Connect | New York // DCD>Debate: Rethinking the rack - Can data center architecture keep up with modern compute?

Go to the 2027 site
  • —
  • Compute, Storage & Networking
  • Open Session

Speakers

Ken Sullivan

Ken Sullivan

Founder & CEO, Bay Compute

Harsha Bojja

Principal AI Platform Architect, Google

Stephen Worn

CTO and Managing Director, NAM, DatacenterDynamics

Sean Brigandi

Senior Director - Data Centre Infrastructure & Strategy - Operations, RBC

Skyler Holloway

Vice President of Strategy and Portfolio, Switch

Rising compute and storage densities are reshaping how data centers are built from the rack up. The once-stable balance between power, cooling, and network design is giving way to a new era where efficiency, integration, and bandwidth are pushed to their limits. As performance demands surge, operators and architects are reimagining how servers, interconnects, and fabrics can be designed to deliver more capacity within the same physical footprint. This debate explores how far existing rack architectures can stretch - and what new approaches will define the next generation of data center design.

This debate will explore:

  • How high-density compute is driving changes in rack layout and connectivity
  • The trade-offs between bandwidth, latency, and efficiency in rack design
  • How to evolve power delivery, cooling, and cabling for next-gen hardware
  • Whether today’s rack designs can scale with the pace of modern workloads