Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 70 | Page 27

EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
BJORN VIEDGE , GENERAL MANAGER , ALEC DATA CENTRE SOLUTIONS

According to some estimates , the Middle East data centre colocation market could grow by as much as 13.5 % annually between 2020 and 2026 . The United Arab Emirates is leading its regional peers in this growth . It has become one of the largest data centre hubs in the Middle East . Thanks to a sustained influx of hyperscale providers , the country is expected to see more than US $ 1 billion of investment by 2026 – a CAGR of just under 8 % over the previous five years . In April this year , the UAE Cabinet initiated a strategy to nurture and boost the digital economy to the extent that it will contribute 20 % of gross non-oil GDP in the coming years . The plan included the establishment of a council to oversee the progress of the digital economy . This programme will serve as yet another catalyst to accelerate data centre adoption .

Research has shown the mounting environmental impact of data centres . Demand for data centre services has driven them to get bigger , hotter and more expensive and a peer-reviewed study by Swedish researcher , Anders Andrae , predicts that the ICT industry could use 20 % of all electricity and emit up to 5.5 % of the world ’ s carbon emissions by 2025 . And in a region that already faces a looming water crisis , Middle East data centre planners should be aware that today ’ s data centres use up an Olympic swimming pool every two days .
Given these challenges and the growing demand , it is imperative for the industry to develop socially responsible data centres . However , in the region and even globally , the vast majority of data centres have racks and white spaces which are air-cooled and this is definitely not the most efficient way of cooling . In the Middle East region this is even more pronounced given the extreme outdoor temperatures .
This is why at ALEC Data Centre Solutions we firmly believe in the immense value and need for liquid immersion cooling for data centres . Through our partnership with Submer , a leading innovator in advanced immersion cooling solutions for cloud and Edge Computing , we are primed to set new benchmarks in data centre energy efficiency with solutions that could help save up to 50 % on CapEx building costs , up to 95 %
In the region and even globally , the vast majority of data centres have racks and white spaces which are air-cooled and this is definitely not the most efficient way of cooling .
on cooling expenses and more than 90 % savings on water usage for cooling purposes .
In addition to the sustainability benefits , liquid cooling will likely become a de facto standard . With computing equipment approaching the higher end of operating parameters and with chip densities continuing to increase , air cooling will no longer be feasible . We ’ re already seeing manufacturers such as Intel consider liquid cooling as an important part of new chipset designs . Often today it ’ s running nearer the top end of operating parameters , which is why liquid cooling solutions have been getting more traction , particularly at the higher end , with Intel now also considering liquid cooling as important for newer chipset designs .
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