Defining the Next-Generation Data Center Facility

Charles Yang, Senior Vice President of Huawei and CEO of Huawei Data Center Facility Team, introduced the groundbreaking definition of the Next-Generation Data Center Facility at the launch event. He said that technical experts and industry authorities have reached a consensus on the four characteristics of next-generation data center facilities after extensive and in-depth discussions, that is, Sustainable, Simplified, Autonomous Driving, and Reliable.

Sustainable: Next-generation data center facilities will be fully green and energy-efficient while maximizing the recycling of all data center materials. In this way, the overall data center ecosystem will be eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable. Sustainable data centers can be achieved by utilizing green resources - electricity, land, and water - and maximizing the recycling of used materials throughout the life cycle. In addition to the extensively used Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), other metrics, including Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE), Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), and Grid Usage Effectiveness (GUE), will also be used to measure data center sustainability.

Simplified: Simplified architecture, power supply, and cooling embody the evolution of the data center facility.

Simplified architecture brings innovative forms of buildings and equipment rooms. If the prefabricated modular construction mode is used to construct a 1000-rack data center, the construction period can be reduced from more than 18 months to 6–9 months.

Simplified power supply reshapes components and links. It shortens the delivery period from 2 months to 2 weeks. Simplified cooling maximizes heat exchange efficiency by changing multiple heat exchanges to one heat exchange, and shortening the cooling link.

Autonomous Driving: O&M automation, energy efficiency optimization, and operation autonomy reshape the management of data centers' operation and maintenance. O&M automation enables engineers to complete the inspection of 2000 racks in 5 minutes remotely. The energy efficiency optimization means an optimal cooling strategy can be delivered via 1.4 million original combinations within 1 minute, achieving smart cooling. Operation autonomy maximizes the value of resources.

Reliable: Proactive security and secure architecture ensure high quality and sustainable development of data centers. Proactive security means using big data and AI technologies to implement predictive maintenance from components to data centers, based on the visibility and perception of all domains in the data centers. Automatic fault response means it will take only 1 minute to spot a fault, 3 minutes to analyze, and 5 minutes to recover. Secure architecture means security will be ensured at various levels, such as components, devices, and systems. At the system level, the E2E visualizable, manageable, and controllable platform enables the system availability to reach 99.999%.

PowerPOD 3.0: A footprint-saving, time-saving, and energy-saving power supply system

At the event, Fei Zhenfu, CTO of Huawei Data Center Facility Team, released a new generation of the power supply system, known as PowerPOD 3.0. The system reduces the footprint by 40%, cuts the energy consumption by 70%, shortens the delivery period from 2 months to 2 weeks, and lowers the SLA fault rate by 38%.

In the pursuit of the next-generation data centers, technological innovation will be a key force in ensuring sustainable development. Looking towards the future, Huawei will keep making breakthroughs in products and technologies through continuous investment in R&D and with extensive cooperation with customers, ecosystem partners, and industry organizations. We can jointly usher in a new era of data center development.