Huawei announced its new PowerPOD 3.0 data centre power supply system as well as the description of the Next-Generation Data Center Facility. The new rollouts not only reinforce Huawei's commitment to constructing low-carbon, smart data centres, but they also emphasise that the future generation of data centres will be sustainable, simple, self-driving, and dependable.
Data centres will only expand in size and relevance as industries like 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), and Big Data continue to develop. However, as countries in Africa and other places try to decarbonize, there is increasing pressure on data centres to use less power and run more sustainably. They'll have to achieve it without sacrificing performance or dramatically raising their costs.
All of these things are possible with the PowerPOD 3.0. It decreases data centre footprint by 40%, reduces energy usage by 70%, reduces delivery time from two months to two weeks, and lowers the service level agreement (SLA) failure rate by 38%.
"At Huawei, we are ready and prepared to do our part to help Africa achieve sustainable development," says Jason Xia Hesheng, President of Huawei Digital Power Southern Africa. "We have a long history of making sure that all of our technologies are long-lasting while still pushing the frontiers of innovation. Customers will be able to explore some of the most transformational technologies, such as 5G and AI, while also safeguarding the environment."
African countries, in particular, will benefit from systems like PowerPOD 3.0. In Africa, energy, in particular, is a key issue. Data centres use between 2% and 3% of the world's electricity on a yearly basis. This puts an additional burden on the grids of African countries. Furthermore, data centres in Africa have an average yearly Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.8, indicating that they aren't as efficient as they may be. The powered 3.0, for example, might go a long way toward getting that score closer to the goal of 1.0.
Furthermore, the system's capacity to reduce O&M expenses might be considerable, considering that the original construction of a data centre accounts for just a third of its expenditures, with O&M accounting for the other two-thirds.
With more than 600 million internet users and 360 million intelligent end-users expected in Africa by 2025, it will be critical not only to use systems like PowerPOD 3.0 to improve the efficiency of existing data centres, but also to embrace the next generation of data centres, which will be characterised by Sustainability, Simplification, Autonomous Driving, and Reliability.
This kind of next-generation data centres will be critical as Africa attempts to reconcile population expansion, urbanisation, and the need to move forward on smart city programmes with promises to decarbonize. The power supply system, as the "heart" of the data centre, should integrate and innovate all components in the power supply chain.