The Importance of Power and Cooling in AI Implementation
In this white paper
The demand for AI is skyrocketing.
What challenges does this bring?
Rack Density
Fitting more IT gear into each rack is imperative to keep latency low and efficiency high.
More Power
It's a challenge to get enough power and back-up power into each rack.
Keeping it cool
More power equals more heat. AI clusters may require advanced cooling techniques, such as liquid cooling.
The Big Picture
Remote monitoring and management of the physical infrastructure is more important than ever.
Schneider Electric supports NVIDIA AI solutions with the infrastructure you need.
Success story: Boosting AI research with unmatched efficiency
Customer challenge:
A certified multi-tenant data center customer wanted to introduce a new GPU-as-a-service offering but needed integration support.
Solution:
They engaged WWT, who helped design a solution for high-performance computing based on NVIDIA architecture. Next, they had several consultation sessions specifically for power and infrastructure, as they learned the power element was just as complex as the computing element.
For power, WWT brought in Schneider Electric. Powered by NVIDIA's HGX™ 100, which is three times faster than the previous model, the customer upgraded to a higher-voltage power distribution system to support enhanced rack PDUs. High-density computing requires robust power distribution systems to ensure reliable and efficient electricity supply.
As AI continues to demand more from data centers, IT leaders must rethink infrastructure and incorporate advanced power distribution technologies to ensure optimal performance, reliability, and energy efficiency.
Advanced computing tasks demand tightly linked GPU clusters with optimized software support. The HGX 100 is up to the challenge.
- 30x faster and 3x more energy efficient at LLM inference than its predecessor
- 3x lower TCO and requires 5x fewer server nodes
- 20x more energy efficient than CPUs for HPC and AI workloads
Schneider solutions to empower your AI data center
RACKS
- Quality-built racks that come in large sizes and load capacities to accommodate high-density AI servers
- 60 amp Rack PDUs to get more power into each rack, with higher amps planned for the future
- Coming soon: Rack manifolds to easily connect servers to cooling systems
COOLING
Expertise and all required components to deploy the right air or liquid cooling system for your AI clusters, including:
- Aisle and rack containment
- Close-coupled cooling
- Liquid cooling support like CDUs
POWER
- UPS systems that can support 20–30kW to ensure your IT equipment is always up, always running
- 50–100kW UPS systems planned for the future
- 415 volts often needed
SOFTWARE AND CONTROL
- EcoStruxure™ platform for monitoring and control— so you can optimize power utilization, get alerts to potential problems, and more
- A full suite of DCIM solutions for planning, modeling (including digital twin), and managing your data center operations