achieve more complex than ever
higher performance, lower power consumption,
and smaller chip area with less manual effort.
before, meaning that
Following the release of DSO.ai, in March companies of all sizes
Andrej Zdravkovic, AMD 2023, the company launched Synopsys.ai, and from all industries
an AI-powered design automation suite that
“AMD engineering teams are always looking deploys generative AI across the entire EDA
are now turning to EDA
for new ways to use cutting-edge technology stack. This suite includes VSO.ai for verification, organizations and AI tools
in our design process. We have used predictive TSO.ai testing, and ASO.ai for analog design,
AI models for many years now and they have with the company essentially taking the
to help them address
proved to be extremely useful in recognizing architecture it used to build its DSO.ai offering some of these issues”
patterns and helped us improve productivity and scaling and optimizing it for different
and reduce development time,” he said. workflows and parameters.
for high-performance computing, to AI, mobile
Zdravkovic explained that AMD has been Synopsys’ full suite of AI-powered tools processors, automotive, and electronics among
deploying these models to help identify now forms an end-to-end solution that its customer base.
potential issues early in the hardware and includes system architecture, design capture,
software design process, providing the verification, implementation, sign-off, testing,
company with additional tools to make and silicon manufacturing. The challenges facing chip
informed decisions. The company has since partnered designers
“With the development of large language with AMD, Intel, and Nvidia, and counts Priestley said that EDA companies have
models and explosion of the generative AI we organizations that design everything from chips traditionally partnered with smaller companies,
have started to look at integrating AI into our as bigger organizations already have their own
workflow for the silicon and software design in-house development capabilities.
process to more efficiently deliver faster and
However, Narayanan said that the challenges
more innovative designs,” he said, adding
currently facing the semiconductor industry
that AMD is also identifying how AI can help are arguably more complex than ever before,
automate and optimize the repetitive tasks meaning that companies of all sizes and from all
including checking and correcting the RTL or industries are now turning to EDA organizations
software code for best practices, architecture and AI tools to help them address some of these
and security standards. issues.
Most conversations relating to the biggest
challenge facing the industry will involve a
The role of EDA discussion on how much smaller can chips
If you look beneath the hood, in a lot of get. Currently, the smallest chips in production
use cases AI is just being used to automate are 3nm but the race to mass-produce 2nm is
undeniably dull tasks. In that regard, AI- officially underway, with availability expected
powered chip design is not a wholly new from 2025.
concept. However, traditional lithography processes
Arvind-Narayanan-Synopsys
Electronic Design Automation (EDA) – the action of creating minute patterns on
companies have been around for decades, with a silicon wafer – are reaching their limits
the earliest EDA processes being attributed to because, as transistors have grown smaller,
IBM in the 1950s. However, the continuous this process has required increasingly complex
scaling of semiconductors is making them calculations to work out how to operate at such
increasingly popular with chip manufacturers. a small scale.
Founded in 1986, Synopsys is one such EDA One company that has tried to tackle this
company that supplies tools and services to problem is Nvidia, which launched cutLitho, a
semiconductor manufacturing companies. It software library for computational lithography
took its first foray into the world of AI-powered that improves chip design development times,
chip design in 2020 when it launched a cloud- at its GTC conference in March 2023.
based AI software tool called DSO.ai, which uses At launch, the company said cutLitho
reinforcement learning to automatically decide would facilitate the development of chips with
how best to place and route blocks of circuitry tinier transistors and wires than is currently
on a chip. achievable, while accelerating time to market
Previously, the ability to explore the design and improving the energy efficiency of the data
space without the use of compute was not centers that run alongside semiconductor fabs
possible because time limitations meant there as part of the manufacturing process.
were only so many iterations it was humanly At its 2024 conference, Nvidia said its
possible to run, explains Arvind Narayanan, cutLitho library was now being used by TSMC

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 83

DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

“Converting a
theoretical design
to practicality costs
hundreds of millions
of dollars so you need
to do as much work
as possible upfront so
you can be certain that
everything works and
there are no surprises”

and Synopsys for production chip development. and says that the talent shortage is a very real of millions of dollars so you need to do as
The company also claimed that generative issue that Synopsys’ customers are currently much work as possible upfront so you can be
AI had allowed cutLitho to provide a 2× boost grappling with. certain that everything works and there are no
in performance on top of the accelerated “They see that there is so much potential surprises. Especially as the more complex the
computing it originally offered; which itself was [for AI] in improving productivity and that's the chip is, the harder it is to test it.”
a performance leap of up to 40× beyond current direction most of the companies are headed,” AMD’s Zdravkovic echoed Priestly’s point
lithography. he said. that AI will improve the design process by
Separately, in October 2023, Nvidia “[Chip companies] all have the same set accelerating the speed at which the design
announced it had developed ChipNeMo, a large of challenges. What they’re designing doesn't process can be completed but warned that
language model (LLM) to help its employees matter, they all have the same set of challenges. human interaction should remain part of the
design chips. So, when you have technology that can increase solution, as chip design requires an “in-depth
Another challenge facing the semiconductor the productivity of your existing workforce, it understanding of the complete design space
industry that AI could help to address is the would be foolish not to look at it and adopt it.” and well-defined interaction and dependency
talent shortage. of all system parameters.”
“I don't think [AI is] a difficult sell. They're all
As is the case across most of the technology sold on it already,” Narayanan said. Looking to the long-term, however, his
sector, the semiconductor industry is comments reflected those Su made in 2023,
desperately lacking talent, with a 2022 report saying that while recent advances in AI and new
capabilities offered by AI are nothing short of
from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) titled ‘The Will the benefits of AI outlive the
phenomenal, it feels like the industry has just
Growing Challenge of Semiconductor Design hype?
Leadership’ stating that at the current rate of started to scratch the surface.
As is the case with most emerging technologies,
growth, demand for design workers in the “I firmly believe that over the years we’ll
it can be hard to judge if its longevity will outlive
semiconductor industry will exceed supply by move most of the repetitive design work
its hype.
nearly 35 percent in 2030. to advanced AI tools, while freeing up our
For now, it appears that the AI bubble won’t engineers to do creative tasks, and invent new
Consequently, BCG notes that design leaders
burst any time soon however, that doesn’t mean advanced silicon and software architectures,”
must leverage “new and future technologies”
that all caution should be thrown to the wind he said.
that are critical for design innovation, including
just yet.
AI. For Narayanan, the glass isn’t half full but
Gartner’s Priestly is more pessimistic than rather overflowing. He said that amongst
“Designers can more quickly and effectively
most, saying that we’re reaching the peak of the Synopsys’ customers at least, where there might
meet power, performance, and area targets
hype cycle and as is often the case, it could very once have been some skepticism (as is often
by leveraging AI-based tools. Reinforcement
much all come crashing down. the case with any new technology) that seems
learning and other AI algorithms can automate
less consequential design tasks, freeing While he acknowledges that AI will to have evaporated as customers have seen the
engineers to focus on more advanced tasks and undoubtedly accelerate the design process, value AI can bring to chip manufacturers.
decisions,” the report reads. he warns that the technology is like a black He said that organizations are now realizing
box and therefore the challenge lies within the that they can do even more without having to
Narayanan said that AI has already made
outcome. He says, that as numerous examples grow their workforce, and can accomplish these
significant inroads when it comes to chip
of questionable content created by generative growing workloads in the same amount of time
design but he believes there is so much more
AI have proven, you can’t always guarantee that or even shorter windows of time.
that can be achieved with the technology, not
the requests you make will generate the correct
just in terms of workflow optimization but That's where he says Synopsys has seen
response.
through the wider benefits it can bring to the AI play the most critical role, bridging the gap
industry. “That’s the big issue here because chip between what customers need to do and what
design is expensive,” Priestly said. “Converting a they can do. 
Narayanan references the BCG report
theoretical design to practicality costs hundreds

84 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS Don't interrupt 

Exploring Static
UPS systems Vlad-Gabriel Anghel
DCD>Academy

Part 3
read part 1 & part 2

S
o far we have explored in detail what the AC input as the power source (solid line). failure, move the transfer switch and turn on
the role of the Uninterruptible Power Should a problem occur with the primary the inverter.
Supply (UPS) is [in Criticality and source, the transfer switch changes the power The complete classification for this type of
redundancy in the data center] and delivery system to switch to the batteries. The UPS as per IEC 62040-3 is VFD-SY-33.
we have analyzed the two main types of name of “standby” comes from the fact that the
uninterruptible power supply systems - static inverter only starts once the primary power The line-interactive UPS
and rotary [in Pick your UPS flavor]. path fails - the inverter effectively “stands by”
Line interactive UPS systems are best suited
It is time to dig deeper into the different to carry the load.
for protecting IT equipment present in data
types of static UPS systems. Static UPS systems A static UPS is characterized by relatively centers like servers and associated networking
are the most widespread type of UPS and are low cost and a small footprint. It further boasts equipment like switches and routers.
responsible for keeping the majority of data non-sinusoidal output waveforms and high The block diagram below shows the inner
centers online in the event of a failure from efficiency. The majority of static UPS systems workings of a line interactive UPS and the
the grid. available on the market also provide surge main differentiation between this and the
As we have learned previously the design of protection and electrical noise filtering. standby UPS is that the converter (an inverter
a data center power delivery system is entirely The IEC standard classifies the input or a rectifier capable of processing power in
dependent on the continuity requirements dependency (AAA) as VFD (Voltage and both directions) is constantly connected to the
of the IT load the data center hosts. As it is Frequency Dependent) because the standby output of the UPS. Should the primary source
usually the case the IT load will require 24/7 UPS lacks circuitry to regulate output voltage fail, the transfer switch opens and power flows
availability, the power delivery system will be or frequency when operating in normal mode. from the batteries to the IT load.
built to Tier 3 or Tier 4 standards.
Further, when it comes to output waveform It is important to note that because the
Static UPS systems, compared to their rotary (BB) the IEC standard classifies this as SY converter is constantly connected to the
counterparts, do not have any moving parts because, in normal mode, it passes the output of the UPS, switching between power
along their power conversion and distribution sinusoidal AC input voltage through to the IT sources yields reduced switching transients as
systems. The most common types of static UPS load. While in energy mode this type of UPS well as increased filtering of electrical noise.
systems are as follows: utilizes a square or step wave inverter (a device The line interactive UPS system design
• Standby (or off-line) UPS that converts DC voltage into AC voltage). makes use of a tap-changing AVR (automatic
• Line Interactive UPS Lastly, the dynamic output performance voltage regulator) transformer. By adjusting the
• Double conversion (or on-line) UPS according to the IEC standard is 33. This transformer taps in line with the input voltage
is because it typically takes around 10 the whole system now has voltage regulation.
We will cover each of these types of static
milliseconds for the system to detect a power This is of paramount importance within low
UPS with a description, a topology diagram,
their pros and cons as well as the IEC 62040-3
AC Source
output performance.
The IEC 62040-3: UPS - method of
specifying performance and test requirements Surge Filter
Suppressor
is an established standard that we have
covered previously in issue #50 and further
classifies the UPS in three categories - Input Transfer
Switch IT Load
dependency (AAA); Output Voltage Waveform
(BB); Dynamic Output Performance (CC).
Battery
Inverter
Charger

The standby UPS

The standby UPS (also called off-line) is Figure 1 - Standby UPS
commonly used to protect loads such as with surge protection and
desktop computers. As shown in the diagram electrical noise filtration
below the transfer switch is set to work on
Energy Storage / Batteries

Issue 52 • April 2024 | 85

 DCD Magazine #52 >>CONTENTS

AC Source

Transfer Switch Tap-Changing

AVR Transformer
Static Bypass
Switch
AC Source

Converter IT Load

Rectifier Inverter
IT Load

Figure 2
through the rectifier (a device that converts Figure 3
Line Interactive AC voltage into DC voltage) and the inverter On-line normal mode -
UPS instead of through a transfer switch fed from double conversion UPS
Energy Storage / Batteries
the AC source. Essentially the current goes Energy Storage / Batteries

through a double conversion (AC-DC-AC),

hence the name. AC Source

Should the primary path

voltage conditions, otherwise the UPS would fail, the rectifier shuts down Transfer Switch Tap-Changing

transfer to the battery and in turn shut down and the inverter starts drawing power directly AVR Transformer

the load. from the batteries then feeding the IT load. The
primary advantage of this layout is that there Converter IT Load
Its small footprint coupled with its high
is no change in the power path should the
efficiency and high reliability as well as
primary source fail, no switches open or closed
boasting the ability to correct voltage in low
which means the transfer time sits at 0ms. Figure 4
or high voltage conditions make this UPS the
ideal candidate within the 0.5 to 5kVA power This type of UPS running in on-line normal Bypass normal
range. mode provides almost ideal electrical output mode - double
performance. conversion UPS
The IEC classification for this type of UPS
is VI-SS-31. Because of the AVR transformer The full IEC standard output performance Energy Storage / Batteries

regulating input voltage the standard classifies is classified as VFI-SS-11. This is due to the
fact that the on-line double conversion UPS Because of the use of the transfer switch
the input dependency as Voltage Independent
operating in normal mode regulates both on the primary power path it does not regulate
(VI).
output voltage and frequency hence it is a voltage or frequency, thus being voltage and
Output waveforms are classified as SS frequency dependent (VFD). Furthermore,
voltage and frequency independent system
because it passes the sinusoidal AC input because both power paths end up supplying an
(VFI). Further, because the sinewave inverter
voltage through to the load when operating in AC sine wave, the waveform output is SS. With
powers the load in every mode of operation
normal mode and utilizes a sine wave inverter the transfer time being around 10ms and the
the output waveform is classified as SS. Finally
in stored energy mode. inverter handling step loads well, the dynamic
dynamic output performance is 11 because the
Finally, the dynamic output performance is inverter continuously supplies power to the output performance is 31.
31 because it usually takes about 10ms to detect load without interruption and can also handle The PFC bypass mode differs from the usual
a power failure, open the transfer switch and step loads very well. bypass mode by keeping the inverter online,
reverse the power flow through the inverter - providing additional required current to ensure
The double conversion on-line UPS
which handles step loads very well. that the load receives only sinusoidal current
operating in bypass normal mode is illustrated
with a high power factor. This alleviates
The double conversion UPS in figure 4. The power path through the load
some of the drawbacks of the previous
happens through the static bypass transfer
Above 10kVA the double conversion UPS mode of operation and makes the transfer
switch with the rectifier operating in low power
dominates the landscape as it is best used to instantaneous. Because of a 0ms transfer time
mode to keep batteries charged while the
protect large swathes of servers along with the IEC classification for a double conversion
inverter is in standby.
networking and storage equipment. PFC bypass mode UPS system is VFD-SS-11.
Should the primary power source fail, the
The types of static UPS we have looked at - UPS technology keeps evolving in line with
transfer switch opens, the inverter kicks in
line interactive and standby - have two modes the exponentially increasing demand for clean,
and starts supplying the load directly from the
of operation - normal and energy storage uninterrupted and reliable power delivery
mode. On the contrary, the double conversion batteries.
across a swathe of industries.
UPS will often boast two additional modes of Operating this type of UPS in bypass
Niched approaches like delta conversion,
operation - a high-efficiency bypass mode and normal mode improves the efficiency of the
hybrid conversion or ferro-resonant UPS
a high-efficiency PFC (Power Factor Corrected) UPS as well as extending its service life since
designs further seek to increase efficiency and
bypass mode. less component stress is being administered
cater to all proven use cases.
Each mode of operation in a double along with a reduced heat output. However,
operating in bypass mode means that any The systems and technologies outlined
conversion UPS has slightly different have long been at the core of enabling
power flows, transfer mechanisms and IEC power quality problems felt in the primary
today’s digital society and will continue to
classifications. power path will impact the load directly as the
play a functional and foundational role in its
inverter is not in operation.
The on-line normal mode double evolution as the data center landscape keeps
conversion UPS is represented in figure 3. The The full IEC standard output performance responding to the insatiable demand for data.
layout is similar to a standby UPS with the only for this type of UPS in the bypass normal mode

difference being that the power load is fed is VFD-SS-31.

86 | DCD Magazine • datacenterdynamics.com

>>CONTENTS

 The good times

The AI goldilocks zone

I
solved, the simple act of stringing words together
have just returned from Nvidia's GTC
is not what makes us journalists. We work with
event in Silicon Valley, a paean to excess
sources (if you have a tip, get in touch), FOIAs,
and exuberance in the age of artificial
boots on the ground reporting, and more to add to
intelligence.
the Internet's collective knowledge - rather than
For a journalist, my emotions are mixed. On the just rearranging existing datasets.
one hand, as the editor of a publication focused on
But the reality is that AI doesn't need to be
digital infrastructure, the current sector boom has
as good as us to undermine us. The death of
been nothing but good for us.
link-based search engines would be a death knell
We have more to write about than ever before, for many a publication, while an explosion of
the ending of industry norms means that data AI-generated publications could drown out the
center operators need an independent voice like human-crafted content, pushing us to the brink.
never before. And, while the editorial team is
I find myself wishing for a likely fantasy: A level
separate from DCD's wider commerical operations,
of AI that keeps growing and financing the next
ballooning company budgets have undoubtedly
wave of the Internet, but that never quite achieves
helped us expand our team to eleven journalists.
the intellectual capabilities to displace myself and
It is therefore unsurprising that I have a vested those around me.
interest in wanting the good times to keep on
This is a somewhat selfish view, and one that
going. Like any sensible business, we are trying
we try to keep out of our reporting - where we aim
to work out how to take advantage of the current
for the classic neutral news approach that is mostly
growth opportunity, while being careful to not
impossible. But I suspect that I will soon not be
overexpand if this ends up being a bubble that
alone in this view.
pops hard.
I recently visited the labs of a major hyperscaler
At the same time, however, another part of me
where a researcher told me that they were
hopes that AI's growth does temper somewhat.
developing robots for lights out data centers.
As someone that makes a living primarily from
Others are doing the same.
writing, and that employs a team of wonderful
humans that do the same, it is undeniably As more jobs in the sector face this moment,
unsettling to see the rapid progress of large where the boom they were a part of fueling starts
language models. to render them irrelevant, it may cause many of us
to look back at this time as the good ol' days. 
I remain convinced that current generative AI
approaches have no hope of matching what my
team does. Even if hallucinations and accuracy are - Sebastian Moss, Editor-in-Chief