From ChatGPT to SORA, the rapid development of artificial intelligence innovation is accelerating the construction of a digital world while fully detonating the global demand for computing power. As the basic support for the application of AI multimodal large models, the computing infrastructure industry represented by data centers has achieved unprecedented development.
In this process, the development of the computing infrastructure industry has also shown a new trend. In particular, driven by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence computing power, computing infrastructure is entering the era of intelligent computing, and traditional data centers are gradually moving towards intelligent computing data centers. At the same time, data centers are facing new challenges, and it is urgent to improve the safety, reliability, green and low-carbon capabilities of data centers.
Under this trend, how to build a safe, reliable, green and low-carbon next-generation data center has become the focus of industrial development. At the 2024 Huawei China Digital Power Partner Conference held recently, Huawei Digital Power also offered its own solutions: on the one hand, it will continue to build safe, reliable, green and low-carbon data centers and key power supply solutions, and on the other hand, it will work with partners to carry out technological innovation and application practices.
As Yao Quan, President of Huawei Digital Power's Data Center Energy Domain, said, Huawei Digital Power Data Center Energy will lead the innovation of power supply and cooling architectures, and work with partners to create next-generation data center solutions that are safe, reliable, integrated, simplified, low-carbon, and green, so that the digital world can run firmly.
In the era of intelligent computing, data centers are evolving at an accelerated pace
Nowadays, the proportion of intelligent computing power in computing infrastructure is increasing rapidly, and the era of intelligent computing has quietly arrived. According to the China Comprehensive Computing Power Index (2023)* released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the average annual growth rate of China's total computing power in the past five years is nearly 30%, and the compound annual growth rate of the number of data center racks is more than 30%.Among them, intelligent computing power has accounted for more than 25% of the entire computing power structure, and there will be more rapid growth in the future.
In order to further strengthen the collaborative innovation of computing, network, storage, and applications, and promote the high-quality development of computing infrastructure, in 2023, the "Action Plan for the High-quality Development of Computing Infrastructure" jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other six departments clearly stated that by 2025, the scale of computing power will exceed 300 eflops, and the proportion of intelligent computing power will reach 35%, and the balance and coordinated development of computing power in the east and west.
From traditional data centers to intelligent computing data centers, the three core elements of data center construction are becoming increasingly prominent, namely safety and reliability, integration and simplicity, and low-carbon and green. As we all know, as the foundation of the development of the digital economy, the data center not only carries the processing, computing, storage, transmission, and exchange of massive data, but also is related to the normal operation of the social economy. Therefore, ensuring the safe and reliable operation of data centers is the premise and foundation of data center construction.
With the advent of the era of intelligent computing, data centers are accelerating their evolution in terms of overall scale and the application of innovative technologies. Among them, the increase in the proportion of intelligent computing power puts forward higher requirements for high-performance and high-density servers. The increasing complexity of data center construction and management also requires further simplified deployment and O&M. How to achieve convergence and simplicity has become the key to data center construction to cope with this trend.
For data centers, in addition to safety, reliability, and simplicity, it is also urgent to achieve green and low-carbon. On the one hand, the realization of the dual carbon goal has put forward higher requirements for the energy consumption of data centers. On the other hand, the surge in computing power is causing the energy consumption of data centers to rise sharply. Nowadays, in the process of building and upgrading data centers, it has become necessary to adopt innovative products and solutions to reduce energy consumption.
In the face of new trends and requirements in data center construction, Huawei Digital Power Data Center Energy is accelerating innovation in key products and key fields, helping to build green, simplified, intelligent, and secure next-generation data centers, and building a solid digital foundation for economic and social development. For Huawei Digital Power, this is not only a responsibility, but also a mission entrusted by the times.
Leading industry innovation and helping to build a new digital foundation
To build a secure, green, and simplified intelligent computing data center, it is necessary to start from the entire life cycle of the data center, and carry out all-round innovation in design and planning, product selection, project implementation, operation and maintenance, etc. To this end, Huawei Digital Power Data Center Energy, as a leader in industry innovation, has launched a series of innovative products and solutions.
In order to ensure end-to-end security and reliability of the data center, Huawei Digital Power's data center energy solution reconstructs the solution to implement comprehensive hot swapping and minute-level maintenance, device-level full redundancy design, zero switching interruption, and system-level distributed architectureMore than 99% high availability; Through the reconstruction of the security network, intelligent tracking, intelligent defense, and intelligent resilience are realized. Through the reconstruction of system operation, business continuity, continuity and delivery continuity are realized.
In order to promote low-carbon and green data centers, Huawei has applied AI technologies to energy efficiency management of data centers, including Huawei's system-level AI energy efficiency optimization solution for large data centers, which icooling@ai replace traditional manual adjustment with intelligent control, and dynamically reduce data center energy consumption through massive data analysis and AI algorithms, which can effectively reduce data center PUE by 8% to 15%.
At the same time, Huawei's mobile intelligent management iManager-M app for data center O&M can perform remote mobile O&M of micro modules, power supply and distribution products, and power modules anytime and anywhere, realizing remote O&M anytime, anywhere, 7 hours a week, and actively identifying 20+ hidden dangers, alerting O&M personnel at the first time so that they can take effective measures within the first time.
In addition, Huawei has launched scenario-based solutions for large-scale data centers, small and medium-sized data centers, and critical power supplies. Among them, large-scale data center solutions include power modules, intelligent temperature control, prefabricated modular data centers, etc., which can achieve the goals of power saving, efficient cooling, and rapid construction. Small and medium-sized data center solutions have the advantages of fast delivery, high efficiency, easy operation and maintenance, and high reliability. Huawei's SmartLi UPS can reduce the floor space by 50% and achieve an efficiency of up to 99% in ECO mode.
Huawei's innovation in data center energy includes not only products for critical power supply and energy efficiency tuning, but also overall solutions for the construction of large-scale data centers, small and medium-sized data centers, and security and reliability throughout, and the combination of such products and solutions can undoubtedly lay a solid foundation for building next-generation data centers.
A win-win smart computing future and a firm operation in the digital world
In the era of intelligent computing, data center construction involves a wide range of products and technologies, and it is difficult for a single enterprise to fully meet the construction needs of the whole life cycle of data center consulting, design, integrated delivery, solution development, and product development. For Huawei, how to complement each other's advantages with ecosystem partners and create more competitive scenario-based solutions is a key part of a win-win intelligent computing future.
Go fast alone, go far together. In terms of cooperation with ecosystem partners, Huawei Digital Power Data Center Energy has been based on the concept of "taking interests as the link, integrity as the foundation, rules as the guarantee, and trust as the foundation", insisting on "being integrated", doing something and not doing something, clarifying the boundaries with the ecosystem partners, and fully stimulating the enthusiasm of partners through systems and mechanisms.
Specifically, Huawei works with partners to support their business development and ensure their profitability and achieve win-win results. With rules as the guarantee, optimize partner policies, process IT, and clarify cooperation rules to make cooperation "simple and efficient"; Based on trust, strictly abide by the rules, keep promises, and make partners "more trusting".
On this basis, in July 2023, the Huawei Data Center Solution Partner Alliance was officially established, and with the help of this platform, Huawei continues to make efforts in opportunity sharing, business collaboration, scenario-based solution building, brand promotion, and standard construction.
Those who want the same up and down win, and those who are in the same boat win. Today, Huawei Digital Power Data Center Energy is vigorously developing solution partners, and working with these partners to focus on more application scenarios and build more complete end-to-end solution capabilities for data center construction. At the same time, Huawei will continue to empower and enable partners, and work with partners to deepen the industry, expand the industrial space, and achieve a win-win intelligent computing future.
As a key engine to activate new productivity and release new momentum for the high-quality development of the digital economy, computing power is playing an increasingly prominent role in the digital world. With the rise of AI large model applications, the compound annual growth rate of global AI computing power will exceed 80% in the next five years, and data centers are accelerating from cloud data centers to cloud + intelligent computing centers. Under this trend, Huawei Digital Power Data Center Energy will continue to adhere to technology leadership and actively work with partners to jointly move towards a digital and intelligent future.