According to research by Enterprise Strategy Group, increased investment in local, private AI is also diving increased investment in existing data centers as well as the construction of new ones. Nearly half (44%) of organizations expected to increase the number of data center facilities they own, operate, and manage over the next five years (see Figure 1). The most common rationale for that increase was to support new AI initiatives on on-premises infrastructure (cited by 66% of respondents).
Artificial intelligence workloads, however, often demand higher levels of processing power and increased performance from the supporting storage and networking infrastructure. The result can often strain traditional data centers’ existing power and cooling resources. The rise of AI only accelerates a long-running trend of newer infrastructure generations demanding more power, a trend that will likely end the future of air-cooled data centers.
