Asia contains some of the most exciting emerging data center markets in the world. With countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines among those vying to be the next data center hotspot, there’s never been a better time to look at the state of the play in the region.

DCD’s Emma Brookes sat down with Paul Churchill, vice president of Vertiv in Asia to look at how AI is affecting facilities, and where the opportunities are. He starts with an overview of the way AI has influenced growth in high density workloads in recent months:

“There’s no doubt that the demand for AI computing, and therefore heating and cooling, has transferred not only from the US, but on to Asia. We’ve seen a large demand for high density data centers in the region. Virtually all data centers being built today are AI ready – and when we say that, we include being able to cope with heating and cooling loads of up to 60kw per rack.”

Churchill adds that what we term “high density” is really “normal density” by today’s standards, as loads have increased so dramatically. But where are the hotspots for Asian data centers? The fact is, it’s changing:

“Predominantly, the hubs were Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong. But over the past 12 months we’ve seen a change, with substantial growth in data centers across Malaysia – particularly Johor, as well as traditionally tier two locations like Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Korea, Japan – the whole region is buzzing with opportunities.”

The changes in workloads have seen what Churchill cites as a 10-fold increase in cooling and electrical demands against the original parameters of data center design, which has led to the fast implementation of liquid cooling across the board:

“As time evolves we’re going to see more of a shift from air to liquid. That means any infrastructure needs to have the flexibility to increase its liquid capacity, and while you won’t see a decrease in air cooling, the ratio between the two is going to change. A lot of the data centers we’re currently deploying are 70 percent liquid, 30 percent air – and that significantly changes the design, philosophy, and operations of how we run a traditional data center.”

Another consideration is the weight of infrastructure that facilities need to be able to stand up to, and as Churchill tells us, that too has fostered a fundamental shift in the way data centers are designed:

“Designers have taken the opportunity to develop low-rise data centers, in more of a campus style, which affords the ability to increase your floor loading. If you’re fitting out as you go, a campus style has a lot more flexibility, especially if you’re looking toward future expansion.”

Also on the agenda is a shift toward what are now more commonly referred to as “skid solutions” – another term for prefabricated racking:

“Whether that’s from a power or cooling perspective, particularly if you’re not sure who your tenants are likely to be in a colocation environment, you’re not going to know what your exact density is going to be, so having the ability to actually construct core and then at some later date, skid-in the power and cooling requirements according to that demand is fantastic – it’s changing the design of the data center and how we deploy going forward.”

Churchill goes on to address the challenge of futureproofing facilities for the potential of higher workloads in the future:

“I think that’s one of the real challenges. I’m seeing some customers saying ‘my demand is only 30 kilowatts per rack, but we want to be expandable to perhaps 80 or 90 kilowatts per rack in the future’. That’s not necessarily an easy thing to do, because you’re often doing it within particular cost restraints for colocation facilities.”

Much of the capability for data center expansion lies in making allowances for future growth both within electrical and cooling infrastructure. With AI still in its infancy, this flexibility is crucial for any facility, as capacities and heat densities per rack are only set to rise, at a trajectory that as it stands is somewhat unpredictable.

“This significant growth comes with a lot of challenges because we don’t necessarily have a lot of large data center construction experience in the region,” says Churchill. “As we move away from traditional hubs toward other countries, there’s a requirement for consulting, engineering, construction, and M&E (mechanical and engineering) work just to build the data center.

"Then there’s the operational side, because of the heat densities, and the requirement to have increased voltages at the rack. To have liquid reticulated through the data center presents significant operational challenges.”

This added complexity is spearheading a merge between IT and facility, creating different needs and skill requirements. For instance, with some servers worth millions of dollars each, if there is a problem that requires replacement, this is no longer just an IT requirement. That component could also be connected to a liquid cooling manifold, or perhaps in the future you’re dealing with a DC connection of 800 volts. That said, Churchill seems confident the region is headed in the right direction:

“Having the skilled labor to be able to deploy and maintain these facilities could be seen as an inhibitor to growth, but that will come over a period of time, and we've already seen that developing quite quickly.”

To find out more about the challenges and opportunities in Asia Pacific, watch the full interview on demand, here.