Five Data Center Predictions for 2024 (Uptime Intelligence)

Overview

This document is the 'Five Data Center Predictions for 2024' report, published by Uptime Institute Intelligence in January 2024 as UII Keynote Report 121. It is meant to indicate which themes the industry will face in 2024. The full report runs to 24 pages; the publicly available portion is a 12-page executive summary. The information on this page is taken only from the public landing page and the summary.

The topics covered are: tighter scrutiny of sustainability commitments, adoption of power-hungry AI workloads, the need for and limits of direct liquid cooling, the evolution of data center management software, and very large campuses redefining hyperscale. These themes bear directly on design assumptions such as power density, grid connection and cooling technology selection. Each theme points to an assumption that may change during the life of a facility, so noting it early is useful.

The introduction states that the five predictions made for 2023 proved largely accurate and remain relevant for 2024. This indicates the document belongs to an ongoing series of forecasts rather than being a one-off projection. The predictions are, however, industry expectations rather than design rules, and they should not be assumed to materialize to the same extent in every project.

The limits of the document can be summarized briefly. The public page does not give detailed reasoning, figures or case examples for the predictions. The document should therefore be treated as a reference that gives context to roadmap and assumption notes, not as the source of a design requirement.

Key points

1. Published as UII Keynote Report 121 in January 2024.
2. Five themes: scrutiny of sustainability commitments, power-hungry AI, direct liquid cooling, management software and very large campuses.
3. Full report is 24 pages; the public part is a 12-page executive summary.
4. AI power demand is one of the central topics.
5. Both the need for and the limitations of direct liquid cooling are discussed.
6. Mega-campuses are redefining hyperscale.
7. The five predictions for 2023 proved largely accurate and remain relevant for 2024.
8. Full text needs registration or a subscription; this page relies on public information only.

Using it in design

• Use as context in the design wizard's roadmap and assumption notes on density, grid and liquid cooling.
• Treat it as an indicator of industry expectations, not as a source of design rules.
• For projects that may host AI workloads, note the future expandability of the power and cooling infrastructure.
• Remember that sustainability commitments are under scrutiny when planning reporting outputs.

Who should read it

Data center strategists, planners and designers, and those making investment decisions.

Publication details

Authors

Uptime Institute Intelligence

Publisher

Uptime Institute

Year

2024

Document number

UII Keynote Report 121

Document language

English

Source type

Industry body

Access

Citation only

Licence

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

Citation