F E A T U R E on power supplies. With the GB200 / 300 processors driving huge demand, adding multiple power shelves to reach 150 kW densities is how traditional rack designs are transforming.

When you reach high densities, an increased number of power shelves are required which means total rack power consumption rises significantly. This is driving a shift to highvoltage DC, which is still yet to be fully understood and perfected. In North America, Meta, Google and Microsoft all operate at plus or minus 400 V DC, whereas NVIDIA operates at 0 – 800 V DC. While there has been a shift to open compute, the high-voltage DC is part of the whole evolution.

How are teams evaluating AC versus DC distribution and how are they positioning their infrastructure to support future high-voltage deployments?

Some customers have fully embraced open compute early on whereas others are testing their shelf environment carefully – and both approaches are acceptable. Generally, what matters is investing in that architecture which requires having the right cabinet, busbar and power shelves needed, while being comfortable with safety and easing into it.

This is where Legrand can assist – our trusted advisors work with clients to understand their needs and deliver the right solutions required for their business. Our on-hand product suite allows customers to visualise, test and evaluate what is best for them. For customers who aren’ t yet comfortable or fully on board, our mission is to help them understand the technology and review it together.

As racks incorporate more PDUs, higher-current busbars and denser power layouts, what new challenges emerge in physically integrating that much power into a single rack?

The busbars in a typical high-density application are around 70 – 80 lb. They are also located at the back of the cabinet where it ' s very crowded. So, it becomes a form of architecture – planning the design, engineering it and then producing the solution. It’ s all planned, tested and integrated together to make sure it works from the cabinet all the way through to the power. Every setup is different, whether it’ s PDUs, busbars, power shelves, or anything else; it’ s about making sure your solution works in your specific data centre.

Calvin Nicholson, Senior Director of Product Management at Legrand

Looking ahead, what should operators prioritise now to ensure their rack power infrastructure can scale with next-generation AI hardware and increasing density?

Thanks to AI, densities are going to continue to increase. Everybody loves to talk about when there ' s going to be a onemegawatt rack, but we ' ll see. If you aren’ t utilising AI, you will most definitely fall behind because its value is already paying off. I believe people were a little unsure when they looked at some of the expenditures and the investments hyperscalers were making, but that should now be a thing of the past and business leaders should be in full implementation stage.

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