Awesome article & visuals by the Bloomberg team here.
-Historical evolution of data center sizes and how massive the proposed projects are compared to the cumulative history of the industry.
-Evolution of rack sizes (which drive ultimate power demand; cpu -> GPU -> higher TDP GPUs)
-Include other diagrams like where the chip goes in the rack, air vs. liquid cooling, all the steps of how voltage gets stepped down from distribution line to rack level other things but this is exactly the type of stuff that makes this content more accessible to broader audiences in a way that nerds like I can't describe well haha
Fun facts:
-Right now, around 30% of the power flowing into data centers is not used to generate AI, according to Nvidia. [thats just saying 1.3 PUE - you need power for overhead, electrical, cooling, etc. - you will always have some level of this FYI]
-Liquid cooling can increase energy efficiency in a data center by 15%, according to a study done by Nvidia and power equipment maker Vertiv
-"Data centers also step down the voltage of grid power from 34,500 volts — the dangerously high voltage levels that travel through powerlines — to the 12 volts chips need." [All of these steps introduce inefficiencies.]
-..."since more powerful racks require higher voltages, the sidecar can feed them with 800 volt DC power, improving energy efficiency by 20% compared to the current system... With a 1 megawatt sidecar, racks can reach 500 kilowatts, roughly ten times more than before."
-"The industry is vying to replace some of the electrical room equipment with a solid state transformer — a smarter, electronic device that can switch currents between AC and DC and better handle higher voltages. This enables even denser racks and improves energy efficiency by 27% compared to the current system"