White Paper on the Top 10 Trends of Data Center Facilities

Overview

Each trend comes with policy context, mostly Chinese and European targets, and Huawei project examples. Average large-DC PUE is about 1.55 (Uptime 2022) with most new builds at 1.25-1.3, and Huawei projects PUE 1.0x by 2027. Chinese hub targets are PUE below 1.2 in West China and below 1.25 in East China; WUE targets are below 1.4 L/kWh in water-rich and below 0.8 L/kWh in water-scarce regions.

On density, rack power is expected to rise from 6-8 kW to 12-15 kW within five years. When rack density reaches 16 kW, the power-room area roughly equals the IT space (1:1). Cold-plate liquid cooling is cited at PUE about 1.1x and immersion as low as 1.0x; a 4000-rack Irish data centre with indirect evaporative cooling reaches PUE 1.15.

The lifecycle argument is that IT equipment lives 4-5 years while power and cooling last 10-15 years, so a facility must serve 2-3 IT generations. Prefabrication cuts target delivery for a roughly 1000-rack data centre from 9-12 months to about 6 months. On reliability, Uptime 2022 attributes 13 % of outages to cooling.

Key points

1. Average large-DC PUE about 1.55 (Uptime 2022); most new builds 1.25-1.3; Huawei projects 1.0x by 2027.
2. Chinese hub targets: PUE <1.2 West and <1.25 East; WUE <1.4 L/kWh water-rich, <0.8 L/kWh water-scarce.
3. At 16 kW per rack, power-room area roughly equals IT space (1:1).
4. Rack density expected to rise from 6-8 kW to 12-15 kW within five years.
5. Cold-plate liquid cooling about PUE 1.1x; immersion as low as 1.0x.
6. IT lives 4-5 years, power and cooling 10-15; facilities serve 2-3 IT generations.
7. Delivery of a ~1000-rack DC cut from 9-12 months to about 6 via prefabrication.
8. Uptime 2022: cooling causes 13 % of outages; 4000-rack Irish DC with indirect evaporative cooling reaches PUE 1.15.

Using it in design

• Show WUE alongside PUE in the metrics panel, with region-specific targets as policy presets.
• Warn in the space planner when the power-room-to-white-space ratio approaches 1:1 at high density.
• Allow several IT refresh scenarios on one facility design (10-15 year plant, 4-5 year IT).
• Tag liquid-cooling designs with an expected PUE band for early estimates.

Who should read it

Decision makers and planning engineers translating policy targets and density trends into facility strategy.

Related standards

• The Green Grid PUE/WUE

Publication details

Authors

Huawei Digital Power

Publisher

Huawei Digital Power

Year

2023

Document language

English

Source type

Manufacturer

Access

Free to read

Licence

Copyright retained; citation only — the publisher’s terms apply to the original document

Citation