Recently, liquid cooling has garnered significant attention in the data center landscape, yet its roots trace back to the 1980s in various forms. The recent surge of interest in this cooling method is largely due to the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, therefore introducing it to even MORE people, as they wonder what this “cool new thing” is. And, since the quest to increase your systems’ efficiency is never complete, it’s no wonder why liquid cooling has found its way into nearly all discussions about the future of data center operations. 

As mentioned, the emergence of AI-powered programs, like ChatGPT, have intensified the world's focus on AI across various sectors, from data science to university programs. According to a recent study by Accenture, 98% of company leaders are contemplating the potential impact of AI on their businesses. One inevitable consequence AI will bring to businesses, is the escalation of their data centers’ temperatures. Without adequate cooling mechanisms, these temperature increases can lead to equipment failure due to heat tolerance thresholds constantly being surpassed. This is where liquid cooling emerges as a vital solution. 

Liquid cooling offers superior thermophysical properties, making it more efficient for managing the extreme heat densities that are generated by IT racks supporting high-performance computing (HPC) applications. As data centers integrate liquid cooling solutions into their networks, several considerations come into play. 

One critical decision point is selecting the appropriate liquid cooling technology. Fortunately, cooling manufacturers have developed various methodologies, with immersion and direct-to-chip being the most popular. However, there is no universal guideline for determining which technology suits a specific setup.  

Each methodology presents unique advantages: direct-to-chip cooling offers better thermal resistance and easier maintenance, while immersion cooling tends to be simpler to manage and space-efficient, with greater flexibility across different hardware types. Both methodologies offer some opportunities for heat reuse and can be integrated with other infrastructure components to create hybrid solutions. For example, pairing with rear door heat exchangers for enhanced heat dissipation efficiency. 

If you decide to go the liquid cooling route, you’ll need to determine the most applicable liquid cooling methodology for your critical infrastructure’s needs. An important part of this process will be assessing the different methods’ impact on power consumption, ensuring that when implemented, you will have structural support for the additional weight (think: raised floors), and establishing a maintenance program to ensure smooth operations and a significantly prolonged lifespan. 

So, if and when you decide liquid cooling is the best path for your business’s needs, be sure to give careful consideration of these various factors. Most importantly, you’ll want to ensure optimal performance and longevity of infrastructure.  

To learn more on this topic, we encourage you to watch our recent webinar “The 2024 State of Liquid Cooling” in which guests Dr. Richard Bonner and Liz Cruz of Accelsius explore a more in-depth look at the world of liquid cooling. 

Data centers are the beating hearts of modern businesses. They house critical infrastructure and sensitive data that is vital to all departments across an organization. In this fast-paced digital landscape, making sure your data center is always in top operational shape shouldn’t be just a goal, but an absolute necessity on any given day that someone will need to access pivotal data at the click of a mouse.

And, as you know quite well, running a data center pulls you in multiple directions at once. That’s why, to ensure you’re never offline, it’s important to always have a real-time pulse on the areas outlined below. 

Security: Building Fortresses for Data

Imagine a data center as a fortress with a hard outer shell and multiple layers within, each with their own security measures. Strict management of access ensures only those who require entry to each of these levels can actually get in. This goes beyond the front door and is a physical concern throughout the entire data center. To minimize security risks, it’s a must to manage the who, why, and where of every person entering your facility, as non-company staff must access the grounds for daily demands or periodic maintenance.

Preparation is Key

The COVID-19 pandemic brought many unexpected challenges for those leading data center operations at the time. Companies have long developed various types of disaster recovery plans accounting for a variety of scenarios. However, the pandemic tested those plans. And, when we found ourselves in a situation that hadn’t been experienced in 100 years, many failed the test. Fortunately, lessons learned strengthened disaster recovery going forward. Such lessons include the delicate nature of supply chain management, the importance of procuring inventory when available, and being able to execute “on a dime” during even the most chaotic of times. For these reasons, establishing thorough disaster recovery plans and being able to quickly adapt to unknowns have become indispensable.

Safety: A Cultural Requirement

Prioritizing the well-being of employees working under extreme conditions is crucial and should never be a question. That is why, for very good reasons, safety has become a cultural requirement for all businesses. Main concerns within data center environments include managing worksites where employees from multiple companies are working in tandem, ensuring the safety of workers that are working alone, taking precautions when working with high voltage power infrastructure, and having in place efficient response processes in case of emergencies. It’s not just enough to have these processes in place, but to ensure that no one is cutting corners, especially organizational leaders, as values are engrained from the very top. If you get everyone home safely at the end of the day, you’ve got yourself a strong culture and a safe data center.

Continuous Improvement

Even the top tier of organizations have room for improvement, whether being driven for the need to optimize efficiency or new ways to stay on budget. Repetitive tasks can be improved by identifying process enhancements and design strategies. Challenging the status quo can have significant results when driven by the employees who are closest to the challenges. Buy-in at all levels is needed for improvements and long-term success, as support from leadership helps to ensure this evolution occurs.

Nurturing Future Leaders

As the most experienced data center professionals continue to retire, there is a greater need for fresh faces. But to accomplish this, the industry needs to make sure students at all levels are being properly introduced to the concept of data centers, how they work, and why they must work for society to function. For example, younger generations are the largest consumers and creators of data. The broadband requirements are ever increasing, and the workhorse behind this data isn’t even a thought, as they may not recognize the connection between data centers and their iCloud folders, unless it is demonstrated to them. Furthermore, tomorrow’s professionals stand to benefit from learning more about our industry, as it opens for them a new door of career potential and even lucrative compensation.

Exposing younger generations to the industry, whether through professional forums and societies or internships, providing guidance on required skills, and mentoring them as they mature, are essential to properly pass the torch. These future leaders will shape the industry's evolution and will more immediately allow you to sleep soundly at night knowing the lights are being properly kept on, and equipment is up and running.

Finding the Right Fit

Attitude and aptitude are definite requirements for an employee to succeed in data center operations. When recruiting for the best possible fit, you’re going to ultimately need someone who can handle the stress of working in such an unpredictable environment. Being resilient during challenging times makes for outstanding professionals in any field. Additionally, communication skills are vital. Being able to identify and resolve problems is great, but being able to turn those problems into learning opportunities for an entire team, is invaluable, especially in the high-stress moments.

By making these items a priority, and by constantly reevaluating your organization’s needs, you are positioning your organization for great success. One data center operations team that has figured this out quite well, is the EdgeCore Data Centers’ team of operations leaders, led by Therese Kerfoot, SVP Operations. In December, Kerfoot and her team, Harrison Stoll (VP Operations), Matt Silvers (VP Operations Programs), and Sarah Kasper (Sr. Director, Environmental Health & Safety) joined us on the DVL Power Hour, “Data Center Excellence: Operations & Safety,” where the four shared their experiences in these areas and more. To learn about the extremely valuable insights they brought to the table, please check out the On-Demand webinar, or listen to the adapted podcast version available below and on iTunes and Spotify.

The third in a series of posts that explores the vital signs of a healthcare system’s critical infrastructure, this blog looks at growth at the healthcare edge and lays out the key considerations for ensuring your infrastructure has an agile skeletal system, accommodating changes in healthcare delivery models and the exponential growth of healthcare data.

Growing pains aren’t unique to people. Organizations of all types experience them as they attempt to stretch already strained resources to handle increased demands. Healthcare may be one of the most impacted industries with the influx of patient-generated health data and the growth of remote outpatient sites.

According to an IDC report, The Digitization of the World From Edge to Core, healthcare data is projected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36% through 2025. That’s enough data to fill 12 quadrillion miles worth notebook paper laid end to end, circling the earth 485 billion times! These organizations are struggling with how to store, manage, analyze, and secure the immense influx of information from established and ever-emerging technologies (i.e. EHR, digital imaging, IoMT, artificial intelligence, telemedicine, and wearables). As the volume continues to grow exponentially, they need a healthy infrastructure that can scale with it.

While today’s healthcare organizations cannot afford to overprovision, they do need ways to add capacity quickly as needed. Like the human body’s skeletal system, their infrastructure must provide scalable, flexible, around-the-clock support and the highest level of protection as data and equipment are added.

Keys to building scalability and agility into your infrastructure:

• Future proof your strategy with modular products that can support anticipated growth. Modular products give organizations the flexibility to grow as they go, reducing upfront costs and eliminating overprovisioning. Many modular products are available today, including:
  
  
  • Modular UPS. “Bricks” of power and battery modules can be added or removed according to output power requirements. These products not only support flexibility and scalability needed for edge applications, but also improve energy efficiency, serviceability, and availability at the same time.
  • High density modular cooling. As power demands increase, so do cooling requirements. Cooling solutions for high heat density systems are available in open or closed architecture, and pumped refrigerant-based or water-based technology. By using optional pre-charged flexible piping with threaded quick connect fittings, they allow for expansion without interruption of cooling operations.
  • Alternative thermal solutions. These solutions fit easily into racks within environments managing heat in small spaces and makes cooling possible in places where traditional equipment simply won’t fit. The Vertiv VRC offers the convenience of a plug and play solution with three heat rejection options, energy-efficient features, and scalable capacity, allowing IT managers to quickly add cooling when and where it’s needed.
  • Modular rack PDUs. Choose intelligent systems that easily integrate with your data center infrastructure management system, enabling yourself to stay on top of power usage and adapt to changing business needs as you grow.

Considering the need for connectivity and visibility with each new asset you deploy, along with how those assets will be organized and protected within the space constraints of network closets, smart cabinets, or micro data centers, will help set the stage for effective monitoring and management of the distributed IT environment, a topic we will explore more deeply in our next post in this series. This not only supports more effective management of your current IT environment, it also gives you the ability to know where devices reside, how power is being used, and where space is available to simplify expansion planning.

To learn more about supporting growth at the healthcare edge, contact DVL to discover how our solutions are helping healthcare organizations achieve continuity for life.

The second in a series of posts that explores the vital signs of a healthcare system’s digital and physical infrastructure, this blog takes a closer look at the connectivity and reliability of your network’s central nervous system—the digital infrastructure responsible for ensuring healthcare continuity.

The reliability of critical infrastructure is arguably the most important vital sign when it comes to ensuring continuity in healthcare. Functioning much like the human body’s central nervous system, your IT infrastructure must continuously communicate with, monitor, and protect power and thermal management systems in order to stop downtime before it happens, and ensure that patient data and medical equipment are always available when and where they are needed.

As your healthcare system’s command and control center, your IT infrastructure is the link that connects medical staff with patient data. Its reliability is paramount as even a moment’s interruption could compromise so much.

Despite understanding the importance of improving network performance—a priority that is second only to ensuring data security and compliance, according to IDC’s 2019 Datacenter Operational Survey—downtime continues to be a big problem for data centers. Preventing downtime starts with creating a healthy and robust IT backbone, or central nervous system, that connects all components of your infrastructure.

Healthcare organizations can succeed in doing this three ways:

1. Upgrade and optimize your legacy data center.

451 Research’s Voice of the Enterprise 2019 Annual Data Center Survey shows that aging infrastructure and keeping up with infrastructure demands are the top critical infrastructure challenges for healthcare organizations. If you are looking for ways to optimize your legacy data center, it may be time to upgrade key components or invest in technologies or services that help you monitor and manage the health of your infrastructure. As you plan for these investments, keep these tips in mind:

• Consider investing in a recommissioning process to help you identify areas for efficiency improvement and upgrades that will bring your legacy data center up to meet today’s challenges.
• Integrate intelligent products and solutions where possible, increase visibility, access, and control; along with detecting and quickly correcting problems before they cause downtime.
• Look for future-proof, intelligent UPS systems that cover the backup power and power quality needs of your IT infrastructure. The best solutions will check five boxes:

1. 1. Intelligent (network connectivity and monitoring capabilities)
   2. Energy-efficient
   3. Reliable
   4. Modular
   5. Easy-to-maintain

• Choose thermal solutions that deliver the right cooling capacity while avoiding overcooling. Containment is another strategy that’s gaining traction, as it separates hot and cold airstreams to eliminate reconditioning the same air, thus boosting efficiency by 30% or more.
• Monitoring and data analysis. Monitoring systems such as Vertiv™ Environet™ allow you to keep tabs on power and cooling systems and environmental conditions
  

2. Build new flexible, scalable, and efficient data centers.

As delivery networks expand and emerging technologies increase loads, organizations need more space to manage IT. If it’s the right time to invest in a new data center, it’s the prime opportunity to make choices that will help future-proof your healthcare IT strategy, including:

• Select intelligent power, thermal management, and monitoring solutions as well as racks, power distribution, and enclosures. Set the stage for better visibility, control, and planning capabilities that improve performance throughout the lifecycle of your data center.
• Take advantage of prefabricated solutions that can save time and money while still allowing for customization and monitoring
• Standardize equipment from one vendor to reduce costs through increased buying power. It also streamlines buying processes, workflow procedures, training requirements, and often simplifies maintenance
• Invest in commissioning support. Commissioning can give you peace of mind that your new facility is designed, installed, tested, and maintained in ways that optimize performance throughout your data center’s lifecycle.

3. Ensure proper protection and management of assets housed in a colocation environment or the cloud.

According to the results of 451 Research’s Voice of the Enterprise survey, about two out of five healthcare organizations currently use cloud service providers, while just over a quarter rent space from a colocation provider. Most (70%) own and operate their own data centers.  However, it’s entirely possible to protect and manage assets even when they are stored off-premise. Here are some strategies that can help:

• Critical features to look for include intelligent, energy-efficient power and cooling technologies along with DCIM software to monitor the entire facility, fault-tolerant designs for backup power and cooling solutions, proper equipment maintenance practices, on-site technicians, and a solid understanding of HIPAA compliance.
• Don’t make the mistake of relying on a ‘set it and forget it’ strategy. You can provide your cabinet equipped with features that improve security and efficiency, including biometric locks, smart PDUs that monitor power usage, and RFID technology that sends you alerts whenever an asset is accessed.
• Hybrid cloud solutions can provide a way to tap into extra capacity for some assets. A recent article by Hit Infrastructure speaks to this growing trend, which allows companies to store different types of data in different locations based on how much bandwidth is required, the sensitivity of the information, and how often it needs to be accessed.

Make sure your critical systems never miss a beat.

No matter where you choose to house your IT backbone, ensuring its health and viability is a must. With the right infrastructure solutions, you can create a powerful central nervous system that improves the connectivity and reliability of the digital infrastructure that powers your operations.

To learn more about protecting your IT backbone, contact DVL to discover how Vertiv solutions are helping more than 80% of U.S. healthcare systems achieve continuity for life. And be sure to stay tuned for our next post on growth at the healthcare edge.

For the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing a Joint Blog Series with Vertiv that's focused on strategies to strengthen the IT Edge Network. While focusing in the world of Healthcare, the messages will resonate with anyone working within a distributed IT environment:

In many ways, the physical and IT infrastructure that make up Healthcare’s Edge environment is a lot like the human body. It is comprised of a complex network of systems and applications that have to work independently and collaboratively to support the ongoing health of your operations, and enable it to deliver life-saving work in increasingly distributed locations.

When you gain insight into the vital signs of this infrastructure—factors such as connectivity, efficiency, reliability, and scalability—you’ll better understand the solutions and support you need to keep your entire operation functioning at peak performance.

Achieving Continuity for Life

In this new blog post series, we explore these vital signs and offer insight into how your critical infrastructure systems function in much the same way as the amazing human body. As a trusted provider to more than 80% of healthcare systems across the country, Vertiv knows what it takes to maintain healthy, robust physical and IT infrastructure that supports healthcare continuity and the ongoing delivery of high-quality care upon which every person depends. To help healthcare leaders gain greater confidence in the availability and reliability of building systems, healthcare data, and medical equipment, DVL brings you Vertiv solutions that help you:

Protect the IT Backbone: A Connected Network Nervous System
Much like the central nervous system serves as the human body’s command and control center, coordinating all other body systems by receiving and sending information and signals, the IT backbone plays this role in your healthcare system. Future-ready digital infrastructure protects the critical path upon which your patient data travels, the equipment clinicians use each day, and the data center systems that power your business. Whether that IT backbone exists in a data center, a colocation environment, the cloud, or a combination thereof, Vertiv architects reliable, interoperable, and intelligent infrastructure in a scalable, cost-effective way to enable your healthcare system to meet future demands while operating seamlessly and ensuring the highest levels of continuity today.

Grow the Healthcare Edge: A Strong Skeletal System
A skeleton provides structure, support, and protection for a system. It serves as a framework that defines what a system will ultimately look like and helps dictate the parameters and functionality of the system. As healthcare networks become increasingly distributed, moving to remote locations beyond the main hospital campus and incorporating new technologies such as IoMT sensors, telemedicine centers, and wearables, they require a healthy framework that enables infrastructure solutions to flex and scale to accommodate growth at the edge while maintaining reliability, efficiency, and compliance of healthcare operations.

Manage the New Distributed IT Infrastructure: A Robust Circulatory System
The circulatory system circulates blood and transports oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body while carrying away waste. As healthcare delivery becomes increasingly complex and distributed, with healthcare data growing exponentially and providers needing access to it in more and more remote locations, the need to securely send and receive data is paramount. Vertiv solutions protect your network connections through advanced visibility and access to distributed IT in locations ranging from network closets across the hospital to remote urgent care and telemedicine centers. At the same time, Vertiv solutions put your business leaders at the heart of the distributed network, providing a central engine for remote management, control, and analytics that fuels better decision making.

Optimize Healthcare Operations: A Healthy Immune System
The immune system keeps people healthy. It’s what enables the body to protect and heal itself from diseases so that it can function at peak performance. Major healthcare systems must also be protected from a variety of ‘threats’ that can hinder continuity and jeopardize productivity, profitability, and compliance. These include factors such as aging physical infrastructure, rising energy costs, natural disasters, ever-changing regulatory requirements, a shortage of skilled workers, and lack of the right tools to manage increasingly distributed infrastructure. Vertiv helps healthcare systems develop their immunity and stay healthy with solutions that upgrade physical infrastructure and ensure clean, uninterrupted power. Through commissioning, electrical testing, and predictive and preventive maintenance of the power and cooling systems that protect your infrastructure, we help create efficient, safe environments that maximize the productivity of both people and equipment. We can help you actively plan for emergency response. And we can supplement your staff with our own team of experts. Our goal is to keep you compliant, drive down your costs, improve your workforce productivity, and extend the life of your critical building systems all while helping you maintain continuity of operations.
Dive deeper into your healthcare system’s vital signs.

At DVL, we understand that even a moment’s interruption of your building systems, IT network, or medical equipment can compromise the delivery of care, undermine the patient experience, and even mean the difference between life or death. In future posts of this series, we’ll look more closely at the vital signs your physical and IT infrastructure must exhibit to safeguard against these interruptions along with the specific solutions Vertiv offers to keep your healthcare system healthy and ensure Continuity for Life.