We are proud to have NDC Data Centers mentioned in the “Forum Nachhaltig Wirtschaften” magazine. In the article “DER COMPUTER ALS HEIZKÖRPER? Moderne Rechenzentren können mehr als rechnen” (“The computer as a radiator? Modern data centers can do more than compute”), the journalist analyzed the need and the technology behind modern data centers.
He highlighted the urgency by saying: “Data centers are real monsters: they consume vast amounts of electricity, produce a lot of waste heat, and the air conditioning systems for cooling the sensitive computers put energy consumption even higher. However, as the demand for computing capacity worldwide is increasing dramatically, an action is urgently needed.”
The amount of data we produce is astonishing. Every day we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data: this would fill 10 million Blu-ray discs, and the height of discs stacked, would measure the height of 4 Eiffel Towers on top of one another. And, this enormous amount of data, is not only on the rise but needs to be processed at top speed.
More data to elaborate means more servers. And, more servers mean more data centers.
Data centers already account for 1.6% of global electricity consumption, which is already intended for data centers, and the percentage is on the rise. For this reason, more and more companies are presenting new disruptive ideas to optimize data centers. Electricity consumption from renewable sources is a great solution, but unfortunately, it is not enough. Other aspects must be considered such as the cooling technologies.
In principle, 100% of the electric energy of a data center is converted into heat during the data processing. Therefore, to maintain a temperature equilibrium, the heat must be dissipated to 100 percent. Air cooling was in use worldwide for a long time as cooling systems. Unfortunately, with the new need for scaling and higher power density, air cooling did not meet the expectations, so new cooling systems are needed.
A disruptive concept and good engineering work came together and presented a new way of cooling with water. Water cooling allows new design solutions and a higher power density.
In this regard, Project MARIE, the lighthouse project of NDC in Erding, was mentioned by the journalist as a successful example of an ultra-energy-efficient data center with an expected PUE value of 1.07 thanks to the “efficient water cooling”.