Empire Fiber Internet, a leading provider of 100% fiber optic internet across Pennsylvania and New York, announced its expansion into the Lehigh Valley. The rollout targets more than 35,000 homes and businesses with ultra-fast, reliable connectivity. Construction is underway, and residents can sign up now for priority access and neighborhood updates.

“Lehigh Valley residents deserve internet that works as hard as they do,” said Kevin Dickens, CEO of Empire Fiber Internet. “We’re not just expanding our network. We’re giving customers a superior choice with faster speeds, better reliability, and service built for them”.

This expansion is set to accelerate Empire Fiber’s growth in high-demand Pennsylvania markets. The company already serves communities like Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Williamsport, Hazleton, Bloomsburg, and Erie. Lehigh Valley strengthens Empire’s footprint and commitment to closing the digital divide through future-ready infrastructure.

“Continued investment in high-speed internet infrastructure across the Lehigh Valley is a positive step for both our residents and our growing business community,” said Jessica O’Donnell, Executive Vice President of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. “Strong, reliable connectivity is essential to economic growth, and efforts like these help ensure our region remains competitive, connected, and positioned for the future”.

In today’s digital economy, fiber expansions like Empire’s meet rising broadband demands. Gigabit connectivity supports remote work, business competitiveness, and community development. Empire’s approach positions the Lehigh Valley for sustained growth. To learn more about Empire Fiber Internet, visit www.empireaccess.com.

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Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), a provider of modular, reported record financial results for Q4 and full year 2025. The company generated $27 million in annual revenue, up more than 270 percent year-over-year. Growth came from services under the Asset Management Agreement with New APR Energy, edge data center hosting, and new Technology Solutions revenue.

Duos successfully deployed 15 Edge Data Center pods in Tier 3 and Tier 4 markets. It also launched a 4.8MW high-density configuration for AI workloads and secured a contract for 2,304 NVIDIA GPUs through its GPU-as-a-Service offering. These steps position the company for strong recurring revenue.

The results reflect Duos’ strategic shift toward data center infrastructure. The company raised $110 million in capital during 2025, ending with $15.47 million in cash and $22.28 million in short-term liquidity. Meanwhile, Duos Technologies Solutions generated $10 million in backlog during its first quarter.

“2025 positioned us at the intersection of AI compute and edge infrastructure,” said CEO Doug Recker. “Our $65 million capital raise and GPU-as-a-Service launch directly address growing power and compute shortages, with demand accelerating from enterprises and hyperscalers”.

Duos is capitalizing on surging AI infrastructure needs through modular edge solutions that deploy faster than traditional builds. The company maintains a $25.8 million backlog and expects 2026 revenue to exceed $50 million.

To learn more about Duos Technologies Group, Inc., visit www.duostechnologies.com. 

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Sabey Corporation is underscoring its long-standing commitment to veterans with a new national honor: the 2025 Gold HIRE Vets Medallion Award from the U.S. Department of Labor. This recognition places Sabey among a select group of employers whose practices for recruiting, employing, and retaining U.S. military veterans meet the highest federal standards.

Presented under the Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act of 2017, the HIRE Vets Medallion Program is the only federal-level award that specifically recognizes employers for their support of veterans in the civilian workforce. Earning Gold status signals that Sabey goes beyond hiring, focusing on creating an environment where veterans can grow, lead, and build meaningful long-term careers.

This recognition reflects Sabey Corporation’s broader vision across its real estate and digital infrastructure portfolio, including Sabey Data Centers, its data center development arm. By intentionally integrating veterans into teams that build and operate mission-critical facilities, Sabey is helping shape a workforce that is both technically strong and grounded in service-driven values. The company emphasizes inclusive hiring practices and strong employee retention efforts as central to its talent strategy.

Sabey’s leadership views veteran employment as a long-term investment in both business performance and community impact. As one of the largest privately owned multi-tenant data center owners, developers, and operators in the United States, Sabey Data Centers relies on operational maturity, reliability, and teamwork. This alignment is helping set a higher benchmark for veteran inclusion in the data center industry and beyond, demonstrating how purpose-driven leadership can strengthen workplace culture while opening new pathways for veterans to thrive.

The post Gold Standard for Service: Sabey Corporation Earns 2025 HIRE Vets Medallion for Advancing Veteran Careers in Digital Infrastructure appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on Datalec LTD.

Data centre leaders left ExCeL London earlier this month with one message ringing loud and clear: AI‑driven growth is accelerating, power is tight, and the choice of infrastructure partner is now business‑critical, not optional.

Against a backdrop of rapid hyperscale and colocation expansion, constrained power availability and rising energy scrutiny, the conversations at Data Centre World London 2026 underscored that operators need partners who can help them plan power‑first, deploy at speed, and operate reliably in high‑density environments.

For Datalec Precision Installations (DPI), DCW London was an opportunity to demonstrate exactly that kind of integrated, global capability, from modular data centre solutions through to facilities management, consultancy and lifecycle services. The questions operators brought to the stand were remarkably consistent, whether they were building in the UK, expanding in the Middle East, or planning their next phase of growth in APAC.

Below, we revisit three of the most important questions AI‑driven operators were asking in London and why they will matter even more as the industry converges on Singapore for DCW Asia later this year.

1. How quickly can you take me from secured power to live, AI‑ready capacity?

If there was one common theme at DCW London, it was that power availability has become the primary constraint on new data centre builds, not demand. Once operators have secured land and grid, the urgent requirement is simple: how fast can we safely turn that capacity into revenue‑generating, AI‑ready infrastructure?

This is where modular, pre‑engineered solutions dominated the conversation. Many visitors to the DPI stand wanted to understand how modular white space, plant and service corridors could compress design and construction timelines without sacrificing resilience or compliance. DPI’s next‑generation Modular Data Centre Solutions attracted strong interest because they are designed precisely for this challenge. They help clients move from planning to live halls at speed, whether that’s a new campus in a European hub, a hyperscale expansion in the Middle East, or an edge or colocation site in a fast‑growing APAC market.

To continue reading, please click here.

The post Three Questions Every AI‑Driven Operator Should Ask Their Infrastructure Partner appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on Nomad Futurist.

At DCD>Connect | New York, the Nomad Futurist Foundation didn’t just participate in the conversation about building the future workforce — we demonstrated what it looks like to actively create it.

Through two milestone moments, we brought together today’s leaders and tomorrow’s innovators, proving that meaningful change in the digital infrastructure industry happens when ideas are backed by action.

Mana Hui: Aligning Leaders Around a Shared Mission 

After Day 1 of the conference, we gathered some of the industry’s most forward-thinking voices at the rooftop of The Knickerbocker Hotel for our Mana Hui: Leaders Connect Networking Event.

More than a networking reception, Mana Hui created a dedicated space for leaders to come together around a shared purpose: how we can collectively inspire, educate, and open doors for the next generation of digital infrastructure talent.

Conversations focused on tangible solutions, from increasing visibility into career pathways, to strengthening mentorship opportunities, to ensuring students and early-career professionals understand the real-world impact of this industry. The room was filled with decision-makers, innovators, and advocates aligned around one idea: preparing the future workforce is not a side initiative; it is a responsibility.

Mana Hui set the tone by reinforcing the power of collaboration. When leaders unite with intention, momentum builds, and that momentum must translate into action.

Powering the Next Generation: From Conversation to Impact 

On Day 2, that momentum became measurable impact through our Powering the Next Generation Student Workshop.

Students and emerging professionals joined us for an experience designed not just to inform, but to connect. Industry leaders shared authentic stories about their career journeys, including challenges, pivots, and lessons learned, providing students with transparent insight into opportunities across the digital infrastructure landscape.

Rather than a traditional panel format, the workshop fostered dynamic dialogue. Students actively engaged, asked thoughtful questions, and contributed their own perspectives, creating an environment rooted in collaboration and curiosity.

A defining highlight came when a group of students from New York University presented a live demonstration of one of their own projects, offering a powerful reminder that the next generation is not waiting for opportunity. They are already building the future.

We were proud to welcome students representing an exceptional range of institutions, including Harvard Law School, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, University of Notre Dame, Stevens Institute of Technology, and more. Many of these students are preparing to enter the workforce within months and are eager to contribute meaningfully to the industry.

Following the workshop, members of the Nomad leadership team continued the experience with a visit to the iconic 60 Hudson Street building for a tour of the NYI and Hudson Interxchange facilities, led by Ambassador Arthur Valhuerdi. For even some of our own members, it was their first time inside a live data center environment, making it a meaningful extension of the day’s learning and a powerful reminder of the infrastructure behind the digital world.

To continue reading, please click here.

The post Turning Conversation into Action: Nomad Futurist Foundation at DCD>Connect | New York appeared first on Data Center POST.

In a strategic move underscoring the shift toward modular infrastructure, Compu Dynamics Modular (CDM), a Chantilly, Virginia-based specialist in prefabricated data center solutions, has acquired a majority stake in R&D Specialties, an Odessa, Texas, manufacturer of UL-certified control panels and modular electrical systems. Announced today, the deal expands CDM’s manufacturing footprint to 120,000 square feet, with room for growth on a 15-acre campus, positioning the company to meet skyrocketing demand for AI-ready, high-density deployments from hyperscalers, colocation providers, and enterprises.

This acquisition arrives at a pivotal moment. AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads demand unprecedented speed, density, and scalability – challenges traditional builds struggle to match. Modular solutions, once niche, are now the default for rapid, repeatable deployments.

“Modular infrastructure is where efficiency meets innovation,” said Ron Mann, vice president of CDM. “For decades, we’ve delivered solutions that solve real engineering challenges in high-stakes environments. Joining forces with R&D Specialties allows us to bring that expertise to the next generation of AI data centers at scale.”

Steve Altizer, president and CEO of Compu Dynamics, emphasized the market imperative: “This investment is about building the capabilities and capacity the market is demanding right now. AI infrastructure requires a different approach; one that delivers faster, scales smarter, and performs better. R&D Specialties brings the engineering depth and manufacturing precision that align perfectly with where this industry is headed.”

R&D Specialties, founded in 1983, excels in custom-engineered systems for mission-critical settings, complementing CDM’s vendor-neutral, end-to-end services – from design and liquid-cooled IT platforms to commissioning and maintenance. Brad Howell, president of R&D Specialties, noted the synergy: “Through joining forces with CDM, our growth opportunities for the combined teams have expanded even further. Being part of the AI infrastructure revolution and building what’s next is exciting.”

For data center operators, this signals broader ecosystem maturation. CDM’s turnkey modules accelerate time to market while integrating high-density power, low-latency networking, and sustainability features. With an extensive North American partner network, the combined entity can deploy campus-scale solutions anywhere, anytime – critical as AI power needs strain grids and supply chains.

This deal exemplifies how strategic M&A is fueling modular dominance, helping the industry navigate AI’s compute explosion with agility and reliability. Learn more at cd-modular.com.

The post CDM Acquires Majority Stake in R&D Specialties to Power AI Modular Data Center Surge appeared first on Data Center POST.

Artificial intelligence is a tool designed to power innovation, but it’s important to understand its primary fuel: data. Data is required not only for the outputs of AI algorithms but also for their training and operation. Because of this, in sectors where innovation has become driven by technologies like artificial intelligence, data has essentially become fuel for innovation, and it’s important to ensure the safety and quality of this data to stimulate it.

Understandably, many critics have expressed concern over the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare settings, considering the private, sensitive nature of the data used in the field. Patient personal information is not only highly sensitive but also protected by law, meaning there are strict regulations and guidelines dictating how entities in healthcare can use artificial intelligence with regard to patient data.

Why strong data governance is essential for AI in healthcare

However, that doesn’t mean artificial intelligence shouldn’t be used in healthcare whatsoever. Instead, it means there is a need for strong data governance, as this is an essential step in enabling safe and ethical AI use in any industry, particularly ones such as healthcare where the stakes are high. In addition to ensuring compliance with any applicable regulations, strong data governance helps create greater transparency and trust that inspires patient confidence.

It’s important to remember the reason why the healthcare sector wants to deploy artificial intelligence technology in the first place: AI can accelerate innovation and lead to improved patient outcomes. For example, innovators in the healthcare industry have used AI to accelerate drug discovery, conduct more accurate diagnostics, and streamline operations in a way that significantly improves efficiency. But to achieve these outcomes, systems must have access to accurate, well-managed data.

The key to this is creating compliance frameworks that reduce and mitigate the risks of artificial intelligence while still supporting scalable healthcare solutions. Of course, the core of any compliance framework in healthcare is data security and privacy, but these guidelines can also help control other risks, such as algorithmic bias and “black box” risks, ensuring that all decisions and recommendations made by an artificial intelligence are fair and explainable.

Enabling the responsible deployment of AI in healthcare

Ultimately, data governance isn’t about gatekeeping but about collaboration and enabling the responsible and ethical deployment of artificial intelligence. The mindset with which we approach AI shouldn’t be about limiting how we can use the technology, but instead how we can facilitate its use in a way that does not compromise data integrity or patient privacy.

Right now, the key goal of healthcare practitioners who hope to implement artificial intelligence should be to build trust and reliability in these systems. The steps required to achieve this include ensuring data quality and diversity, maintaining transparent communication, and continuous monitoring and validation.

The best way to look at AI systems in healthcare is as an analog to human employees. In healthcare, not even human employees have unfettered access to patient data. There are access controls based on the level of access an individual needs, with checks and balances and supervisory control.

The same philosophy should apply to autonomous systems. Just as approvals and access controls are required of human employees, so too should AI systems require approvals from human overseers.

Indeed, there is a world in which artificial intelligence can revolutionize the healthcare industry for the better, alleviating some of the burden on healthcare workers and contributing to improved patient outcomes. However, for this to happen, the adoption of AI must be done in a way that is responsible and ethical. With this mindset, prioritizing strong data governance, AI can become a reliable partner in patient care.

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About the Author

Chris Hutchins serves as the founder and CEO of Hutchins Data Strategy Consulting. The healthcare institutions benefit from his expertise in developing scalable moral data and artificial intelligence methods to maximize their data potential. His areas of expertise include enterprise data governance, responsible AI adoption, and self-service analytics. His expertise helps organizations achieve substantial results through technology implementation. Through team empowerment, Chris assists healthcare leaders in enhancing care delivery while reducing administrative work and transforming data into meaningful outcomes.

The post Data Governance and Clinical Innovation appeared first on Data Center POST.

ZincFive^®, a leader in nickel-zinc (NiZn) battery-based solutions for immediate power applications, has once again been recognized by TIME, earning a place on the America’s Top GreenTech Companies 2026 list for the third consecutive year. Developed in partnership with Statista, the ranking evaluates companies based on environmental impact, financial strength, and innovation, placing ZincFive among a select group shaping the future of sustainable technology.

This year, the company ranked #142 out of more than 3,500 evaluated organizations and is one of only two companies headquartered in Oregon to be included on the list.

The recognition reflects continued momentum for ZincFive’s nickel zinc battery technology, which has gained traction as an alternative to traditional energy storage options in mission critical environments. As data centers evolve to support artificial intelligence and increasingly dynamic workloads, the need for power solutions that can deliver both performance and safety has become more pronounced.

ZincFive’s approach centers on immediate power, delivering high power density in a compact footprint while avoiding the risks associated with other battery chemistries. Nickel zinc batteries are designed to provide reliable performance without thermal runaway concerns and rely on more abundant, recyclable materials, supporting both operational and environmental goals.

For ZincFive, continued recognition from TIME signals more than a milestone. It reflects a broader shift in how the industry is evaluating power infrastructure, with greater emphasis on safety, sustainability, and long term performance.

“Earning a place on TIME’s America’s Top GreenTech Companies list for the third consecutive year reflects the growing role of nickel-zinc technology in delivering safe, sustainable power,” said Tod Higinbotham, CEO of ZincFive. He emphasized the company’s “power of good chemistry” approach to balance performance, safety, and eco-friendliness.​

The company’s inclusion builds on a series of recent awards recognizing its innovation in energy storage, particularly in applications where reliability is critical. As demand for resilient and efficient power continues to grow, ZincFive’s technology is increasingly positioned to support the next generation of digital infrastructure.

For full details, read the press release here.

The post ZincFive Earns TIME GreenTech Recognition for Third Straight Year appeared first on Data Center POST.

Walk through the sales deck of almost any data center operator and you’ll find the same language: Tier III certified, N+1 redundancy, 99.999% uptime. The terminology is standardized because the underlying assumption is standardized that infrastructure is, at its core, a commodity.

That assumption is worth examining more carefully. Because what looks identical on paper can behave very differently under pressure. And the gap between a standard data center and a strategic one isn’t visible in a specification sheet. It shows up in an outage.

Engineering for Reality, Not for Ideal Conditions

MedOne, Israel’s largest data center operator with more than 25 years of experience building and managing critical infrastructure,serves some of the country’s most demanding clients , banks, healthcare providers, government agencies, defense-adjacent technology firms and large-scale enterprise platforms. These are mission-critical environments where downtime carries legal, financial and operational consequences that go well beyond a service credit. When a payment system goes dark or a hospital’s records platform becomes unavailable, the impact is measured in far more than lost revenue.

Building for that client base forced a different set of engineering questions from the start. Not “how do we achieve uptime under normal conditions?” but “how do we maintain continuity when normal conditions no longer exist?” That shift in the design brief changes almost every decision that follows.

MedOne’s facilities are built underground , not as a differentiating feature, but as a structural response to the requirement for physical isolation. Underground construction reduces exposure to environmental variables, provides stable ambient temperatures for cooling efficiency and removes a layer of external dependency that surface-level facilities carry by default. For mission-critical clients operating under strict regulatory and continuity requirements, physical hardening is not optional; it’s a baseline expectation.

Redundancy vs. Independence: A Difference That Matters

Most data centers are built around redundancy. Redundant power feeds, redundant cooling circuits, redundant network paths. Redundancy is valuable  but it operates on a specific assumption: that external systems are available, and that a backup path exists when the primary one fails.

Independence operates on a different assumption entirely: that external systems may not be available at all, and that the facility must be capable of sustaining itself regardless.

MedOne’s facilities are designed to operate independently for up to 72 hours without relying on external power or water infrastructure. This means on-site fuel reserves, independent power generation and self-sufficient cooling systems, the entire physical stack, sustained without input from the national grid or municipal utilities.

“Redundancy still assumes external systems are available somewhere in the chain,” says Eli Matara, chief commercial officer at MedOne. “Independence means we can continue operating even when they aren’t. For mission-critical clients -that’s not a philosophical difference. It’s the difference between staying operational and explaining an outage.”

The engineering logic becomes clearer when you think in layers. Modern infrastructure is a dependency chain: power feeds cooling, cooling enables compute, compute supports network, network delivers applications. Each layer inherits the risk of the layer beneath it. Redundant components within a single layer don’t eliminate risk if those components share an upstream dependency, a common substation, a shared conduit, or a single utility provider. Standard infrastructure is designed to recover when a layer fails. Strategic infrastructure is designed so that failure of an external input doesn’t cascade through the layers above it in the first place.

Connectivity Is Infrastructure, Not a Feature

For mission-critical clients, a facility that is running but unreachable is still down. That’s why MedOne treats connectivity not as a managed service sitting above the infrastructure layer, but as a core part of the architecture itself.

MedOne operates as one of Israel’s primary carrier-neutral interconnection hubs. Carrier neutrality means that multiple competing telecommunications providers, global carriers, regional operators and local fiber networks  all terminate directly inside MedOne’s facilities. Clients are not locked into a single provider and can choose, combine or change carriers without physical migration or dependency on a single network operator. In a region where geopolitical conditions can affect routing availability, that freedom is not a commercial convenience, it’s a risk management tool.

The connectivity architecture extends to direct cloud on-ramps, submarine cable landing stations and Israel’s core fiber backbone  all designed to avoid the hidden convergence points where redundant-looking network paths physically meet and paper diversity collapses into a single point of failure.

“A data center that’s operational but unreachable is still down from a customer’s perspective,” Matara says. “Path diversity and true interconnection aren’t add-ons. They’re part of the same design logic as power and cooling independence.”

Starting With Infrastructure, Not With Cloud

The prevailing assumption in enterprise infrastructure planning has been that cloud resilience is sufficient  that hyperscaler uptime guarantees translate into genuine continuity. MedOne’s model challenges that directly. With more than 15 years of experience supporting high-performance computing environments, the company brings a depth of technical understanding that extends well beyond standard enterprise workloads  and that shapes how it thinks about the relationship between physical infrastructure and the services built on top of it.

Cloud services are only as resilient as the physical infrastructure they run on. Starting with hardened, sovereign, physically isolated infrastructure — and building cloud and managed services on top of it  produces a fundamentally more resilient architecture than layering cloud on top of a standard facility and relying on the SLA to cover the gaps.

For mission-critical clients in regulated industries, this distinction carries additional weight. Data sovereignty, regulatory compliance and audit requirements often demand infrastructure that can be physically verified, locally governed and operationally isolated; a carrier-neutral, underground, autonomy-designed facility answers those requirements in a way that a hyperscaler availability zone cannot.

Meeting Sovereign and Regulatory Standards

For banks, insurers and payment providers in Israel, enforceable data sovereignty is now a hard regulatory expectation, not marketing language. MedOne’s underground, carrier-neutral facilities are designed to support Israeli privacy and data-security requirements, including strict controls over physical access, operations and data flows that enable financial institutions to demonstrate compliance and satisfy supervisory scrutiny.

The Real Test

Infrastructure decisions made under stable conditions tend to look similar. The divergence happens when conditions change.

Israel’s ongoing conflict with Iran brought missile alerts, physical security responses and disruptions to civilian utilities  creating operating conditions where continuity could not be assumed and where the difference between facilities designed for stability and those designed for disruption became impossible to ignore. MedOne’s facilities continued operating throughout. Not because the engineering was lucky, but because the architecture was designed from the ground up for exactly that scenario: external disruption as a baseline assumption, not an edge case.

That is the core argument for the strategic model. Resilience built into the architecture from the start performs differently than resilience added as a layer on top of a standard design. For organizations that cannot afford to find out which kind they have at the worst possible moment, the engineering choices made before a facility is ever switched on are the ones that matter most.

# # #

About the Author

Eli Matara is Chief Commercial Officer at MedOne, Israel’s leading provider of underground, carrier-neutral data centers and a central connectivity hub linking Israel to global networks.

With more than 20 years in enterprise sales, Eli leads the company’s commercial strategy across colocation, cloud, and connectivity. He works closely with Israel’s largest enterprises, global S&P 500 companies, and mission-critical organizations, helping them secure long-term infrastructure partnerships built for resilience, scale, and AI-driven workloads.

The post Not All Data Centers Are Built the Same — Inside MedOne’s Infrastructure Strategy in Israel appeared first on Data Center POST.

In my last article, I wrote about the need for calm, evidence-based leadership in an increasingly polarized infrastructure environment. One of the realities that continues to surface in communities across the country is that what we often interpret as resistance to development is something more nuanced. In many cases, communities are not pushing back out of ideology, they are responding to complexity, uncertainty, and the absence of trusted frameworks to guide long-term decisions.

Across the United States, digital infrastructure projects, namely data center developments, are encountering growing community resistance.

Too often, this pushback is quickly labeled as anti-growth sentiment, environmental activism, or resistance to technology. But in many cases, that interpretation misses the deeper reality.

What is often labeled as opposition is actually overwhelm.

Communities are being asked to make decisions about infrastructure that will shape their economic future for decades; without the tools, context, or trusted guidance to evaluate those decisions confidently.

Digital infrastructure, particularly large-scale or hyperscale data centers and supporting connectivity systems represents a new class of development. These projects intersect simultaneously with power infrastructure, water resources, land use planning, tax policy, and even national competitiveness. That level of complexity is unprecedented for many local decision-makers.

As a former elected official in Westchester County, New York, and after serving two-terms I know for a fact that most elected officials did not run for office to evaluate hyperscale infrastructure proposals. They ran to address zoning disputes, improve roads, manage school budgets, and respond to everyday civic concerns. When faced with proposals involving megawatt-scale energy demand, unfamiliar technical terminology, global technology narratives, and uncertain long-term impacts, decision paralysis is a natural outcome.

In that environment, saying “no” can feel like the safest and most responsible choice. And for me, this is the crux of the matter. If elected officials don’t know what they are saying no to, it could have dire consequences on the future of their communities – and country.

Further fueling this sentiment are the political dynamics across our country. Local leaders operate within short election cycles and highly visible public scrutiny. Approving a controversial project can feel like a personal political gamble,  particularly when the information landscape is polarized and the benefits are difficult to quantify in near-term terms. And, let’s be honest, you have to live with your neighbors and their emotional reactions to things they too don’t understand.

Trust gaps also play a role. Communities observe large incentive packages (community benefit plans), opaque project branding (project names rather than company brands), and rapid land acquisitions that may span 100’s of acres or more. This can create perceptions of imbalance:  imbalance of information, imbalance of power, and imbalance of benefit. Even when development intentions are positive, the process can feel accelerated and asymmetric from the community’s perspective.

There is also a fear of irreversibility. Digital infrastructure is often perceived as permanent, transformative, and difficult to unwind once built. And fears from past industrial builds like aluminum smelters and energy production sites have not laid an easy path for large-scale developments in our country’s future. That perception alone can drive precautionary decisions, calls for moratoria, and emotional public hearings.

From the industry side, resistance is sometimes misread as anti-technology bias or organized opposition. But frequently the underlying issue is not ideology, it is cognitive and institutional readiness. Communities are not rejecting opportunity; they are struggling to evaluate it.

This is where structured engagement models become essential.

At my company, iMiller Public Relations, we approach these efforts through an effort I call The Groundswell™ approach. The Groundswell approach reframes community engagement from persuasion to empowerment. It begins with understanding local decision dynamics; who influences outcomes, what matters most to residents, and how technical issues translate into civic implications. It emphasizes early education before formal approvals, surfaces community benefit opportunities, and builds coalition narratives that reduce fear rather than inflame it.

Informed communities make more confident decisions. They are better positioned to align development with their long-term economic vision rather than reacting project by project.

When overwhelm occurs simultaneously across multiple regions, the implications extend beyond any single development. Infrastructure deployment becomes fragmented. Investor confidence can weaken. Regional competitiveness begins to diverge. National digital readiness ultimately suffers.

Community overwhelm, therefore, is not just a local planning challenge, it is a strategic issue.

Resistance is often the first signal that institutions need new tools, governance frameworks require modernization, and engagement models must evolve. Calm, structured dialogue is not simply good community relations. It is foundational to building the next generation of digital infrastructure in a way that is both sustainable and broadly supported.

The work I am leading at the OIX Association and the Digital Infrastructure Framework Committee (DIFC), is working to create practical guidance that helps communities evaluate digital infrastructure within their broader economic vision, not project by project, crisis by crisis.

Understanding this distinction may be one of the most important steps we can take right now.

Learn more about what we are doing at iMiller Public Relations to bridge the gap between industry and community for the digital infrastructure sector, go to www.imillerpr.com.

For information about the OIX DIFC, visit www.oix.org/standards-and-certifications/oix-dif-standard.

The post Community Resistance Is Often Overwhelm – Not Opposition appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally published in the Idaho Statesman.

America’s most pressing ambitions — re-industrialization, artificial intelligence leadership, cleaner energy and thriving small businesses — are colliding with a hard reality: The nation lacks the power and energy grid infrastructure required to deliver them.

To compound the issue, local communities often oppose new data centers because, among other reasons, consumers fear that their own energy bills may rise. Nevertheless, by supporting new technologies, including a new generation of small modular reactors, or SMRs, policymakers can address America’s power needs in ways that benefit consumers.

During his State of the Union address, President Trump announced a “new Rate Payer Protection Pledge” to ensure that the tech companies, rather than consumers, bear the costs of new data centers. The pledge builds on an earlier bipartisan plan that encourages technology companies to build their own power plants. Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle, OpenAI, and Amazon signed the pledge in early March to “BYOP” — Bring Your Own Power — to the data center party.

As part of a comprehensive energy strategy, SMRs offer a practical path to expanding power capacity, pairing reliable power with comfortable safety margins. SMRs are compact, standardized nuclear plants built with factory-produced components that reduce construction time, lower costs and improve safety compared with traditional large- scale reactors. Unlike conventional nuclear plants that require massive, decade-long construction projects, SMRs can be prefabricated and deployed incrementally, making them ideally suited to today’s energy, AI and grid demands.

Idaho’s Role in SMR Development

SMRs’ potential provides another reason to watch the Idaho National Laboratory and its National Reactor Innovation Center. Last May, the White House issued four executive orders that significantly expanded the Department of Energy’s authority to regulate new advanced reactors and could encompass a prototype reactor for powering a data center.

One of these Orders directs DOE to approve at least three new reactors. DOE subsequently accepted 11 applicants into its reactor pilot program.

In fact, the need for data centers to provide their own power is a problem tailor-made for the NRIC, whose mission is to “bridge the gap between concept, demonstration, and commercialization of advanced nuclear technology.” NRIC recently announced its Nuclear Energy Launch Pad in response to this high private sector interest. The Launch Pad initiative is the new vehicle to test and operate these trailblazing technologies in partnership with private nuclear technology developers, with an eye toward eventual commercial deployment and proof of DOE’s plans to expand the private sector’s ability to obtain DOE Authorization.

In conjunction with the Launch Pad, the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should continue to pursue regulatory reforms that could significantly speed the growth of all nuclear power, including SMRs. One of the recent executive orders directed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to modernize its regulations. Proposed revised regulations, which should prioritize safety, speed, and cost, are expected soon.

To continue reading, please click here.

The post These Nuclear Reactors Can Benefit Idaho, Power America’s Ambitions appeared first on Data Center POST.

Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), a provider of modular, colocation Edge and AI data centers and technology infrastructure solutions, has scheduled its fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings call for Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Duos Technologies Group is focused on modular data center colocation facilities and infrastructure solutions through its Duos Edge AI and Duos Technology Solutions subsidiaries. The company continues to expand its digital infrastructure platform to support AI, enterprise computing, and edge deployments across Tier 3 and Tier 4 markets.

During the call, Duos management will discuss financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025, followed by a question-and-answer session. The company said it will release its financial results prior to the call through the Investor Relations section of its website.

A live audio webcast will also be available online, with a replay posted after the event. Investors joining by phone can use the U.S. dial-in number +1 877 407 3088 and confirmation number 13759531, while international participants can access the call through the company’s dial-in matrix.

To learn more about Duos Technologies Group, Inc., visit www.duostechnologies.com.

The post Duos Technologies Group Schedules March 31 Call to Review Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on Nomad Futurist.

Happy International Data Center Day! Today, we shine a spotlight on an industry that quietly powers our modern world. Behind every video call, online class, cloud application, and AI breakthrough is a network of infrastructure that most people never see — but rely on every single day: the data center industry.

This day is about more than celebrating technology; it’s about celebrating the people who make it all possible. From engineers and technicians to sustainability leaders, network specialists, and innovators, data centers are driven by talented professionals shaping the future of technology and connectivity.

Yet, one of the biggest challenges remains awareness. Many students and educators still don’t know that these careers exist, or the incredible opportunities they offer.

At the Nomad Futurist Foundation, we know that exposure changes everything. When students step inside a data center, meet the people behind the operations, and see the technology up close, curiosity transforms into possibility. Experiencing these environments firsthand opens doors to careers that are not only in high demand but essential to powering our digital future.

To continue reading, please click here.

The post Celebrating International Data Center Day: Inspiring the Next Generation of Tech Leaders appeared first on Data Center POST.

The AI revolution is pushing the data center industry toward gigawatt-scale campuses. But the real question today is not how large a facility can be built. The real question is how quickly power can be converted into revenue.

Consider a 1 gigawatt data center project. One gigawatt equals one thousand megawatts of capacity. In today’s market, typical infrastructure costs for large data centers range between 8 million and 12 million dollars per megawatt for standard facilities. That places the infrastructure cost of a 1 GW campus between 8 billion and 12 billion dollars.

In many U.S. markets, developers are seeing costs closer to 10 to 14 million dollars per megawatt, which would place a 1 GW campus between 10 and 14 billion dollars. AI optimized data centers can be even more expensive due to high density racks, liquid cooling systems, and larger electrical infrastructure. Those facilities can reach 15 to 20 million dollars per megawatt, pushing a 1 GW campus to 15 to 20 billion dollars in infrastructure alone.

Once servers, GPUs, networking equipment, and storage are installed, the total project value can easily exceed 30 billion dollars. But capital cost is no longer the biggest constraint, energy is.

According to the International Energy Agency, global data center electricity consumption reached roughly 415 terawatt hours in 2024, representing about 1.5 percent of global electricity demand. That number is projected to approach 800 terawatt hours by 2030 as AI adoption accelerates. At the same time, power infrastructure is struggling to keep up. The United States interconnection queue alone now exceeds 2 terawatts of generation capacity waiting for approval, and in many regions new grid connections can take three to six years. This creates a major financial challenge for traditional hyperscale development.

Large buildings are often constructed years before sufficient power becomes available. Hundreds of megawatts of capacity can sit idle while developers wait for substations, transmission lines, and utility upgrades. On a one gigawatt campus that could mean billions of dollars tied up in infrastructure waiting for power.

Now compare that with a modular campus strategy.

Instead of constructing massive buildings designed for the full gigawatt from day one, the campus can be deployed incrementally as power becomes available. A one gigawatt campus could begin with a 20 megawatt deployment. Using the same industry pricing ranges, that first deployment would require between 160 and 240 million dollars at eight to twelve million dollars per megawatt, or up to 300 to 400 million dollars if the facility is designed for high density AI workloads. What makes this model powerful is how quickly revenue can begin.

In many markets AI capacity is leasing between 150 thousand and 250 thousand dollars per megawatt per month depending on location and density. A 20 megawatt deployment can therefore generate roughly 3 to 5 million dollars per month, or approximately 36 to 60 million dollars per year, while the rest of the campus continues expanding. Instead of waiting years for a massive hyperscale facility to be completed, the project can begin generating revenue within 12 to 18 months.

As additional power becomes available the campus grows from twenty megawatts to one hundred megawatts, then several hundred megawatts, and eventually the full one gigawatt capacity. By the time the campus reaches full scale, the project may already be generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

There is also another strategic advantage that is becoming increasingly important: mobility of infrastructure.

If power availability changes, new energy sources come online, or grid constraints shift to another region, modular facilities can be redeployed where energy exists. Massive fixed hyperscale buildings cannot move.

This dramatically changes the risk profile.

Traditional hyperscale development concentrates 10 to 20 billion dollars into a single permanent structure. Modular campuses distribute capital across infrastructure that scales directly with available power.

In a world where energy has become the limiting factor for digital growth, the future of hyperscale development may not be one giant building. It may be gigawatt scale campuses built from modular infrastructure designed to grow with power.

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About the Author

Kliton Agolli Co-Founder, Board Member & Director of Global Growth Northstar Technologies Group | Naples, Florida.

Kliton Agolli is a senior security and international business development executive with more than 35 years of experience operating at the intersection of national security, executive protection, counterintelligence, and global commercial expansion. His career spans military service, law enforcement, VIP and diplomatic protection, healthcare and hospitality security, and cross-border business development in complex and high-risk environments.

At Northstar Technologies Group, Mr. Agolli leads global growth strategy, international partnerships, and strategic market expansion. He plays a key role in aligning advanced security and infrastructure technologies with government, defense, healthcare, and mission-critical commercial clients worldwide. His work focuses on risk-informed growth, regulatory compliance, and building long-term strategic alliances across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.

The post The 1 Gigawatt Data Center Dilemma appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on Compu Dynamics.

Discover how AI is transforming mission‑critical infrastructure: From modular data center design and liquid cooling to extreme power density to purpose‑built AI facilities, Steve Altizer, President and CEO of Compu Dynamics, covers these topics in this recent conversation.

At PTC 2026 in Hawaii, Isabel Paradis of HOT TELECOM held a discussion with Altizer to discuss how AI is reshaping the way modular data centers are designed now and in the future.

AI Is Rewriting the Rules of Data Center Design

AI is transforming data centers. While many are still trying to shoehorn AI workloads into traditional designs, that approach is only going to last a few more years. Hyperscalers are leading the way into an AI‑centric future, where liquid cooling – once a specialty – is now becoming standard across the industry.

Retrofitting conventional colo or cloud facilities for AI is not ideal. It’s not as cost effective as doing something that’s purpose built, yet building AI‑only facilities also carries risk, because repurposing that heavy investment later is difficult. The industry is therefore moving toward modular infrastructure, which allows for hybrid, purpose‑built AI facilities that remain flexible enough to serve a range of customers.

To continue reading, please click here.

The post Purpose-Built for AI: The Shift Toward Modular Data Center Infrastructure appeared first on Data Center POST.

By Mike Hodge, AI Solutions Lead, Keysight Technologies

It’s the heart of the AI gold rush, and everyone wants to capitalize on the next big thing. Large language models, multimodal systems, and domain-specific AI workloads are moving from experimentation to production at scale. Across industries, enterprises are building their own proprietary models or integrating pre-trained ones to power applications spanning from video analytics to highly specialized inference services.

This shift has triggered a new wave of infrastructure investment. But while GPUs and accelerators dominate the conversation, scaling AI platforms has produced a less obvious constraint: front-end network performance. In increasingly distributed, multi-tenant AI environments, the ability to move data efficiently into (and across) platforms has become just as critical as raw compute density.

New AI platforms mean new expectations for infrastructure

AI infrastructure is no longer the exclusive domain of a handful of hyperscalers. A growing class of service providers has begun offering end-to-end AI platforms where compute, storage, networking, and orchestration are delivered as a service. Their value proposition is straightforward: customers bring data and models, while the platform handles the complexity of building, operating, and maintaining large-scale data center deployments.

Service models like these, however, place extraordinary demands on networking. Unlike traditional cloud workloads, AI jobs are defined by massive, sustained data movement and tight coupling between data pipelines and compute utilization. GPUs cannot perform at peak efficiency unless data arrives on time, in the right order, and at predictable speeds.

As a result, network performance is now one of the primary determinants of training, inference, and infrastructure efficiency.

The eye of the storm is moving from the fabric to the front end

AI infrastructure discussions often focus on back-end fabrics. Think about things like high-bandwidth, low-latency interconnects between GPUs, for example. However, while these fabrics are indeed essential, they are only part of the picture.

Before training or inference ever begins, data must first traverse the front-end network. This occurs in several ways, but some of the most common paths include:

• From remote object stores or on-premises repositories into the data center
• From ingress points into virtual machines or containers
• From storage into GPU-attached hosts

This is where north-south traffic (external to internal) intersects with east-west traffic (host-to-host and service-to-service). And in AI environments, these flows are not occasional spikes. They are sustained, high-throughput, latency-sensitive streams that run continuously throughout the lifecycle of a job.

When front-end networks underperform, the consequences are costly and immediate: idle accelerators, elongated training windows, unpredictable inference latency, and poor multi-tenant isolation.

Why traditional network validation falls short

Most cloud networks were designed around general-purpose workloads. Think about things like web services, databases, and transactional systems with relatively modest bandwidth demands and fluctuating traffic patterns punctuated by the occasional spike.

AI workloads, on the other hand, break these assumptions. On the front end, AI traffic is characterized by:

• Extremely large data transfers, often using jumbo frames
• Long-lived connections, sustained over hours or days
• Millions of concurrent sessions in multi-tenant environments
• Tight latency and jitter tolerances to avoid starving accelerators

Conventional network testing approaches — such as synthetic benchmarks, isolated link tests, or small-scale simulations — are unable to replicate this behavior. As a result, many issues only surface once customer workloads are already running, which also happens to be when the cost of remediation is highest.

The need for realistic workload emulation

Optimizing front-end AI networks requires the ability to reproduce real workload behavior at scale. That means emulating both north-south and east-west traffic patterns simultaneously, across distributed environments and under sustained load.

For north-south paths, this includes verifying that large datasets can be reliably pulled from diverse external sources into local storage. Moreover, the network must also be able to do so with consistent throughput, predictable latency, and no silent data loss. Transfers like these are essential, as any inefficiency propagates directly into longer training times and underutilized GPUs.

For east-west paths, the challenge shifts to connection density, latency, and scalability. Once workloads are running, virtual machines and services exchange data continuously. Sometimes within the same host, sometimes across racks, and sometimes across geographically separated data centers. Modern AI platforms increasingly rely on SmartNICs and offload technologies to make this feasible, so these components must also be validated under realistic connection rates and protocol behavior.

Without large-scale, workload-accurate testing, subtle bottlenecks — such as rule-processing limits, connection-tracking inefficiencies, or unexpected latency spikes — can remain hidden until production traffic exposes them.

Front-end optimization is a competitive differentiator

In response, the most advanced AI platform operators are shifting left: validating their front-end networks before customers ever deploy workloads. Along the way, their proactive approach is changing the economics of AI infrastructure.

Stress-testing networks under real-world conditions offers a range of benefits for network operators:

• Identifying performance cliffs at high line rates
• Understanding how different layers of the stack interact under load
• Resolving scaling limitations in NICs, virtual networking, or storage paths
• Delivering predictable performance across tenants and geographies

It’s not just about improving peak throughput. It’s about building confidence that platforms perform as expected under peak pressure. And in a market where AI workloads are expensive, time-sensitive, and strategically important, this confidence becomes a differentiator. Customers may never see the network directly, but they feel its impact in faster training cycles, lower inference latency, and fewer production surprises.

Looking ahead: front-end networks and the next generation of AI

AI workloads continue to evolve. Microservices-based architectures, distributed inference pipelines, and increasingly stateful services are placing even more emphasis on low-latency, high-availability front-end connectivity. At the same time, data is becoming more geographically distributed, pushing platforms to span multiple regions and network domains.

In this environment, front-end networks are no longer a supporting actor. They are a core component of AI system design. That means they must be engineered, validated, and optimized with the same rigor applied to compute and accelerators.

The lesson is clear: operators cannot optimize AI infrastructure by focusing on GPUs alone. The performance, efficiency, and reliability of tomorrow’s AI platforms will be defined just as much by how well they move data as by how fast they process it.

The post AI’s Overlooked Bottleneck: Why Front-End Networks Are Crucial to AI Data Center Performance appeared first on Data Center POST.

Capacity LATAM 2026, held March 17-18 in São Paulo, Brazil, made it clear that Latin America’s digital infrastructure market is no longer defined by potential, but by execution. As demand for cloud, AI, and connectivity accelerates across the region, the conversation has shifted from future opportunity to immediate deployment where power, capital, and collaboration must align to keep pace with growth.

Across the event, the narrative moved well beyond subsea routes and international traffic flows. Instead, speakers focused on how Latin America is becoming a destination for data creation, processing, and storage. With the region’s data center market projected to nearly double by 2030, investment is accelerating across Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia, while emerging markets are beginning to play a more strategic role in regional infrastructure planning.

Collaboration emerged as a central theme, particularly as infrastructure deployments become more complex and capital-intensive. During the “From Fiber to Facility” keynote, Gabriel del Campo, Data Center Vice President at Cirion Technologies emphasized that scaling data centers and networks across Latin America requires tighter alignment between operators, fiber providers, and hyperscalers. That coordination is increasingly necessary to navigate supply chain challenges and accelerate time to market in a region where demand is rising quickly.

Investment momentum continues to build, with the “LATAM’s $100B Digital Surge” keynote framing the scale of capital entering the market. Rodolfo Macarrein, Partner at Altman Solon highlighted how shifting political and regulatory dynamics are influencing where and how capital is deployed while reinforcing that long-term demand fundamentals remain strong. Key markets such as São Paulo, Santiago, and Querétaro are emerging as focal points for AI-ready capacity, driven by hyperscale expansion and enterprise demand.

AI infrastructure is already beginning to shape the next phase of development. In the AI keynote, Ivo Ivanov, CEO at DE-CIX pointed to the rise of next-generation digital hubs designed for high-density compute, where power availability, connectivity, and scalability must be considered from day one. José Eduardo Quintella, CEO at Terranova reinforced this by highlighting how speed to deployment and execution are becoming critical differentiators, particularly as new facilities are being delivered on accelerated timelines to meet demand.

Connectivity remains the backbone of this transformation. The subsea keynote highlighted new systems such as Firmina and Humboldt that are expanding capacity and reducing latency between Latin America and global markets. Peter Wood, Senior Research Analyst at TeleGeography emphasized the strategic importance of these routes in supporting cloud expansion and future AI workloads, particularly as latency-sensitive applications become more prevalent across the region.

Energy is quickly becoming one of the most important variables in the region’s growth trajectory. As discussed throughout the energy and infrastructure sessions, access to reliable and sustainable power will ultimately determine how quickly Latin America can scale to meet demand. Renewable energy partnerships, evolving grid strategies, and new power procurement models are all playing a role in shaping where future capacity will be built.

What stood out most across Capacity LATAM 2026 was the level of alignment between stakeholders. Operators, investors, and policymakers are increasingly focused on the same challenge: how to scale infrastructure quickly while addressing constraints around power, supply chains, and regulatory complexity. The shift toward AI-ready infrastructure, combined with sustained cloud demand, is accelerating timelines and raising the stakes for execution.

As the event concluded, the broader message was clear. Latin America is no longer simply part of the global network, it is becoming a critical region where infrastructure must be built to support both local demand and international data flows. The next phase of growth will depend on how effectively the region can translate investment into deployable, scalable infrastructure.

Upcoming Capacity events will continue to spotlight the trends shaping digital infrastructure worldwide, from AI-driven demand to evolving connectivity models. Explore the full event calendar at www.capacityglobal.com/events to see where the industry is heading next.

Dates for Capacity LATAM 2027 are not yet available, for information please visit www.capacityglobal.com/events.

The post Capacity LATAM 2026 Signals a New Era of AI, Cloud, and Data Center Growth Across Latin America appeared first on Data Center POST.

AI workloads are pushing data centre infrastructure towards higher rack densities, new cooling strategies and greater power demand. Jamie Darragh, Data Centre Director, Europe, at global data centre engineering design consultancy Black & White Engineering, examines the design implications for the next generation of facilities.

AI and high-performance computing are placing new demands on data centre infrastructure. Rack densities are increasing; facilities are being delivered at larger scale and operators are under pressure to support workloads that consume far greater levels of power and generate far higher heat loads than conventional cloud environments.

Independent forecasts underline the pace of expansion. Gartner estimates global data centre electricity consumption will rise from around 448TWh in 2025 to roughly 980TWh by 2030, driven largely by AI-optimised computing infrastructure. Within that growth, AI servers alone are expected to account for close to 44% of data centre power consumption by the end of the decade.

For our engineering teams, these workloads are altering the practical limits of traditional infrastructure design. Rack densities exceeding 100–200kW are now appearing in project specifications, particularly where large AI training clusters are planned. These loads influence every part of the building environment, from electrical distribution and cooling capacity to structural loading and cable management.

Designing for extreme density

Under these conditions, air cooling alone becomes difficult to sustain across entire facilities. Liquid cooling is therefore increasingly included in the baseline design of new data centres rather than introduced later as a specialist solution. This cooling method is becoming increasingly favourable due to its higher specific thermal capacity compared with air, which enables more efficient heat transfer and removal. Direct-to-chip and rack-level systems are being designed alongside air cooling so facilities can accommodate different densities and equipment types across the same site.

The introduction of liquid systems requires careful coordination between disciplines. Facilities must manage environments where air and liquid cooling operate together, supported by monitoring platforms, safety controls and operational procedures capable of supporting both approaches.

Some IT chips require different liquid cooling temperatures than those used in air-cooling systems, creating technical hurdles for the overall heat rejection system and requiring precise control of the cooling circuit temperature. Another engineering challenge lies in integrating these systems with power distribution, control platforms and maintenance strategies rather than selecting one cooling method over another.

Higher density also narrows operational tolerance. Commissioning becomes more demanding and redundancy strategies require more detailed modelling. Infrastructure must be capable of supporting peak compute demand while maintaining efficiency when loads are lower, placing greater emphasis on flexible electrical and mechanical systems.

The scale of development is also increasing. Buildings that once delivered a few megawatts of capacity are now part of campus-scale developments where multiple data halls contribute to facilities delivering hundreds of megawatts. data centres are increasingly planned and delivered as long-term infrastructure assets rather than individual projects.

This environment encourages repeatable design and industrialised delivery methods. Developers and investors expect predictable construction schedules and consistent performance across multiple sites. As a result, engineering teams are placing greater emphasis on modular infrastructure systems and digital design methods that allow mechanical and electrical systems to be configured and deployed repeatedly.

Power, control and operational intelligence

Power availability is also becoming a determining factor in project planning. In many regions, grid connection capacity is now one of the main constraints on new development. Gartner has warned that by 2027 as many as 40% of AI data centres could face operational limits because of power availability.

Developers are therefore engaging more closely with utilities during early feasibility stages and exploring complementary infrastructure such as on-site generation and energy storage. In some cases, data centres are also being designed to contribute to wider grid stability through demand response and energy management capability.

Artificial intelligence is also beginning to influence how facilities themselves are operated. Machine-learning systems are already being used in some environments to optimise airflow patterns, cooling plant performance and power distribution using live operational data.

The next stage will see more widespread use of integrated control platforms and digital twins capable of modelling facility behaviour in real time. These systems allow operators to simulate infrastructure performance under different load conditions, test operational changes and identify maintenance requirements before faults occur.

Environmental performance remains another constraint as compute density increases. Higher workloads place additional pressure on energy supply while raising questions around water consumption, construction materials and waste heat recovery. Planning authorities and investors are increasingly looking for measurable improvements in efficiency and carbon reporting before approving new developments. Sustainability therefore sits alongside power and cooling as a central engineering consideration rather than a secondary design feature.

Taken together, these conditions create a more complex design environment for data centre infrastructure. Higher compute densities, power constraints and new operational technologies require mechanical, electrical and digital systems to be considered together from the earliest design stages.

Facilities intended to support AI workloads must accommodate far greater performance requirements than earlier generations of data centres while remaining adaptable as infrastructure technologies and operating practices continue to develop.

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About the Author

Jamie Darragh is Data Centre Director, Europe at Black & White Engineering. He leads the delivery of complex, mission-critical projects across the region, with a focus on technical quality, design coordination and strong client relationships. A Chartered Engineer and member of CIBSE and the IET, Jamie has worked across Europe, the Middle East and the UK since 2005. He brings a clear, practical approach to engineering challenges, combining technical expertise with commercial awareness. He is committed to developing teams that work collaboratively and perform at a high level. Jamie has received several industry awards, recognising both his technical capability and his impact on the built environment including ‘Engineer of the Year’ at leading Middle East industry awards.

The post AI Workloads and the Implications for High-Density Data Centre Design appeared first on Data Center POST.

Over the coming weeks, I will be sharing a series of reflections on the realities shaping digital infrastructure development in the United States. These perspectives come from ongoing conversations with communities, policymakers, developers, investors, and industry leaders navigating one of the most consequential infrastructure build cycles in modern history. As artificial intelligence accelerates demand for computing capacity, the decisions being made today, often at the local level, will influence economic competitiveness, regional growth, and public trust for decades to come. This series is intended to create space for more calm, evidence-based dialogue about how we plan, communicate, and lead through this moment of rapid transformation.

We are living through one of the most consequential infrastructure build cycles in modern history, not dissimilar to the first industrial revolution, and yet many of the decisions shaping our digital future are being made in environments defined by urgency, fear, and ideological polarization.

Digital infrastructure, from AI-ready data centers (AI Factories) to edge computing nodes in your local stripmall, are now central to economic competitiveness, national security, innovation, and quality of life. And still, conversations about development often become binary: pro-growth or anti-growth, pro-environment or pro-industry, local control or national interest.

Reality is far more complex. We are living out a paradoxical dilemma in real-time.

What we are seeing across the United States is not simply opposition to projects. It is a collision of competing priorities: environmental stewardship versus economic opportunity, investor timelines versus civic process, national competitiveness versus local autonomy. These tensions are real. They deserve thoughtful navigation, not reactive decision-making. And when the decisions are polarizing, the complexities are at their greatest.

One of the structural challenges is governance itself. As a former elected official in Westchester County, New York, and after serving two-terms, it is clear as day that Federal policy direction does not automatically translate into local action. As I often say: “Federal mandates don’t mean much when governors and local jurisdictions can simply say no.”

This is not a criticism, it is a recognition of how our democratically designed system works. Infrastructure decisions are ultimately shaped at the state, county, and municipal levels. And many of the leaders tasked with evaluating these developments are doing so without the benefit of neutral frameworks, long-term planning guidance, or consistent industry education.

At the same time, the public narrative around digital infrastructure has become increasingly emotional. Headlines focus on water usage, energy demand, or tax incentives, often without equal discussion of the broader economic and societal value these projects create.

Because a data center is not just a building. It is a catalyst.

Data centers are not just buildings. They are an economic driver across a wide-variety of professional services, hospitality, supply chains, and innovation.

Economic activity begins long before construction starts and extends far beyond permanent on-site employment. Yet many impact assessments still rely on narrow metrics that fail to capture this ecosystem effect.

When you look at impact studies narrowly,  like counting permanent jobs, you miss the enormous economic ecosystem that infrastructure development activates.

This disconnect contributes to mistrust and polarization. Communities feel pressured. Investors feel blocked. Policymakers feel caught in the middle.

What is needed now is calm, evidence-based leadership.

Leadership that can hold multiple truths at once:

• Infrastructure development must be sustainable.
• Communities deserve transparency and engagement.
• Economic competitiveness cannot be taken for granted.

Long-term planning must transcend election cycles.

The work I am leading at the OIX Association and the Digital Infrastructure Framework Committee (DIFC), is working to create practical guidance that helps communities evaluate digital infrastructure within their broader economic vision, not project by project, crisis by crisis.

The goal is not to advocate for development at any cost.

The goal is to enable informed decision-making.

Because when stakeholders are equipped with context, data, and structured engagement models, conversations shift. Fear gives way to dialogue. Polarization gives way to planning. Urgency gives way to intentional action.

In a moment defined by technological acceleration, community leadership may simply need to be able to meet ability with reality. This will ensure that we, as a society, can move forward, together, with clarity.

Learn more about what we are doing at iMiller Public Relations to bridge the gap between industry and community for the digital infrastructure sector, go to www.imillerpr.com.

For information about the OIX DIFC, visit www.oix.org/standards-and-certifications/oix-dif-standard.

The post Calm Leadership in a Polarized Infrastructure Debate appeared first on Data Center POST.

Duos Technologies Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), through Duos Edge AI, Inc., has announced the deployment of its second Edge Data Center in the Amarillo, Texas market. The new carrier-neutral, SOC 2-compliant facility is located on Potter County land adjacent to the largest colocation facility in the Texas Panhandle, further strengthening digital infrastructure for carriers, healthcare organizations, enterprises, and public sector entities across the region.​

Building on the success of its initial Amarillo deployment, this latest installation expands Duos Edge AI’s footprint in the Panhandle and adds high-density, low-latency computing capabilities for real-time AI applications, enhanced bandwidth, and secure data processing.

“We are proud to deepen our commitment to the Amarillo market with this second deployment, building on the foundation established by our initial EDC, which brought high-performance computing directly to the heart of the Panhandle,” said Dave Irek, Chief Operations Officer of Duos Edge AI. “This expansion enhances capacity and capability in the region, and by partnering on Potter County land adjacent to a premier colocation hub, we are creating a robust, carrier-neutral ecosystem designed to support innovation, attract investment, and drive long-term economic growth.”​

The company said the deployment also helps reduce dependence on data centers located in tier one cities while supporting underserved and high-growth markets across Texas. Duos Edge AI’s broader Texas expansion includes recent installations in Lubbock, Waco, Victoria, Abilene, and Corpus Christi.​

Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner added, “This collaboration with Duos Edge AI represents a significant investment in our community’s future. Positioning this advanced, carrier-neutral data center on county land next to the Panhandle’s largest colocation facility will attract new businesses, improve connectivity for our residents and schools, and position Potter County as a leader in digital infrastructure.”​

The new EDC is expected to be fully operational in the coming months.

To learn more about Duos Edge AI, visit www.duosedge.ai.

The post Duos Edge AI Deploys Second Edge Data Center in Amarillo, Texas Market appeared first on Data Center POST.

How Centralized Infrastructure Intelligence Turns Emergency Replacements into Controlled Operations

Most infrastructure professionals spend their careers building for the planned: capacity expansions, technology refreshes, migration cycles that unfold over quarters or years. And then a Monday morning email changes everything.

A government agency bans equipment from a trusted vendor. A threat intelligence report reveals that a state-sponsored actor has been inside your network switches for eighteen months. A manufacturer announces that the platform running your entire campus backbone loses support in nine months. In each case, the same question emerges: how quickly can you identify every affected device across every facility, and how fast can you replace them without breaking what still works?

For a surprising number of organizations, the honest answer is: they don’t know. That gap between confidence in steady-state operations and readiness for unplanned mass replacement is where real risk lives.

The Forces That Turn Infrastructure Upside Down

Emergency hardware replacement at scale is not hypothetical. Recent years have produced real-world triggers across four broad categories, each with distinct operational implications.

Regulatory and geopolitical mandates. The federal effort to remove Chinese-manufactured telecommunications equipment from American networks—driven by the FCC’s Covered List and Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act—has forced carriers and federal contractors into wholesale infrastructure replacement on compliance timelines that don’t flex for budget cycles. The FCC has estimated the total program cost at nearly five billion dollars. Any organization touching federal dollars must verify its infrastructure is clean; if it isn’t, replacement is a compliance obligation, not a planning exercise.

Security crises that outpace patching. The Salt Typhoon campaign revealed that Chinese state-sponsored hackers had penetrated multiple major US telecommunications providers, maintaining persistent access for up to two years—exploiting legacy equipment, unpatched router vulnerabilities, and weak credential management. Investigators found routers with patches available for seven years that had never been applied. For affected carriers, the response demanded physical replacement of compromised infrastructure that could no longer be trusted regardless of patch status. When an adversary achieves sufficient persistence, patching becomes insufficient. Replacement is the only reliable remediation.

End-of-life announcements. Vendor lifecycle decisions create quieter but equally urgent pressure. An organization running multiple hardware platforms faces different end-of-support timelines for each, and dependencies between them mean replacing one can cascade into forced changes elsewhere. Without a consolidated view of what is running, where, and when it loses support, these effects are invisible until they cause failures.

Architectural shifts. Zero trust adoption, SASE frameworks, and cloud-delivered security are rendering entire categories of on-premises equipment architecturally obsolete—not because they’ve failed, but because the security model has moved on. The question is not whether legacy VPN appliances and perimeter firewalls will be replaced, but how quickly, and whether the organization has the visibility to execute in a controlled manner.

Why Standard Processes Break Down

Every mature IT organization has IMAC processes: Install, Move, Add, Change. These handle the predictable rhythm of infrastructure life. Emergency replacement programs share almost none of their characteristics.

They are triggered externally. Their scope is massive—hundreds or thousands of devices across multiple sites. They arrive without allocated budgets or pre-positioned inventory, carrying compliance deadlines indifferent to resource constraints.

The organizations that handle these events well recognize them for what they are: standalone programs needing their own governance, funding, and dedicated teams—and their own information infrastructure. That last requirement is where centralized infrastructure management becomes not a convenience but a prerequisite.

What Centralized Infrastructure Intelligence Must Deliver

Four questions—answered immediately.

What is affected, and where is it? When a regulatory notice references a specific manufacturer, or a security advisory identifies a particular hardware model and firmware version, the operations team needs a definitive count within hours, not weeks. Organizations maintaining a continuously updated centralized inventory—capturing hardware models, firmware versions, physical locations, logical roles, and contractual associations—can answer by running a query. Organizations relying on spreadsheets and periodic audits cannot. The difference in response time is typically measured in weeks, and in a compliance-driven scenario, weeks are what you don’t have. Equally important is dependency mapping: understanding that replacing a core switch will affect upstream routers, downstream access switches, and out-of-band management paths. Without it, a replacement that looks straightforward on paper can produce cascading outages in execution.

What is the replacement path? A legacy switch may need to be replaced by different models depending on port density, power constraints, and compatibility with adjacent equipment. Workflow-driven execution ensures every replacement follows the same approval steps, documentation requirements, and validation procedures—preventing errors that compound in programs spanning hundreds of sites.

Where are we right now? Leadership needs a live view of progress—which sites are lagging, where tasks are stalled, which teams are hitting milestones. This enables resource reallocation, timely escalation of procurement bottlenecks, and an auditable record for regulators. It also surfaces patterns previously invisible: a region that consistently runs behind, or an approval step adding days of unnecessary latency.

What did we learn? Emergency replacements are no longer rare—any organization operating at scale should expect one every few years. Those that conduct structured post-project reviews build a compounding advantage: better scoping templates, more accurate resource models, and pre-validated replacement mappings that make the next response faster.

Building Readiness Before the Next Crisis

Emergency replacements cannot be made painless—they are disruptive, expensive, and stressful regardless of preparation. But the difference between an organization that navigates one in three months and one that takes twelve is almost entirely a function of work done before the trigger.

That preparation has three dimensions: information readiness (a continuously updated inventory with hardware identity, location, firmware status, and dependency relationships), process readiness (defined workflow-driven procedures that activate quickly rather than being reinvented under pressure), and organizational readiness (governance, budget authority, and executive sponsorship that allows an emergency program to stand up as a dedicated initiative).

The organizations best positioned for the next regulatory mandate, zero-day disclosure, or end-of-life cascade are investing in that readiness today—not because they know what the trigger will be, but because they’ve built a discipline prepared for all of them.

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About the Author

Oliver Lindner has over 30 years of experience in IT and the management of IT infrastructures with a focus on data centers. He has worked for many years at FNT Software, a leading provider of integrated software solutions for IT management. In his current position as Director of Product Management, he is responsible for the strategic direction and continuous improvement of the software products for data centers. The aim is to support customers in the efficient and transparent design of their IT infrastructure.

Oliver Lindner attaches great importance to customer focus, innovation and quality. His expertise also includes the development and provision of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions that offer customers maximum flexibility and efficiency. To this end, he works closely with his own team, partners and customers to create sustainable and innovative software solutions.

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The global data center HVAC market was valued at USD 13.7 billion in 2025 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9.8% to reach USD 36 billion by 2035, according to recent report by Global Market Insights Inc.

Growth in the global data center HVAC industry is being fueled by rising computing intensity, expanding AI-driven workloads, and the continued development of hyperscale and enterprise facilities. As server densities increase and high-performance computing environments generate greater thermal loads, advanced cooling infrastructure has become essential to maintain operational stability and uptime. Research and development efforts across the HVAC industry are increasingly focused on liquid cooling technologies and next-generation thermal management systems capable of handling elevated power densities.

At the same time, stricter regulatory oversight related to energy consumption and environmental performance is encouraging operators to enhance system efficiency and reduce carbon output. ESG-focused initiatives and net-zero commitments are prompting facility upgrades aimed at optimizing Power Usage Effectiveness and lowering operating expenses. Improvements in airflow engineering, adoption of sustainable refrigerants, and integration of energy-efficient cooling architectures are reshaping infrastructure strategies. As regulatory expectations and energy costs continue to rise, demand for intelligent, high-efficiency HVAC solutions in data centers is expected to accelerate significantly.

Rising load capacities, sustainability targets, and regulatory compliance requirements are creating pressure for compact, scalable, and adaptable HVAC systems. Industry participants are responding by designing modular cooling platforms that can operate effectively across diverse geographies while maximizing space utilization and energy performance.

The data center HVAC market from solutions segment accounted for 76% share in 2025 and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 8.9% from 2026 to 2035. Advanced monitoring tools equipped with artificial intelligence enable predictive maintenance, improve airflow management, and reduce unnecessary power consumption. Increased adoption of liquid-based cooling technologies is supporting high-density server environments while enhancing reliability and extending equipment lifespan through energy-conscious design.

The air-based cooling technologies segment held a 50% share in 2025 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.8% during 2026-2035. Enhanced airflow optimization systems, variable-speed fan configurations, and intelligent environmental controls are improving thermal consistency and minimizing energy waste. Economizer-enabled designs are facilitating greater use of ambient air, while modular cooling units support scalability across both hyperscale and edge environments. Growing server power density is also accelerating interest in direct cooling and immersion-based methods supported by advanced coolant formulations that enhance heat transfer efficiency.

United States data center HVAC market reached USD 4.7 billion in 2025. Increasing cloud integration and AI-intensive applications are driving demand for more efficient cooling architectures. Investments are being supported by electrification incentives and decarbonization initiatives, encouraging broader adoption of intelligent HVAC controls and energy-optimized systems. Integration with smart building platforms and grid-responsive technologies is enabling facilities to manage peak loads, reduce demand charges, and incorporate renewable energy sources.

Key companies operating in the global data center HVAC market include Vertiv, Schneider Electric, Carrier Global, Daikin Industries, Trane Technologies, Johnson Controls, STULZ, Alfa Laval, Danfoss, and Modine Manufacturing. Companies in the global market are strengthening their competitive position through continuous innovation, strategic partnerships, and geographic expansion. Leading players are investing heavily in research and development to enhance liquid cooling efficiency, improve airflow intelligence, and integrate AI-driven monitoring systems. Collaborations with cloud service providers and data center developers are enabling customized cooling deployments for high-density environments. Firms are also expanding manufacturing capacity and regional service networks to support rapid infrastructure growth. Sustainability-focused product development, including low-global-warming-potential refrigerants and energy-efficient system architectures, is becoming a central competitive differentiator.

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As global investment in AI infrastructure, power, and advanced manufacturing accelerates, a critical constraint is coming into sharper focus—project execution.

A newly announced $25 million Series A funding round for Foresight underscores a broader industry shift: while capital continues to flow into large-scale infrastructure, delivering these projects on time and on budget remains a persistent challenge.

The current wave of infrastructure investment is unprecedented in both scale and complexity. Hyperscale data centers, energy systems, and advanced industrial facilities are being developed simultaneously across global markets, often with overlapping supply chains and tight delivery timelines.

However, execution has emerged as a systemic issue.

Research indicates that nearly 90% of large-scale infrastructure projects are completed late or exceed budget expectations. In the context of AI infrastructure, delays can have cascading effects—impacting capacity availability, increasing financing costs, and delaying revenue generation.

Industry observers note that as demand for compute continues to surge, particularly for AI workloads, the margin for error in delivery timelines is shrinking.

A Shift Toward Predictive Delivery Models

Foresight, which positions itself as a predictive project delivery platform, is part of a growing cohort of technology providers aiming to address these execution challenges through data and automation.

The company’s platform is designed to move beyond traditional project management approaches—often reliant on static schedules and retrospective reporting—by introducing continuous validation of project progress and early identification of risk factors.

According to the company, its system enables infrastructure owners to establish baseline schedules more quickly, integrate data across stakeholders, and forecast potential delays before they materialize. Early adopters report improvements in forecast accuracy and reductions in cost overruns.

While such claims reflect a broader trend toward digitization in construction and infrastructure delivery, they also point to a deeper industry need: greater predictability in increasingly complex builds.

Why Execution Matters More in the AI Era

For data center developers and operators, execution risk is becoming more consequential.

Unlike previous infrastructure cycles, AI-driven demand is both immediate and rapidly evolving. Delays in bringing capacity online can result in missed opportunities, strained customer relationships, and competitive disadvantages in key markets.

At the same time, projects are becoming more interdependent. Power availability, equipment procurement, and site development must align precisely—leaving little room for disruption.

This dynamic is prompting a reassessment of how infrastructure projects are planned and managed, with greater emphasis on real-time data, cross-functional visibility, and proactive intervention.

Expanding Beyond Data Centers

Although the initial focus is on sectors such as hyperscale data centers, the challenges associated with project execution are not unique to digital infrastructure.

Foresight plans to expand its platform into adjacent industries, including energy, defense, and advanced manufacturing—areas that share similar characteristics: large capital commitments, complex supply chains, and high sensitivity to delays.

The company’s recent funding, led by Macquarie Capital Venture Capital, reflects investor interest in solutions that address these systemic inefficiencies.

An Industry Inflection Point

The emergence of predictive project delivery tools signals a broader transformation in how infrastructure is built.

For years, innovation in the data center sector has centered on compute performance, cooling technologies, and energy efficiency. Increasingly, attention is shifting toward the process of delivery itself.

As infrastructure programs continue to scale, the ability to execute with precision may become a defining factor in project success.

In an environment where demand is high and timelines are compressed, the question facing the industry is evolving—from whether projects can be financed to whether they can be delivered as planned.

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Duos Technologies Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), through Duos Edge AI, Inc., has formed a strategic partnership with Seimitsu to revolutionize digital infrastructure across Georgia. By combining Duos Edge AI’s modular, high-performance solutions with Seimitsu’s expansive high-speed fiber network, the collaboration delivers low-latency processing and high-bandwidth connectivity for businesses, municipalities, and healthcare providers statewide.

“Our mission is to bring the power of the cloud to the street corner. Partnering with Seimitsu allows us to integrate our Edge AI nodes into a robust, reliable fiber backbone, ensuring that Georgia’s industries – from the port of Savannah to Atlanta’s technology corridors – have the infrastructure they need to compete globally,” said Dave Irek, Chief Operations Officer of Duos Edge AI.

As demand for real-time data processing grows, driven by AI, IoT, and autonomous systems, infrastructure closer to end users has become critical. This partnership positions Georgia at the forefront of the Edge revolution with ultra-low latency processing, Seimitsu’s 25 terabits of low-latency fiber capacity across the Southeast, and rapid deployment of Duos Edge AI nodes in underserved and high-demand areas.

Sam Cook, CEO of Seimitsu, added, “For more than 40 years, Seimitsu has been committed to connecting our communities. This partnership with Duos Edge AI represents the next step in that journey. By integrating edge computing directly into our network, we are moving beyond simple transit services and delivering true digital transformation for our clients.”

The partnership supports Duos Edge AI’s nationwide expansion of distributed AI infrastructure through strategic fiber, power, and site partnerships.

To learn more about Duos Edge AI, visit www.duosedge.ai.

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In the rapidly evolving landscape of data centers powered by artificial intelligence, energy storage strategies are undergoing a profound transformation. ZincFive^®, a leader in nickel-zinc battery solutions, has unveiled its third annual 2026 Data Center Energy Storage Industry Insights Report, developed with Endeavor Business Intelligence. This comprehensive study, based on surveys of 150 global industry professionals conducted in early 2026, reveals how AI workloads are reshaping power infrastructure priorities.

Key Trends Emerge

The report identifies surging AI demands as a central force. Notably, 57% of respondents report that AI is driving higher power density needs and smaller footprints, a trend holding steady from 54% last year. Additionally, 52% emphasize managing AI’s dynamic power fluctuations and upholding power quality – a sharp rise from 37% in 2025 – highlighting the urgency for resilient storage solutions.

Cost and safety dominate decision-making. An impressive 84% prioritize total cost of ownership, up from 79% in 2025 and 65% in 2024, while 76% stress battery chemistry safety. AI dynamic power ranks as the second-biggest driver for technology shifts at 49%, after cost (58%). Sustainability also plays a pivotal role, with 70% factoring it into purchases and 46% achieving moderate to significant cost savings from sustainable initiatives.

Prioritizing Battery Features for AI Challenges

When addressing AI-specific power issues, professionals rank power density (38%), safety (37%), uptime (33%), and maintenance ease (32%) as top criteria for battery selection. These insights underscore the need for advanced chemistries like nickel-zinc, which ZincFive champions for its high power density, safety, and sustainability in mission-critical applications.

“As AI workloads continue to transform data center infrastructure, operators are facing new challenges around power density, power quality, and system reliability,” said Tod Higinbotham, CEO of ZincFive. “This year’s report highlights how the industry is adapting to these evolving demands while balancing cost, safety, and sustainability priorities. The findings underscore the growing need for energy storage technologies capable of delivering high power performance, operational resilience, and infrastructure efficiency in the era of AI-driven data centers.”

Implications for the Industry

This report builds on prior editions, tracking consistent yet intensifying trends amid AI’s expansion. Data center operators can download the full 2026 report, along with 2025 and 2024 versions, from ZincFive’s website to inform strategic planning. As AI continues to demand more from power systems, innovations in safe, efficient energy storage will be crucial for maintaining uptime and sustainability goals.

To read the full press release, please click here.

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Iran’s recent drone strikes across the Gulf revealed a new vulnerability in the global digital economy. For the first time, hyperscale cloud infrastructure that powers banks, fintech platforms, and digital services became a direct target of regional conflict.

According to reporting by Reuters, drone strikes during the regional conflict damaged two AWS data center facilities in the United Arab Emirates, while a nearby strike affected another in Bahrain.

The attacks disrupted power systems, triggered fire suppression systems, and forced operators to isolate affected infrastructure. Several availability zones in the AWS Middle East region went offline while engineers restored operations.

The disruption spread quickly through the regional digital ecosystem.

Banks and fintech platforms reported delayed transactions and degraded services. Consumer applications also experienced outages. Companies including Careem, Emirates NBD, Hubpay, Alaan, Snowflake, and Policybazaar UAE reported disruptions during the incident as cloud workloads failed over to backup infrastructure.

The attacks did not completely destroy the facilities, but they exposed how quickly a localized strike can ripple through a cloud-dependent economy.

Analysts say incidents of this scale typically generate tens of millions of dollars in combined operational losses when infrastructure repair, service downtime, and mitigation costs are included. Cloud operators must repair damaged equipment and restore systems, while customers absorb the cost of interrupted digital services.

A Rapidly Expanding Digital Infrastructure Hub

The Gulf has rapidly become one of the fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets in the world.

Today the Gulf Cooperation Council hosts more than 70 data centers with roughly 557–738 megawatts of live IT capacity.

Governments and technology companies have already announced more than $30 billion in new data center investments, and analysts expect Gulf computing capacity to exceed 2 gigawatts by 2030.

The region also hosts an expanding hyperscale cloud ecosystem. The Gulf currently includes around ten cloud regions operated by Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Alibaba. These regions contain approximately 20-25 hyperscale facilities, also known as availability zones.

Saudi Arabia’s plans to build a 500-megawatt AI data center complex illustrate the scale of future expansion.

Infrastructure Concentrated in a Few Cities

Despite this growth, most computing capacity remains concentrated in a handful of metropolitan clusters.

These hubs contain roughly 80–85 percent of the Gulf’s computing capacity. This concentration means disruptions affecting only a few metropolitan areas could impact most of the region’s cloud infrastructure.

Analysts estimate that up to 70 percent of Gulf data center capacity lies within areas exposed to regional conflict escalation, particularly along the Persian Gulf coastline.

A Global Digital Corridor

The strategic importance of the region extends beyond local markets.

Around 90 percent of internet traffic between Europe and Asia travels through Middle Eastern routes, supported by roughly 20 submarine cable systems and 13 active Internet Exchange Points across the Gulf.

Oman plays a particularly important role in this connectivity network. The country hosts five submarine cable landing stations and connections to more than fourteen international cable systems, positioning it as a key gateway linking Asia, Europe, and Africa.

As hyperscale cloud infrastructure and submarine cable networks continue expanding, the Gulf increasingly serves as a digital bridge between continents.

Conflict Risk Meets Digital Infrastructure

Cloud data centers are no longer just technical facilities, they have become critical infrastructure and Iran’s strikes demonstrated how modern conflicts now intersect with infrastructure that powers the digital economy.

Cloud data centers now sit alongside ports, pipelines, and power plants as strategic assets. The more the Gulf becomes a hub for cloud infrastructure, AI computing, and global internet traffic, the more regional instability can trigger international digital disruptions.

The attacks on AWS facilities therefore represent more than a regional security incident. They highlight a structural risk: a growing share of global digital infrastructure now operates inside one of the world’s most geopolitically volatile regions.

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About the Author

Matvii Diadkov is a technology investor and operator with over a decade of experience building digital infrastructure platforms across logistics, e-commerce, real estate, blockchain technologies, and AI. His work includes ecosystem-level deployments and advisory roles tied to Vision-aligned digital systems in asset-heavy sectors across Oman and the wider region, where he also an adviser to Gulf businesses on digital transformation and infrastructure development.

The post Middle East Conflict Could Put $30 Billion of Digital Infrastructure at Risk appeared first on Data Center POST.

Looking back on a career in IT, I wanted to reflect on the 20-plus years I spent working in and running data centers for Fortune 500 companies in the New York and New Jersey area. This was an exciting time leading both large and small teams through some of the most complex transformations in IT infrastructure. That included designing a trading floor infrastructure for a major bank that was implemented globally, overseeing the merger of two banks with very different IT backbones, driving a mainframe-to-open-systems modernization effort, managing a data center consolidation, and establishing global IT standards.

Today, the challenges to the job are even more profound than transitioning from mainframes to the Internet, digital, mobile, and cloud world. With the advent of AI and explosive data growth from so many more devices and applications, IT infrastructure leaders must rewrite their stories to keep pace.

After moving to the vendor side several years ago and working as a Senior Solutions Architect at Komprise, I get to work with IT leaders daily.  I see just how much the role of the infrastructure or data center director has changed. Here’s how I see the shift with some tips for IT infrastructure directors and executives to stay relevant in their organizations while navigating these cataclysmic shifts in technology and work.

A Shift Toward Complexity and Constant Adaptation

The job of managing data centers and infrastructure has become more multi-faceted. It is no longer just about uptime and physical infrastructure. Directors are now expected to understand a rapidly expanding universe of technologies. There is increased separation of duties and new responsibilities that did not exist 10 years ago. Add in constant security threats, cloud optimization demands, and the exponential growth of unstructured data which requires ensuring that it is accessible where needed, but in a safe, secure manner and the scope of the role expands fast. And while all of this happens, IT budgets are being squeezed. The mandate remains the same: do more with less.

The Unstructured Data Growth Challenge

A resounding pressure point today is storage and the relentless growth of unstructured data. Recent estimates from IDC show that over 80 percent of enterprise data is unstructured, and that volume is expected to reach 291 zettabytes by 2027.

How do you back it all up in a timely way? How do you replicate it for disaster recovery? How do you ensure protection and accessibility? How do you efficiently prepare it for AI ingestion? It has really come down to understanding that all data is not the same, and you must treat data differently so that you can be efficient in your management of the data. Knowing what data you have, where it lives, and what value it offers is now a core competency for any infrastructure leader.

Hybrid IT and Simplification as a Strategy

Over the past few years, I have seen storage and infrastructure strategies shift significantly. The old model of managing everything the same way is obsolete. My approach has always been to keep environments as simple and basic as possible to reduce unnecessary complexity. In today’s typical hybrid IT landscape, that means using tools that are vendor-agnostic, that work across on-prem, outsourced, and cloud environments, and that give you a single dashboard to make informed decisions.

AI, Cost Cutting, and Evolving Job Roles

There is a lot of noise about AI taking over roles in IT. I do not believe that infrastructure managers, storage engineers, or data center professionals should fear for their jobs. However, relying on the status quo is not a strategy. The one thing that I have seen as a necessity for IT personnel is the ability to adjust and evolve as changes have appeared in the IT arena.

One thing is certain; AI is becoming ingrained across the business, and IT must be able to support it across every function. Nearly 90% of enterprises report regular AI use in at least one business function, compared with 78 percent in 2024, according to 2025 research from McKinsey. Learning how to work with AI, understanding its use cases and business applications, and knowing how to prepare the right data for it are key new skills. Equally important is staying current with cloud technologies and security best practices.

Balancing Cost, Security, and AI Readiness

IT leaders are being asked to walk a tightrope. On one side is the need to control cost and ensure security. On the other side is the drive to make data accessible and ready for AI. Yet these demands are interlinked. Cost control and security are critical to ensure that AI ambitions don’t fail or stall. Without security, AI becomes a liability rather than an advantage. The question facing today’s IT directors is along the lines of: “How do we make data more accessible without increasing risk or cost?” Success will come from integrating these requirements, not prioritizing one at the expense of the other.

Why It Is Still an Exciting Time to Work in IT Infrastructure

There is such a tremendous amount of growth in the amount of data being generated, and data has moved from a support function to a true driver of decisions, products, and strategy. Data is now central to every organization, from predicting outcomes, automating decisions, and personalizing experiences in real-time. Add to the fact that both AI and ML have accentuated the value of data, and there’s a lot of opportunity in this area for people who want to grow their careers and remain in IT infrastructure.

The ability to efficiently and strategically manage data and build the right environment for cost control along with flexibility and innovation is a huge need for the enterprise. In our recent industry survey (link) we found that AI data management is a top desired skillset, and organizations are prioritizing hiring individuals who can confidently lead the AI infrastructure discipline.

What’s Ahead for 2026 and Beyond

Looking ahead, I expect infrastructure directors to move beyond managing infrastructure to leading transformation. This means aligning technology with business strategy in areas such as AI integration, cybersecurity, cost control, and workforce development. AI is moving beyond the hype; it’s becoming increasingly relevant in production workflows. Security will continue to be a priority and will need to be addressed. Lastly, bridging the talent gap and reskilling existing workforces should be a focus.

Five Tips for Adapting as a Modern Infrastructure Leader

1. Treat data differently
   Stop managing all data the same way. Understand what is valuable, what is redundant, what is creating undue risks, and what needs to be accessible. Prioritize accordingly.
2. Focus on vendor-agnostic tools
   Choose solutions that work across vendors, technologies and architectures and reduce lock-in. This simplifies operations, reduces cost and delivers better agility.
3. Invest in learning AI concepts
   You do not need to be a data scientist. But you should understand how AI uses data, and how to prepare infrastructure to support it with proper governance.
4. Stay current with security developments
   Security threats evolve constantly. Keep up with best practices and build security into every aspect of data and infrastructure management. Partner with the CSO.
5. Use simplicity as a guiding principle
   Complexity creates risk and inefficiency. Whenever possible, simplify tools, processes, and architectures.

Final Thoughts

The infrastructure director’s role is not what it used to be, and that is a good thing. The scope has grown, the influence has deepened, and the strategic value of IT is clearer than ever. While the challenges are many, so are the opportunities. Those who can adapt, simplify, and lead through change will continue to be essential to their organizations.

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About the Author: 

Paul Romano is a Senior Solutions Architect at Komprise. He has 25 years’ experience at Fortune 100 companies, possessing significant expertise in setting IT direction and policies, data center build outs and migrations, IT architecture, server and endpoint security, penetration testing, establishing productions support standards and guidelines, managing large IT projects and budgets, and integrating new technologies/technology practices into existing environments.

The post The New Demands on Data Center and Storage Leaders appeared first on Data Center POST.

Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), through its operating subsidiary Duos Edge AI, Inc., has executed a definitive contract with Hydra Host, advancing the previously announced plan to deploy a high-density NVIDIA GPU cluster for a leading global technology company. The GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) contract is expected to generate approximately $176 million in revenue over a 36 month term, including an initial $18 million customer pre payment, with projected gross margins exceeding 80 percent and expected annual EBITDA of approximately $40 million.

The agreement establishes Duos Edge AI as an emerging provider of distributed AI infrastructure designed for large scale compute workloads. Fully funded through Duos Technologies Group’s recently completed $65 million public offering and existing hardware financing arrangements, the partnership enables deployment to commence immediately without reliance on additional equity financing.

“The initial deployment will be located at a strategic site and will consist of multiple high density modular Edge Data Centers (EDCs) which are specifically designed to support large scale AI workloads,” said Doug Recker, newly appointed CEO effective April 1st, 2026. “Manufacturing of the EDCs is currently underway, with critical power modules already ordered to support deployment timelines.”

The first phase of the project includes an initial 4.3 plus MW colocation commitment from a leading global technology company that will serve as the project’s anchor tenant. This deployment represents the largest Edge Data Center project in Company history, with additional colocation revenue expected as the site scales toward its full power capacity.

This contract provides strong commercial validation for Duos’ High Power EDC business line, purpose built for AI companies and high performance compute tenants that require premium rack space, dedicated high density power, and rapid deployment. As Duos advances its long term objective of 75MW of distributed capacity, the Company is actively evaluating additional high density deployment sites to meet accelerating demand from AI hyperscalers, NeoCloud operators, and other AI infrastructure customers.

To learn more about Duos Technologies Group, Inc., visit www.duostechnologies.com.

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Metro Connect USA 2026 brought the digital infrastructure community together in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Feb. 23 to 25, as executives, investors and network operators gathered to discuss the evolving connectivity landscape. Over three days, conversations across keynote sessions, panels and private meetings focused on how the industry is adapting to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, cloud services and bandwidth demand.

The 2026 event drew more than 3,700 decision-makers representing over 1,200 companies, reflecting the scale of collaboration and investment shaping the next phase of digital infrastructure development in the United States.

Artificial intelligence was a central theme throughout the conference. Industry leaders discussed how AI workloads are driving new requirements for data center capacity, fiber connectivity and power infrastructure. As AI adoption expands beyond hyperscale environments into enterprise applications and edge deployments, operators are facing increasing pressure to scale networks capable of supporting high-volume data movement and compute-intensive workloads.

Fiber infrastructure also remained a key topic. Discussions throughout the event highlighted continued investment in metro fiber expansion, long-haul backbone routes and fiber-to-the-home networks. As cloud platforms, streaming services and AI applications generate greater data traffic, fiber continues to serve as the underlying foundation supporting the digital economy.

Several speakers addressed how infrastructure and investment strategies are evolving alongside these shifts. Marc Ganzi, Chief Executive Offer at DigitalBridge discussed the continued influx of capital into digital infrastructure and the importance of disciplined investment as the sector scales. Steve Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Zayo Group highlighted the role of fiber expansion in supporting enterprise connectivity and hyperscale demand. Alex Hernandez, CEO of PowerBridge, participated in discussions focused on the growing power demands associated with AI infrastructure, including how utilities, data center developers and investors are working to expand power capacity and modernize energy delivery to support large-scale computing environments.

From the investment perspective, Santhosh Rao, Managing Director, Head of Digital Infrastructure at MUFG explored the evolving capital structures supporting infrastructure development, including structured financing and private credit solutions. Anton Moldan, Senior Managing Director at Macquarie Group shared insights into how institutional investors continue to evaluate digital infrastructure assets as a long-term growth opportunity within global infrastructure portfolios.

Beyond the formal sessions, Metro Connect remains known for its highly productive networking environment. Thousands of meetings took place across the event’s exhibit floor, private meeting rooms and curated networking gatherings, reinforcing the conference’s reputation as a place where partnerships are formed and transactions begin.

Outside the formal sessions, attendees spent much of the week engaged in meetings and informal discussions across the venue’s networking areas. Many participants noted that the event continues to serve as a gathering point for companies exploring partnerships, investment opportunities and infrastructure projects.

Looking ahead, the industry will reconvene next year as Metro Connect USA 2027 moves to a new venue. The event will take place February 8–10, 2027 at the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida.

The post Metro Connect USA 2026 Highlights the Future of U.S. Digital Infrastructure appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on Hivelocity.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving a new wave of innovation that demands more from infrastructure than ever before. As organizations train larger models, process massive datasets, and deploy AI, performance, scalability, and cost efficiency have become even more critical. In this high-performance landscape, bare metal servers offer a clear advantage over virtualized environments, delivering the raw power and control that AI workloads require.

Bare metal servers provide direct access to dedicated hardware (CPU cores, memory, storage) without the overhead of virtualization. This architecture eliminates the “noisy neighbor” effect that is common in cloud environments, ensuring consistent, predictable performance. For AI tasks such as model training and inferencing, where compute intensity and I/O throughput are key, that consistency can translate into measurable performance gains.

Cost Predictability

While there is a common industry misconception that bare metal is more expensive than cloud alternatives, this is often not the case. In reality, long-term AI operations, especially within predictable or stable workloads, often see significant savings with bare metal infrastructure. Because resources are dedicated, costs are fixed and transparent, cutting down on the unpredictable cloud egress fees and scaling premiums that typically come with consumption-based models.

This predictability of cost allows AI teams to plan budgets more effectively, particularly for ongoing training pipelines and continuous model tuning. Hivelocity’s bare metal solutions allow customers to scale resources strategically, allowing workloads to evolve without the billing complexities that can make cloud deployments difficult to manage.

To continue reading, please click here.

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Empire Fiber Internet, a leading fiber optic internet service provider serving communities across New York and Pennsylvania, is marking continued progress on the Light Up Livingston broadband initiative across Livingston County. Service is now live in parts of Lima, Mount Morris, Dansville, and Nunda, NY, with expansion targeting thousands more homes and businesses in Springwater, Conesus, Ossian, Sparta, West Sparta, and Wayland.

Construction of the Light Up Livingston network is actively progressing, with the project’s fiber backbone largely complete and 68 miles of aerial fiber installed so far. Extending service lines to individual homes is expected to take place in the summer and fall of 2026, as crews continue running additional lines and splicing lateral cables into the main fiber ring.​

“We are proud to celebrate this milestone made possible through a strong public-private partnership,” said Shannon Hillier, Livingston County Administrator. “By working collaboratively, we’ve combined resources and a shared vision to continue expanding high-speed internet access to all communities in Livingston County. This partnership reflects what’s possible through aligning the public and private sectors around a common goal.”​

Supported by New York State’s ConnectALL Municipal Infrastructure Program and USDA ReConnect grant program, this multi-million-dollar effort partners Empire Fiber Internet with Livingston County and Hunt EAS for reliable 100% fiber.

Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight highlighted the project’s role in closing the digital divide. “Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, New York is making historic investments to close the digital divide and ensure every community has access to reliable, high-speed internet. Projects like Light Up Livingston are expanding critical fiber infrastructure in rural communities, helping residents, businesses, and institutions stay connected and compete in today’s digital economy. Through strong partnerships with local governments and private providers, we are building a more connected and economically vibrant New York.”​

“We’re excited to see the Light Up Livingston vision becoming a reality for more residents every day,” said Kevin Dickens, CEO of Empire Fiber Internet. “Our team is hard at work extending our fiber network throughout Livingston County. These communities are the driving force behind our continued efforts to expand our network and deliver high-speed internet with its incredible, transformative power. We look forward to becoming part of the community and supporting residents and businesses as they connect, work, and grow.”​

Livingston County residents can check service availability by visiting www.shop.empireaccess.com and entering their address, and can also sign up to receive updates as construction continues.​

To learn more about Empire Fiber Internet, visit www.empireaccess.com.

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As artificial intelligence infrastructure continues to scale, the physical networks connecting large GPU clusters are becoming increasingly complex. Training environments for large language models and advanced machine learning workloads require massive bandwidth between compute nodes, driving a rapid increase in fiber connectivity inside modern data centers.

Telescent’s latest system addresses these operational challenges with a new high-density robotic cross connect system designed for DR4 and DR8 parallel optics interconnects used in large-scale AI training clusters. The system extends the company’s G5 robotic platform to support the extremely high fiber counts now common in AI cluster architectures.

AI Infrastructure Is Driving Massive Fiber Growth

AI workloads are reshaping the internal design of data center networks. As GPU clusters grow larger and more interconnected, operators are increasingly deploying parallel optics technologies such as DR4 transceivers to support the bandwidth required between compute nodes. While these architectures enable faster data movement across GPU fabrics, they also significantly increase the number of fiber connections that must be installed and managed.

In some environments, a single AI training cluster can include an exceptionally high number of fiber links. Managing those connections manually can slow deployment timelines and increase the risk of configuration errors or service interruptions.

Automation at the Physical Layer

Telescent’s robotic cross connect system is designed to automate physical layer management in these high-density environments. By enabling automated fiber path configuration and reconfiguration, the system allows operators to turn up new cluster resources more quickly while minimizing the manual patching work that traditionally accompanies large-scale network changes.

“The bandwidth requirements of AI infrastructure are rewriting the rules of data center fiber management. A single AI cluster can require hundreds of thousands of fiber connections, and the move to parallel optics architectures like DR4 multiplies that count significantly,” said Anthony Kewitsch, CEO and Founder of Telescent. “Our new high density robotic cross connect system gives operators a powerful automated solution to manage this complexity to ensure maximum GPU utilization and operational efficiency while future proofing the physical layer for the next wave of AI innovation.”

Supporting the Next Phase of AI Infrastructure

As hyperscale operators and AI infrastructure providers deploy increasingly dense compute environments, the operational demands of managing fiber connectivity are growing alongside them. Automation platforms that bring intelligence and remote control to the physical network layer are becoming an important tool for maintaining reliability and flexibility.

Telescent’s robotic automation platform enables software-controlled fiber connectivity across large-scale deployments, helping operators reduce manual intervention while allowing network paths to be reconfigured quickly as infrastructure requirements evolve.

Demonstration at OFC 2026

Telescent will showcase a live demonstration of the new system at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) 2026 in Los Angeles from March 17 to 19 at Booth #607. The demonstration will highlight how robotic automation can simplify the management of fiber-dense AI clusters and help operators address the growing connectivity demands of next-generation AI infrastructure.

To learn more about Telescent’s optical automation solutions, visit www.telescent.com.

The post Telescent Introduces High-Density Optical Circuit Switching for AI GPU Clusters appeared first on Data Center POST.

Data Center POST had the opportunity to connect with David Wang, Founder and Chairman of BRIGHTRAY, who is leading a new paradigm in data center delivery—speed without compromise, scale with sustainability. With over 25 years of industry experience, including senior leadership at Schneider Electric and HP managing mission-critical infrastructure, Wang founded BRIGHTRAY to address the explosive AI-driven demand for rapid, high-density infrastructure.

Traditional construction can no longer keep pace. That’s why at BRIGHTRAY our strategy on proprietary Prefabrication Data Center Solutions, enabling ultra-high-density deployment at unprecedented speed. This is proven by the company’s Malaysia milestones: MY-01 (20MW) delivered in 8 months, and MY-02 (50MW) completed in just 6 months, setting new benchmarks for speed and scalability.

Looking ahead, Wang is leading BRIGHTRAY’s global expansion from our strong APAC foundation into the U.S. and Middle East markets with the vision to establish BRIGHTRAY as “Your Gateway to Excellence in Integrated IDC Services”, building a resilient, sustainable digital backbone for the AI era.

The information below is summarized to provide our readers a deeper dive into who BRIGHTRAY is, what they do and the problems they are solving in the industry.

What does BRIGHTRAY do?  

BRIGHTRAY provides prefabricated data center solutions that are designed and built off-site for faster, more efficient deployment.

What problems does BRIGHTRAY solve in the market?

The company addresses the growing demand for speed and scalability in data center infrastructure. BRIGHTRAY helps clients compress deployment timelines, reduce execution risk, and bring infrastructure online faster, enabling quicker returns and greater adaptability across different environments. The company is capable of delivering a 50MW data center in as fast as 6 months, setting a new industry benchmark

What are BRIGHTRAY’s core products or services?

Prefabrication Data Center Solutions

Full Prefabrication DC（FPD：prefab whole data center from building structure to core systems

Interior Prefabrication DC（IPD：install core modules in the pre-built shell

Containerized Prefabrication DC（CPD：infrastructure in containers

What markets do you serve?

BRIGHTRAY is deeply rooted in the APAC market and is now expanding into the U.S. and Middle East markets.

What challenges does the global digital infrastructure industry face today?

• Speed vs. Quality: Traditional construction methods take 2-3 years per project, yet AI and cloud demand deployment in months—not years.
• Sustainability Pressure: Data centers are energy-intensive, and global net-zero targets require radical efficiency improvements.
• Scalability Constraints: Supply chain bottlenecks, skilled labor shortages, and site limitations hinder rapid expansion.

How is BRIGHTRAY adapting to these challenges?

• Prefabrication Innovation: Our proprietary solutions (FPD, IPD, CPD) shift construction from on-site to factory-controlled environments, slashing timelines by up to 70%.
• Speed Records: We’ve proven our model with MY-01 (20MW in 8 months) and MY-02 (50MW in 6 months) —landmark projects in Malaysia that set new industry speed benchmarks and demonstrate BRIGHTRAY’s leadership in powering Asia Pacific’s rapidly growing digital hubs.
• Global-Ready Design: Our solutions are engineered for “global adaptability,” enabling rapid deployment across diverse environments with consistent quality.

What are BRIGHTRAY’s key differentiators?

• Proven Speed: 6-month delivery for 50MW capacity—unprecedented in the industry.
• End-to-End Expertise: Our team brings 10 years across the full lifecycle—design, construction, operations.
• Sustainability by Design: Prefabrication reduces on-site waste, carbon footprint, and energy consumption.
• Three Flexible Solutions: FPD (full prefab), IPD (interior prefab), CPD (containerized)—tailored to client needs.
• Global Vision, Local Roots: Deep APAC expertise, now expanding into U.S. and Middle East markets.

What can we expect to see/hear from BRIGHTRAY in the future?  

• Global Market Expansion: Following our strong foundation in APAC, we are actively entering the U.S. and Middle East markets. Expect announcements on new partnerships, project deployments, and local operations in these key regions.
• Next-Generation Prefabrication Solutions: We are continuously evolving our proprietary FPD, IPD, and CPD solutions to support higher densities and greater energy efficiency—purpose-built for the AI era’s demanding workloads.
• New Project Milestones: Building on our Malaysia success (MY-01: 20MW/8 months; MY-02: 50MW/6 months), we will unveil additional record-breaking deployments that further compress timelines while scaling capacity.

What upcoming industry events will you be attending? 

BRIGHTRAY will be attending Nvidia GTC in San Jose.

Do you have any recent news you would like us to highlight?

BRIGHTRAY breaks record by completing data center in 8 months.

Where can our readers learn more about BRIGHTRAY?  

You can learn more about us on our official website, www.brightraydc.com, or on our LinkedIn.

How can our readers contact BRIGHTRAY? 

You can contact us at marketing@brightraydc.com.

# # #

About BRIGHTRAY

BRIGHTRAY is redefining data center delivery through its pioneering prefabrication solutions. As hyperscale demand surges and speed-to-deployment becomes a decisive competitive edge, BRIGHTRAY empowers its clients to bring high-standard, scalable infrastructure online in just months, dramatically compressing timelines, reducing execution risk, and unlocking faster returns. The BRIGHTRAY team, comprising professionals with over 10 years of data center experience and led by executives with over 20 years of industry leadership, has collectively delivered hundreds of data center projects. The team has built end-to-end capabilities across the full lifecycle—from design and construction to operations—and leverages this deep expertise to pioneer innovative prefabricated data center solutions: Full Prefabrication Data Center (FPD), Interior Prefabrication Data Center (IPD), and Containerized Prefabrication Data Center (CPD). Each solution is engineered around three core principles—speed, resilience, and global adaptability to enable seamless deployment across diverse environments.

About Data Center POST

Data Center POST provides a comprehensive view of the digital infrastructure landscape, delivering industry insights into the global data center ecosystem. As the industry’s only peer-contributed and online publication, we offer relevant information from developers, managers, providers, investors, and trendsetters worldwide.

Data Center POST works hard to get the most current information and thought-provoking ideas most apt to add relevance to the success of the data center industry. Stay informed, visit www.datacenterpost.com.

If you are interested in contributing to Data Center POST, contact us at contributions@datacenterpost.com or submit your article here.

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The post Company Profile: BRIGHTRAY’s Prefabrication Strategy for the AI Era appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on 1547realty.

AI and accelerated computing are reshaping expectations for data center infrastructure, and that shift is especially visible inside carrier hotel environments. Research from McKinsey notes that average rack power densities have more than doubled in two years, rising from 8 kilowatts to 17 kilowatts, with projections reaching 30 kilowatts per rack by 2027. Carrier hotels have long served as central meeting points for carriers, content providers, and enterprises, delivering dense interconnection in the heart of major metros. As fifteenfortyseven Critical Systems Realty (1547) has outlined in its connectivity hubs blog, these buildings keep communities and businesses online by concentrating networks and cloud on-ramps in a single, neutral location. For 1547, the focus is evolving these hubs to host modern AI workloads without compromising the connectivity advantages that make them essential.

A Shifting Infrastructure Reality

Carrier hotels were not originally built for AI. Historically, these facilities centered on abundant fiber, building-level power resilience, and space for many carriers to interconnect, with typical cabinet deployments remaining within just a few kilowatts. Dgtl Infra describes carrier hotels as highly interconnected urban facilities where carriers, cloud providers, and enterprises converge to exchange traffic and access key services. Modern GPU-based systems have pushed power density requirements into the tens of kilowatts, with infrastructure manufacturers such as Vertiv pointing to configurations exceeding 100 kilowatts per rack in advanced AI and high-performance computing environments. Instead of asking how much floor space is available, customers now want to know how much usable power can be delivered to each rack and how the facility will manage the resulting heat.

Why Increasing Power Density Creates Unique Challenges for Carrier Hotels

The same characteristics that define carrier hotels also introduce constraints that greenfield campuses do not face. Many occupy historic or mixed-use buildings in dense metro cores, where increasing utility capacity requires coordination with local utilities, municipalities, and building ownership. 1547’s Pittock Block in Portland illustrates this directly, with a century-old downtown landmark transformed into a modern carrier hotel and data center. Cooling presents a parallel challenge. Traditional air-cooled systems adequate for network gear and standard compute begin to struggle as rack densities climb, and McKinsey projects a potential supply deficit by 2030, driven by AI-ready capacity requirements that current infrastructure was not designed to meet.

To continue reading, please click here.

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At Metro Connect USA 2026, held February 22-25 in Fort Lauderdale, Marc Ganzi, Chief Executive Officer of DigitalBridge, delivered a keynote outlining how artificial intelligence is reshaping the digital infrastructure industry. In his address, “Digital Infra 3.0: Building the AI Industrial Revolution,” Ganzi described how the sector is evolving from a connectivity-focused market into a broader ecosystem that includes data centers, fiber networks, edge computing, and energy infrastructure.

Ganzi emphasized that AI has moved beyond hype and is beginning to generate measurable outcomes across industries. While much of the public discussion focuses on applications and large language models, he noted that the true monetization of AI will occur through enterprise and industrial use cases. Manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, and transportation are already integrating AI-driven automation, robotics, and predictive analytics to improve productivity and efficiency.

These developments rely on a layered infrastructure environment. Hyperscale facilities train AI models, while edge data centers support inferencing workloads closer to where data is used. Fiber networks provide the low-latency connectivity required to move massive volumes of data between locations, and wireless systems connect devices and sensors in the physical world. Beneath all of these components sits an increasingly critical factor: power.

Power availability was a central theme of Ganzi’s keynote. As AI workloads grow, electricity demand is rising faster than grid capacity can keep pace. The digital infrastructure industry is now leasing significantly more power than the grid can bring online each year, creating a widening gap between supply and demand. As a result, developers are increasingly operating as energy strategists, exploring diversified energy approaches that may include microgrids, battery storage, solar, wind, and natural gas generation.

The search for reliable power is also influencing where new infrastructure is built. While traditional hubs such as Northern Virginia remain central to the industry, developers are exploring additional markets where grid access and energy availability make large-scale AI deployments possible. In many cases, power availability has become the deciding factor in site selection.

Despite the focus on energy, Ganzi reminded the audience that connectivity remains essential to the AI economy. The ability to move enormous amounts of data across networks continues to depend on high-capacity fiber infrastructure and low-latency connectivity. Even as AI advances in software and hardware, the underlying network infrastructure remains fundamental.

Ganzi also described the evolution of AI infrastructure in phases. The industry has moved through the early stage of training large language models and is now entering a period where inferencing and edge deployments are expanding. The next stage will involve integrating AI directly into physical environments, where intelligent systems control machines, robotics, and automated processes across multiple industries.

As the sector expands, developers face growing challenges that include power constraints, permitting delays, supply chain pressures, water usage concerns, and increased scrutiny from investors. Ganzi stressed that success will depend on operational discipline, strong customer relationships, and the ability to deliver infrastructure projects reliably and on schedule.

Ultimately, he framed the current moment as the beginning of Digital Infra 3.0, a phase in which digital infrastructure converges with traditional infrastructure to support the AI economy. As AI adoption accelerates, the companies that successfully combine power, connectivity, and compute will play a defining role in building the foundation for the next era of global digital infrastructure.

The discussion around digital infrastructure, connectivity, and AI will continue at the next major Capacity event, International Telecoms Week (ITW) in Washington, D.C., May 18-21, 2026.

To learn more about upcoming events in the Capacity Media portfolio, visit www.capacitymedia.com/events.

The post Digital Infra 3.0: Power, Fiber, and Edge Will Drive the AI Industrial Revolution appeared first on Data Center POST.

The Middle East has long been described as a geographic bridge connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. Today, however, the region is becoming far more than a transit corridor. At Capacity Middle East 2026 and Datacloud Middle East 2026, held in Dubai, February 10-12, 2026, industry leaders explored how the region is rapidly evolving into a major destination for digital infrastructure investment. Telecom operators, data center developers, investors, and technology providers gathered to discuss the next phase of growth, which includes expanding connectivity routes, scaling AI-ready data centers, and strengthening the interconnection ecosystems needed to support the region’s digital economy.

The Middle East’s Connectivity Role Is Expanding

For many years, global connectivity discussions framed the Middle East primarily as a transit hub linking international markets. Speakers at Capacity Middle East emphasized that this narrative is evolving as regional internet traffic, enterprise workloads, and cloud adoption continue to grow across the Middle East. Infrastructure strategies are increasingly focused on supporting demand generated within the region itself rather than simply facilitating global transit. This shift is encouraging greater investment in fiber interconnection between data center clusters, cross-border terrestrial routes linking neighboring markets, and internet exchange points that allow regional traffic to remain within the region. As the Middle East’s digital economy expands, more data is being generated and consumed locally, reinforcing the need for robust regional infrastructure.

Hybrid Connectivity Routes Are Gaining Momentum

Another major topic throughout Capacity Middle East was the development of hybrid connectivity routes that combine subsea cables with terrestrial fiber infrastructure. While subsea cables remain the backbone of global connectivity, geopolitical risks and congestion along traditional Red Sea routes have highlighted the need for diversified network paths between Asia and Europe. Operators are increasingly exploring alternative corridors that incorporate land-based routes across regional markets. Industry leaders noted that deploying these hybrid routes is not simply an engineering challenge. Subsea and terrestrial networks operate under different economic models and regulatory frameworks, meaning coordination across multiple jurisdictions will be required to ensure these routes remain commercially viable. Despite those complexities, hybrid infrastructure is expected to play an important role in strengthening global connectivity resilience.

Data Center Development Is Accelerating Across the Region

At Datacloud Middle East, much of the conversation centered on the region’s rapidly expanding data center ecosystem. The Middle East offers several structural advantages that are attracting global infrastructure investment, including competitive energy pricing, available land for hyperscale campuses, strong sovereign investment funds, and coordinated national digital strategies. Market insights shared during the event indicated that vacancy rates across regional data center markets remain low while a significant portion of new capacity is already pre-leased before completion. Although most existing capacity remains concentrated in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, emerging markets such as Oman and Jordan are also advancing national initiatives designed to attract new digital infrastructure development and diversify the region’s data center footprint.

AI Is Reshaping Data Center Design

Artificial intelligence infrastructure requirements were a central theme at Datacloud Middle East. Traditional enterprise data centers typically operate at densities between 10 and 20 kilowatts per rack, but AI training clusters are already pushing beyond 100 kilowatts per rack, creating new challenges for power delivery, cooling strategies, and facility design. Because large-scale data center projects often require 18 to 24 months to build, developers must make long-term infrastructure decisions with limited visibility into future workload requirements. As a result, many operators are shifting toward flexible data center architectures capable of supporting both traditional enterprise workloads and high-density AI environments. Rather than designing facilities for a single predictable future state, the industry is increasingly prioritizing adaptability.

Industry Leaders Highlight the Region’s Momentum

Several speakers provided important insights into the trends shaping the Middle East’s digital infrastructure ecosystem. Johan Nilerud, Chief Strategy Officer at Khazna Data Centers, discussed how hyperscale demand and national digital initiatives are accelerating the development of large-scale data center campuses across the Gulf. Karim Benkirane, Chief Commercial Officer at du, highlighted the role telecommunications providers play in enabling cloud adoption and expanding regional connectivity capacity. Mehdi Paryavi, Chairman of the International Data Center Authority, explored how national initiatives such as Oman’s Digital Triangle are positioning emerging markets to compete for future AI and cloud infrastructure investment. Tahir Gok, MENA Lead at datacenterHawk, shared market insights showing continued demand for colocation capacity and strong growth across the region’s key digital hubs. Julian Barratt-Due, Managing Director at KKR, also discussed the growing interest from international investors seeking opportunities to participate in the Middle East’s digital infrastructure expansion alongside sovereign wealth funds.

Interconnection Will Define the Next Phase

A consistent theme across both conferences was the critical importance of interconnection. Data centers, cloud platforms, AI infrastructure, and enterprise networks all rely on strong connectivity ecosystems. Without robust interconnection between facilities, internet exchanges, and regional fiber routes, the full value of new infrastructure investments cannot be realized. Industry leaders emphasized that the next phase of digital infrastructure development in the Middle East will require dense fiber ecosystems, carrier-neutral exchanges, and strong regional connectivity frameworks that allow traffic to move efficiently across markets.

A New Era for Middle East Digital Infrastructure

Capacity Middle East and Datacloud Middle East demonstrated how quickly the region’s infrastructure landscape is evolving. Supported by AI demand, sovereign investment, and coordinated national strategies, the Middle East is rapidly expanding its connectivity and data center capacity. The region’s role in the global digital ecosystem is no longer limited to bridging continents. Instead, it is emerging as a strategic hub where infrastructure is being built to support both global traffic flows and a rapidly growing regional digital economy. As investment continues to accelerate, the conversations taking place in Dubai suggest that the Middle East will remain a central focus of digital infrastructure development in the years ahead.

The next Capacity event will be International Telecoms Week (ITW) in Washington, D.C., May 18-21, 2026.

To learn more about upcoming events in the Capacity Media portfolio, visit www.capacitymedia.com/events.

The post Capacity Middle East and Datacloud Middle East 2026 Highlight Rapid Growth in AI and Data Center Infrastructure appeared first on Data Center POST.

AI spending is accelerating at a pace most enterprise budgets simply can’t match. While IT leaders are under pressure to deliver transformative AI capabilities, their capital budgets aren’t growing at the same rate as these AI ambitions. This mismatch is forcing difficult trade-offs: delayed projects, stretching aging infrastructure beyond its intended lifecycle, and diverting funding from other critical initiatives.

But there is another option. Increasingly, IT leaders are turning to technology leasing as a savvy strategy to help expedite AI adoption without sacrificing operational agility or financial liquidity.

AI: Thinking Through the Dollars and Sense

From my vantage point, working closely with IT leaders across industries, I hear the lament. AI infrastructure is expensive and highly concentrated, particularly GPU-based compute power. A single GPU cluster designed to support large-scale AI workloads can cost hundreds of thousands to millions. For enterprise-wide deployments, total data center investments can easily reach $150 million and as much as $500 million.

For mid-tier enterprises, challenges are even greater, as many lack the balance-sheet strength to secure traditional credit for such large capital expenditures. Some resort to private equity or high-interest lenders. But even those who can afford to purchase the infrastructure outright are frustrated by the pace of AI innovation; and the risk of technology becoming quickly outdated or obsolete.

For determined IT leaders, the question is not whether to invest in AI infrastructure, but how to fund it without compromising the broader IT roadmap. This is where the financing strategy becomes just as important as the technology strategy.

IT leasing eases these pressures in several critical ways:

• Minimizing upfront costs. Traditional purchasing requires a massive outlay of capital, sometimes forcing companies to scale back or winnow down the scope of projects despite urgent demand. Leasing converts that one-time expense into predictable monthly payments. Instead of committing $50 million upfront, an organization can structure payments over time, freeing capital for additional initiatives and allowing multiple AI projects to move forward simultaneously.
• Enhancing flexibility and reducing financial risk. Purchased technology sits on the balance sheet and depreciates over a fixed period. If business needs shift or the organization upgrades early, it can trigger book losses. Leasing – when structured properly – can classify equipment as an operating expense, keeping it off the balance sheet and enabling companies to pivot more easily without the burden of carrying these assets.

Lease the Entire AI Stack, Not Just the Hardware

IT leaders recognize today’s AI deployments extend far beyond servers. Enterprises are leasing high-performance GPU servers optimized for AI model training and inference, along with high-speed networking equipment, enterprise storage systems, integrated “rack and roll” data center solutions, firewalls, and AI-specific software.

Maintenance contracts, security tools, and embedded applications can all be incorporated into a single lease structure.

This bundling delivers administrative and compliance benefits. Hardware typically carries a residual value often 10–15% below purchase cost, amortized across the lease term. Software licenses and other “soft costs” are included in payments and expire at term end, eliminating resale complications. Clients are responsible only for the hardware at lease completion, simplifying compliance and ensuring security updates, patches, and licenses remain current throughout the lifecycle.

Combat Obsolescence Before It Becomes a Liability

One of the most common concerns I hear from executives is technology obsolescence. And given the pace of AI, where innovation cycles are measured in months, not years, that concern is justified.

Leasing naturally enforces a rigor and discipline for countering obsolescence. A three- or four-year term creates a defined decision point: extend, buy out or upgrade the technology. This prevents the “set it and forget it” ownership mindset that often leads to aging, unsupported systems and expensive, reactive refresh cycles. In AI environments, delaying upgrades can multiply total costs through inefficiencies and lost competitive advantage.

Leasing is a Budget Multiplier

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, IT leaders must think differently about capital allocation. No one can predict what the AI landscape will look like in three years. Owning large volumes of rapidly depreciating infrastructure can limit strategic agility.

Leaders must also factor in the full lifecycle cost of AI infrastructure, which includes equipment refreshes, secure data wiping, asset disposition, and regulatory compliance. These factors carry operational and financial burdens when assets are owned outright.

The most important priority today is building a strategy that enables AI adoption with minimal upfront cost and maximum flexibility. Leasing can act as a budget multiplier. Instead of exhausting capital on one large acquisition, organizations can deploy that same funding across predictable monthly payments, preserving liquidity while expanding total project capacity. In doing so, IT leaders maintain momentum across their complete technology roadmap, ensuring AI transformation doesn’t come at the expense of operational resilience.

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About the Author

Frank Sommers brings 30 years of experience in the IT leasing industry, working closely with global enterprise organizations to help them modernize infrastructure while preserving capital and accelerating technology adoption. Known for consistently exceeding sales targets, Frank has also developed and led numerous successful vendor financing programs in partnership with major resellers, creating flexible acquisition models that support complex IT environments. His deep expertise in IT lifecycle management, financing strategies, and enterprise procurement has made him a trusted advisor across the industry. A former collegiate soccer player at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Frank brings the same competitiveness and teamwork to every client relationship.

The post Desperate to Fund AI? Leasing May Be the Smartest Move IT Leaders Make in 2026 appeared first on Data Center POST.

Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), a leading provider of adaptive, modular, and scalable Edge Data Center (EDC) solutions, has closed its underwritten public offering of 8,666,666 shares of common stock, generating approximately $65 million in gross proceeds. The offering included participation from several of the Company’s largest existing institutional shareholders alongside new institutional investors, closing on March 2, 2026.

“This financing represents a strong vote of confidence from both new and existing investors, as well as our new strategic partner Hydra Host, in Duos’ leadership, strategy and growth trajectory,” said Doug Recker, incoming Chief Executive Officer. “With this capital now secured, we can pursue our $200 million LOI, while accelerating the commercialization of our high-power EDC business model. We are expanding our Edge AI platform, advancing hyperscaler-aligned AI infrastructure initiatives, and positioning the Company to scale toward our 2026 objectives. Demand for distributed AI compute and GPU capacity continues to build, and we believe Duos is strategically positioned to convert that demand into sustained revenue growth and long-term shareholder value.”

The financing directly positions Duos to pursue its approximately $200 million NVIDIA GPU hosting letter of intent with Hydra Host, with net proceeds directed toward expanding and commercializing the Company’s high-power Edge Data Center business, as well as working capital and general corporate purposes. Titan Partners, a division of American Capital Partners, acted as sole bookrunner for the offering.

To learn more about Duos Technologies Group, Inc., visit www.duostechnologies.com.

The post Duos Technologies Closes $65 Million Public Offering to Fuel Edge AI Expansion appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on CMOtech.

Every year on International Women’s Day, we celebrate women who have broken barriers, led teams, built businesses, and shaped industries. That recognition is important. However,  it only tells part of the story. What truly advances organizations and sectors isn’t simply the presence of women at the table, but how leadership functions once we’re there.

Leadership is not defined by intent or visibility alone; it is measured by accountability, consistency, and what actually gets done. Though, what truly advances organizations and sectors isn’t simply the presence of women at the table, it’s how leadership functions once we are there and after the meeting ends.

In today’s technology-driven landscape, the pace of change is relentless and the margin for execution errors is thin. Vision may get you invited into the room, but follow-through is what keeps you there.

A critical and often misunderstood aspect of leadership is who we are actually serving. While organizations exist to serve clients and customers, leaders are not successful by focusing outward alone. Strong leaders understand that their first responsibility is to serve their teams by providing them with clarity, structure, and support so that together they can serve clients well.

When leaders fail to support their teams with clear expectations, consistent communication, and accountability, the impact eventually reaches clients. Internal breakdowns always surface externally. Leadership is not about absorbing all responsibility personally; it’s about enabling others to perform at their best.

Accountability needs to be visible every day, not just during performance reviews. Technology offers no shortage of tools to support this: shared calendars, automated reminders, project management platforms, and real-time dashboards. These tools are not optional accessories. In modern organizations, managing commitments with discipline is foundational to trust.

When commitments aren’t kept, it doesn’t just slow progress, it erodes confidence. Across industries, leaders who consistently miss deadlines or fail to communicate reveal a deeper issue: a gap between how work is described and how it is executed. In an era of transparency and digital workflows, “I forgot” is no longer a credible explanation. Leadership requires intentionality.

To continue reading, please click here.

The post Beyond Visibility: How True Leadership Really Works appeared first on Data Center POST.

By Anoop Thulaseedas, Associate Director, Solutions & Consulting at Bristlecone.

Industries across technology, semiconductors, infrastructure, energy, and advanced manufacturing are entering a sustained period of structural scarcity. Explosive growth in AI workloads, electrification, defense modernization, and industrial expansion has outpaced the scaling capacity of upstream ecosystems. In this environment, planning models built on forecast accuracy and assumed supply elasticity are no longer sufficient.

Scarcity is increasingly structural in critical industrial ecosystems.

Competitive advantage now depends on recognizing supply constraints as the governing reality of the enterprise. Capacity availability, not demand projection, determines portfolio sequencing, commercial commitments, capital allocation, and revenue timing.

This shift requires rethinking planning itself. Rather than predicting demand and expecting supply to respond, organizations must deliberately govern constrained capacity across interconnected production and deployment layers.

This paper introduces a scarcity-native operating model in which allocation governance, constraint visibility, and cross-layer orchestration replace forecast-centric optimization. While illustrated through AI infrastructure ecosystems, the underlying logic applies broadly across any multi-constraint industrial environment.

Scarcity as a Multi-Constraint Ecosystem

Modern scarcity rarely originates from a single component or isolated bottleneck. Instead, effective supply is governed by a chain of constraints distributed across interconnected production and deployment layers. These layers span geographies, capital cycles, and technical disciplines — from semiconductor fabs to packaging plants, specialty materials facilities, infrastructure sites, and commissioning environments.

Scarcity today is not confined to procurement pipelines or logistics networks. It emerges across an integrated physical system in which each layer possesses independent throughput ceilings, capital intensity, and scaling timelines. Expanding capacity at one node without synchronizing adjacent constraints redistributes bottlenecks downstream.

Scarcity must therefore be understood as a layered physical system rather than an isolated material shortage. While illustrated through semiconductor and data center ecosystems, the same multi-constraint logic applies to energy systems, transportation networks, and advanced manufacturing environments.

The Constraint Chain

Layer 1: Core Component Manufacturing

This layer resides within semiconductor fabrication facilities operated by memory and logic OEMs. It encompasses wafer capacity, yield variability, production allocation decisions, and process throughput limitations. In AI ecosystems, this includes HBM memory production and the output of accelerator silicon. Cleanroom capacity, tool availability, yield ramp maturity and throughput define the production ceiling.

Layer 2: Integration and Advanced Packaging

Following fabrication, components must be integrated into deployable modules within advanced packaging and OSAT facilities. High-precision stacking, bonding technologies, and thermal integration processes convert discrete dies into functional assemblies. Packaging throughput frequently becomes the next gating constraint, independent of wafer supply, due to equipment intensity, cycle-time sensitivity, and specialized labor limitations.

Layer 3: Substrates and Interposers

Specialized substrate and interposer manufacturing is conducted in a limited number of precision materials facilities. These components form the physical interconnect between the compute, memory, and power-delivery layers. Long qualification cycles, limited supplier redundancy, and fine-line manufacturing complexity create structural bottlenecks that often surface only after upstream output expands.

Layer 4: Infrastructure Readiness

Even when integrated hardware is available, deployment depends on the physical site’s readiness. Data center campuses and supporting electrical infrastructure determine installation viability. Rack-level power density, cooling architecture, transformers, switchgear, and grid interconnections govern whether hardware can be activated. These constraints frequently delay monetization despite upstream production success.

Layer 5: Qualification and Commissioning

Final validation, integration testing, and cluster bring-up occur within integration labs and on-site commissioning environments. Skilled engineering capacity, testing infrastructure, and activation throughput determine how quickly deployed assets become operational and revenue-generating.

Orchestrating the Full Constraint System

Optimizing any single layer in isolation produces limited value. Increasing wafer output without packaging capacity, accelerating packaging without infrastructure readiness, or expanding infrastructure without commissioning throughput results in stranded capital and delayed revenue realization.

Value creation depends on synchronized decision-making across the entire constraint chain — from fabrication to live deployment.

Scarcity, therefore, represents an enterprise operating model challenge spanning Planning, Sourcing, Engineering, Infrastructure, and Finance. It cannot be managed as a downstream supply execution issue alone.

Core Differentiators of Scarcity-Native Operating Models

Scarcity-native operating models are defined by structural shifts in how planning is conducted and governed.

1. Scarcity-Native Planning vs Traditional Planning

Illustrative Case: Automotive Semiconductor Reallocation

During the 2020–2022 semiconductor shortage, several automotive manufacturers confronted an immediate collapse of forecast-driven production logic. Rather than waiting for supply normalization, some shifted to allocation-driven governance.

Ford Motor Company provides a clear illustration. With chip supply constrained, the company prioritized high-margin vehicles and new product launches over lower-margin configurations. Production schedules were aligned to confirmed semiconductor availability rather than unconstrained dealer forecasts. Non-essential features were temporarily removed from certain models to maximize yield from scarce components.

The result was not merely damage control. By deliberately allocating constrained inputs toward strategic priorities, Ford expanded its order bank and preserved margin performance in the face of systemic supply tightness.

This behavior reflects entitlement-based baselining and value-optimized deployment sequencing — core characteristics of scarcity-native operating models.

• Entitlement-Based Planning Baselines: Planning begins with confirmed supplier allocations, contracted capacity reservations, infrastructure availability, and commissioning throughput—not unconstrained demand forecasts. These entitlements define deployable reality.
• Allocation-Driven Governance: Explicit allocation logic determines how constrained capacity is distributed across programs, regions, and customers. This replaces reactive firefighting with structured prioritization.
• Value-Optimized Deployment Sequencing: Deployment decisions prioritize revenue realization, utilization efficiency, strategic commitments, and long-term platform positioning — not simply maximizing unit output.
• Continuous Replanning Cadence: Planning operates dynamically. As supplier commitments shift, packaging schedules move, infrastructure readiness evolves, and commissioning throughput fluctuates, allocation decisions are updated in near real time.

In constrained ecosystems, planning becomes less about predicting demand and more about governing capacity.

2. Internal Competition and Portfolio Trade-Off Management

Scarcity does not only constrain external supply. It creates internal competition for limited deployment capacity.

In infrastructure-intensive environments, multiple initiatives frequently compete for the same constrained resources — fabrication allocations, packaging throughput, power envelopes, commissioning capacity, or site readiness. Without centralized governance, these programs generate fragmented demand signals that dilute negotiating leverage, misalign capital sequencing, and create suboptimal capacity utilization.

Scarcity-native organizations formalize portfolio-level prioritization tied explicitly to constrained supply envelopes. Executive trade-off forums align strategic objectives with physical deployment ceilings. Capital investments, infrastructure readiness and customer commitments are sequenced deliberately rather than pursued in parallel under optimistic capacity assumptions.

Allocation decisions are evaluated across explicit dimensions — financial impact, reliability, service performance and long-term strategic positioning — ensuring scarce capacity is deployed where it creates the highest enterprise value rather than the loudest internal demand.

3. Sourcing Embedded Into Planning Decisions

In constrained ecosystems, sourcing cannot function as a downstream procurement activity. It becomes a structural input into planning itself.

Leading organizations embed supplier allocation commitments, capacity reservation agreements and qualification timelines directly into deployment roadmaps. Confirmed supplier envelopes define planning baselines. Tier-2 and Tier-3 visibility informs risk exposure and contingency design. Power equipment lead times and infrastructure component availability are treated as governing constraints rather than execution afterthoughts.

This integration shifts sourcing from transactional purchasing toward capacity governance. Structured forward visibility and commitment mechanisms provide suppliers with the economic rationale to sustain constrained production capability, reducing volatility amplification across the ecosystem.

When sourcing is embedded into planning, deployable capacity becomes a coordinated outcome rather than a negotiated surprise.

4. Engineering as a Practical Scarcity Lever

While many upstream constraints remain outside direct operational control, engineering decisions materially influence how scarcity is absorbed.

Scarcity-native organizations emphasize platform standardization to reduce component fragmentation and dependency on narrow configurations. Design-for-availability principles favor widely supported architectures. Modular infrastructure design enables flexible sequencing of deployment. Qualification of alternate equipment SKUs and suppliers increases interchangeability where feasible.

These choices do not eliminate structural constraints. They expand optionality within them.

Engineering flexibility reduces concentration risk, improves interchangeability and increases the organization’s ability to realign deployment in response to shifting constraint patterns. In constrained environments, architecture decisions become strategic levers of capacity governance.

Short-Term vs. Medium-Term Scarcity Response

Scarcity response requires distinct behaviors across time horizons. Scarcity-native operating models deliberately differentiate between near-term stabilization of constrained capacity and medium-term expansion of structural optionality.

Short-Term (0–90 Days): Stabilize Utilization

• Formal allocation governance across competing programs
• Rapid replanning cycles incorporating real-time supplier signals
• Prioritization of high-value customers and contracted commitments
• Cross-functional executive decision forums

The objective is to absorb volatility without cascading disruption.

Medium-Term (3–12 Months): Expand Optionality

• Supplier diversification and alternate sourcing paths
• Capacity reservation agreements
• Accelerated qualification of alternate SKUs and components
• Platform standardization and modular infrastructure design
• Multi-constraint scenario modeling

The objective shifts from stabilization to structural resilience within constrained ecosystems.

Operationalizing Scarcity Through S&OP and S&OE

Traditional planning architectures separate Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) from Sales & Operations Execution (S&OE). Under structural scarcity, this separation breaks down.

Instead, S&OP and S&OE function as a closed-loop control system.

S&OP — Policy and Governance

S&OP defines allocation policy:

• Establishes entitlement baselines
• Sets guardrails based on confirmed supply envelopes
• Aligns portfolio priorities with financial and strategic tradeoffs
• Determines how scarcity is distributed across programs and regions

S&OP governs how limited capacity should be used.

S&OE — Dynamic Allocation

S&OE continuously adjusts allocation decisions:

• Reallocates constrained supply as conditions evolve
• Adjusts deployment cadence based on supplier commitments and readiness
• Protects utilization, service levels, and revenue realization

S&OE governs how limited capacity is used today.

 The Planning Logic Shift

Traditional logic:  Plan → Execute

Scarcity-native logic:  Policy → Allocate → Learn → Re-Decide

Execution feedback updates governance decisions. Governance decisions reshape execution priorities. Planning becomes a continuous decision cycle rather than a periodic balancing exercise.

This reframes planning from forecast management into enterprise-level capacity governance.

Conclusion: From Forecast Accuracy to Capacity Governance

Structural scarcity is redefining operational excellence. In constrained ecosystems, supply availability, shaped by interconnected physical bottlenecks, determines what can be delivered, when revenue is realized, and where competitive advantage accrues.

Organizations that succeed are not those that eliminate constraints, but those that govern them deliberately. Scarcity-native operating models shift the enterprise mindset from optimization to orchestration: allocating limited capacity where it creates the greatest strategic and financial impact.

Although illustrated through AI infrastructure, the same logic applies across power systems, advanced manufacturing components, transportation capacity, critical materials, and skilled labor markets. Constraint chains are becoming the defining architecture of modern industry.

The transition to scarcity-native operating models requires deliberate organizational design – from governance structures and measurement frameworks to replanning cadences and cross-functional decision rights. Organizations beginning this journey benefit from structured diagnostic assessments that map current constraint visibility, allocation governance maturity, and planning integration gaps against the target operating model.

In a constrained world, performance is no longer determined by how accurately demand is forecasted. It is determined by how effectively access to limited capacity is governed.

The post Scarcity-Native Planning: Operating Models for Constrained Ecosystems appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on Sabey Data Centers.

Following the successful full lease-up of our first data center at our Round Rock, TX campus, we wanted to share a brief construction update on SDC AustinBuilding B.
Construction is now well underway, with the primary concrete structure rising and vertical construction clearly progressing. The project is tracking to schedule, and site activity has ramped up significantly as we move through early structural milestones.

Building B Highlights:

• 54MW of total capacity, powered by an onsite substation
• Fully secured utility power for the entire facility
• Liquid cooling optimized design to support next-generation workloads
• 6 data halls, each offering 30,000 SF of space

You can view a short video of our construction progress here.

The post SDC Austin Building B Progress Q1 2026 appeared first on Data Center POST.

Rob Thornton, President & CEO, International District Energy Association (IDEA)

As the number of data centers grows, so do concerns about location, power access, and grid capacity, especially as AI and cloud computing drive surging electricity demand. Yet, data centers hold an unexpected solution: the waste heat they generate can be harnessed for community benefit.

Captured through district energy systems, this heat can be transformed into a valuable community resource that provides low-carbon warmth, improves grid stability, and redefines data centers as energy partners.

The Power Behind the Numbers

In 2023, data centers accounted for roughly 4.4% of total U.S. electricity use, a share projected to rise to as much as 12% by 2028. As utilities and developers scramble to expand clean generation and transmission, waste heat reuse offers an immediate, scalable way to reduce carbon intensity and ease grid stress.

How Heat Reuse Works

Servers generate heat, which can be captured and directed into district energy networks—insulated pipes transporting hot or chilled water—supplying heat to nearby buildings. This approach reduces the electricity needed for heating and cooling, improving overall efficiency and cutting emissions. In essence, the data center becomes part of a shared local energy ecosystem.

Some add combined heat and power (CHP) systems that produce electricity and heat simultaneously. CHP can increase efficiency for large or urban centers. Two deployment models stand out:

• Urban data centers (10–20 MW): Linked to city energy networks for efficient heat export.
• Large, remote sites (100 MW–1 GW): Feature CHP-based microgrids to serve multiple facilities.

Cities Leading the Way

Areas with dense data center development, such as Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley,” are exploring new district heating networks to link excess data center heat with community energy needs. Several pioneering projects in Canada illustrate the potential.

• Markham, Ontario: An Equinix data center retrofitted for heat recovery now warms local condos, a university, schools, and recreation facilities, creating community benefits.
• Toronto, Ontario: Enwave Energy connects Telehouse Canada’s data centers to its system using deep-lake water cooling and waste-heat recovery. This model reduces resource use, enhances cooling, and supports city climate goals.

From Grid Burden to Energy Partner

Heat reuse fundamentally shifts the purpose of data centers from major power consumers to vital contributors in a circular energy economy. By sharing surplus heat, these facilities support decarbonization, reliability, and resilience, and these solutions can be achieved faster than large-scale infrastructure investments.

How Operators Can Get Started

For operators and planners evaluating heat reuse, three clear steps can set the foundation for success:

• First, thoroughly assess the site-level heat export potential for both new builds and retrofits by analyzing available waste heat, proximity to potential heat users, and compatibility with local district energy infrastructure.
• Second, proactively engage municipalities and district energy providers early. This means initiating discussions to align on infrastructure design needs, available incentives, and long-term energy offtake agreements.
• Third, explore hybrid system options—such as pairing CHP, thermal storage, and advanced cooling technologies—for maximum operational flexibility, especially when grid interconnections may be delayed. Evaluate each technology’s potential to complement site-specific requirements and constraints.

As the data economy grows, speed, sustainability, and resilience must move forward together. Waste heat has the potential to be much more than a byproduct; it can become a resource that positions data centers as active agents in community well-being. In the era of AI, shared energy is truly smart energy.

# # #

About the Author:

Rob Thornton is President & CEO of the International District Energy Association (IDEA), a global nonprofit founded in 1909 that advocates for efficient, resilient, and sustainable district energy systems. Under his leadership, IDEA works with public and private partners worldwide to advance energy efficiency, decarbonization, and community-scale thermal networks.

The post From Server Heat to City Warmth: Data Centers’ Hidden Energy Advantage appeared first on Data Center POST.

Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), a leader in intelligent technologies and digital infrastructure, has signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) with Hydra Host to deploy a high-density NVIDIA GPU cluster for a leading global technology customer. The project supports a GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) partnership expected to generate approximately $176 million in revenue over a 36-month term, with gross margins exceeding 80% and projected annual EBITDA of more than $40 million.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Duos team on this opportunity,” said Aaron Ginn, CEO and Co-Founder of Hydra Host. “Their ability to deliver immediate access to power combined with an industry-leading deployment speed makes them a standout in the market. We see significant runway ahead as we look to expand our collaboration around colocation and Duos’ High-Power EDC model, which we believe is purpose-built to address a market where demand for AI compute capacity is fundamentally outpacing the speed at which traditional data center supply can be delivered.”

Complementing this milestone, Duos has appointed Doug Recker as Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2026, as the company accelerates its transformation into a focused Edge AI and digital infrastructure platform. Mr. Recker succeeds Chuck Ferry, who will continue to serve on the board of directors.

“This initial customer marks a pivotal step in accelerating the buildout of Duos Edge AI,” said Doug Recker, Chief Executive Officer. “We are now entering an exciting phase of execution, further reinforced by our recently announced LOI with Hydra Host, which underscores growing third-party demand for our distributed AI infrastructure model and validates the scalability of our platform. With secured power, rapid deployment capabilities, and expanding strategic partnerships, we believe Duos is well positioned to pursue high-value infrastructure opportunities. Our focus remains on disciplined expansion, capital-efficient growth, and delivering sustainable long-term value for our shareholders.”

Beyond GPUaaS revenue, the collaboration creates a pathway for approximately $25 million in incremental colocation revenue over the same term, validating Duos’ High-Power Edge Data Center (EDC) business line. The company has also signed a non-binding LOI for a ground lease in Iowa with access to up to 10MW of utility power, advancing its long-term goal of building up to 75MW of distributed capacity.

To learn more about Duos Technologies Group, Inc., visit www.duostechnologies.com.

The post Duos Technologies Signs ~$200M LOI and Appoints Doug Recker as CEO appeared first on Data Center POST.

CloudKleyer Frankfurt GmbH, a German IT service provider, has completed an international project involving the relocation of a client’s server infrastructure from data centers in Stockholm and London to Frankfurt am Main. The project was delivered as a fully managed turnkey solution under the coordination of the CloudKleyer team.

The data center-to-data center (DC-to-DC) migration required the safe transfer of active production equipment while preserving uninterrupted service availability. Acting as the sole responsible contractor, the company supervised all phases of the project — from initial preparation to the controlled commissioning of systems.

Project implementation stages

1. Structured planning and risk assessment
2. Professional shutdown of operating equipment
3. Secure transportation with full insurance coverage
4. Coordination of access and on-site logistics
5. Equipment placement (rack & stack), cabling and integration
6. Testing, verification of operability and controlled launch

Centralized coordination ensured synchronization of technical and logistical activities and reduced risks commonly associated with infrastructure relocation. The project was completed within the scheduled timeframe and complied with established data center standards and security requirements.

Company representatives observe a growing number of infrastructure modernization initiatives across Europe, as businesses relocate workloads to modern facilities to improve reliability, scalability and regulatory compliance.

CloudKleyer intends to further expand its infrastructure transformation services and continue supporting clients in both domestic and international migration projects.

Find more information here.

# # #

About CloudKleyer Frankfurt GmbH

CloudKleyer Frankfurt GmbH is an IT infrastructure provider with more than ten years of experience in the European data center market. The company offers colocation services, IT equipment rental, Remote Hands technical support, high-speed internet connectivity and direct connections to major cloud platforms.

The post CloudKleyer Frankfurt GmbH Announces Completion of Cross-Border IT Infrastructure Migration appeared first on Data Center POST.

By Bob Walicki, Ecolab Senior RD&E Program Leader

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence has moved from a software trend to a massive physical infrastructure challenge. While headlines often focus on the gigawatt-scale builds of hyperscalers, a significant portion of the AI boom is occurring in the “mid-market” -enterprise data centers, regional colocation hubs, and edge facilities. For these small-to-mid-scale (SMS) operators, the challenge of hosting high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) and AI accelerators exceeding thermal design powers of 1,000 watts is even more acute. Unlike hyperscalers with dedicated research teams, SMS players must find ways to adapt existing “brownfield” infrastructure to manage unprecedented heat without the luxury of starting from scratch.

The Mid-Market Liquid Cooling Transition

For decades, air cooling was the “flat and boring” standard for the computer centers found in banks, universities, and regional hosting firms. However, as rack densities climb from a traditional 5 kW toward 50 kW or even 100 kW, traditional air-conditioning methods are reaching a physical ceiling. In fact, 2026 is seeing a surge in retrofit activity as colocation sites struggle to let mixed densities coexist efficiently.

The primary hurdle for SMS operators is not just the cooling capacity itself, but the operational complexity and capital investment required for a liquid-cooled transition. Many operators are now moving toward integrated cooling platforms that bridge the building’s traditional chilled-water loop and the new high-density server racks.

The CDU as a Bridge for Existing Facilities

At the center of this shift is the Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU). For a mid-market operator, the CDU acts as a critical thermal “bridge.” A liquid-to-liquid CDU effectively isolates the facility’s existing water loop from the sensitive, high-value electronics via a secondary fluid network (SFN).

This isolation is particularly valuable for colocation and enterprise sites because it allows managers to precisely control the fluid chemistry, flow rate, and temperature for a specific “GPU-heavy” cluster without needing to overhaul the entire building’s plumbing. In-rack CDUs, in particular, offer targeted cooling with a smaller footprint and simplified deployment, making them ideal for the edge or regional high-density setups where floor space is at a premium.

Reliability Through Precision Chemistry

For smaller teams with fewer on-site cooling specialists, the coolant formulation itself becomes a strategic reliability factor. Standard water or traditional glycols often lack the long-term material compatibility required for modern direct-to-chip, where incompatible metals can trigger galvanic corrosion.

SMS operators are increasingly adopting next-generation coolants that match high-performance specifications while offering a lower carbon footprint. To manage these complex fluids, advanced telemetry – such as Ecolab’s 3D TRASAR™ technology – can now be built directly into smart CDUs. This “connected coolant” approach monitors pH, conductivity, and glycol concentration in real-time, allowing smaller teams to shift from reactive maintenance to proactive adjustments. By automating these checks, operators can extend maintenance intervals and significantly reduce the risk of early-life failures.

Stewardship as a Strategic Requirement

As data centers increasingly embed themselves in metro and suburban locations to support low-latency AI, they face rising community scrutiny regarding resource use. Small-to-mid-scale operators must now balance Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) with Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) to maintain their social license to operate.

A roadmap for this shift is visible in programs like Microsoft’s Community-First AI Infrastructure initiative, launched in early 2026. This framework commits to five core pillars, including concrete promises to minimize operational water consumption and replenish more water than facilities withdraw. For SMS players, following these stewardship best practices is not just about ethics; it is about securing permits and ensuring long-term operational resilience in power- and water-constrained regions.

Future-Proofing with “Cooling as a Service”

To overcome the “high CapEx” barrier of liquid cooling, many operators are turning to service-led models like Cooling as a Service (CaaS). These models convert complex thermal management stacks into predictable, auditable outcomes. By leveraging specialized vendors who handle commissioning, fluid analysis, and real-time monitoring, SMS data centers can scale their AI capabilities as quickly as the platforms change, without over-engineering their facilities for an uncertain future.

Ultimately, the transition to liquid cooling is not just for the giants of the industry. By integrating smart hardware, precision chemistry, and service-based models, small-to-mid-scale operators can bridge the density gap and reliably host the next generation of mission-critical AI workloads.

# # #

About the Author

Bob Walicki is an innovation leader with nearly 20 years of experience in research, development and engineering at Ecolab, a global leader in water and infection prevention solutions. He is currently responsible for driving innovation for Ecolab’s Global High Tech Data Centers segment. Most of Bob’s career has been oriented to solving customer problems related to industrial water treatment and utilization in many industries, including Mining and Mineral Processing through application of novel chemistries as well as intelligent automation and digital solutions. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame as well as a Master’s of Science and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago.

The post Bridging the Density Gap: The Shift Toward Integrated Cooling for the Mid-Market appeared first on Data Center POST.

PTC’26 in Honolulu brought together global leaders shaping the future of connectivity and digital infrastructure. Amid conversations about scale, capacity and next-generation networks, one theme stood out: the growing need to align infrastructure development with the communities it serves. Among the event’s luscious backdrop in Hawaii, Ilissa Miller, founder of iMiller Public Relations and editor-in-chief of Data Center POST, shared how that challenge is shaping her work, and a new industry initiative designed to address it head-on – the OIX Digital Infrastructure Framework Committee. Onsite at PTC ’26, Miller spoke with Isabelle Paradis of Hot Telecom to share how communities are navigating the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure and why a more structured planning approach is urgently needed.

As data centers and digital infrastructure projects proliferate, municipalities are increasingly encountering developments that are far more complex than traditional commercial or residential projects. Power requirements, water usage and long-term resource planning often raise questions and concerns at the community level, leading to hesitation or pushback when local leaders lack clear context or planning tools, slowing projects and complicating conversations with the community.

Drawing on 30  years of experience working at the intersection of infrastructure development and public engagement, Miller explained that the challenge is not opposition to technology itself, but uncertainty and change. For example, digital infrastructure developments, such as data centers, do not impact communities in the same way as housing, or even industrial developments. Yet, many municipalities are being asked to evaluate projects without a framework that reflects those differences. That gap, she noted, is where the industry must do more to educate, engage and partner with local decision-makers in order to be effective.

In response, in September 2025 Miller announced  the Digital Infrastructure Framework Committee through the OIX Association, a nonprofit organization serving the broader digital infrastructure ecosystem of network, cloud and data center operators. The volunteer-led committee is developing a practical planning framework intended specifically for municipalities and city planners. Rather than reacting to individual project proposals, the framework encourages communities to define a long-term vision for technology infrastructure in their communities, assessing what they have today, what will be required to support governments and businesses tomorrow, and how technology can enable sustainable growth over time.

Miller emphasized that the initiative is built around collaboration and real-world expertise. The committee meets every other week and regularly brings in industry specialists to inform the framework, ensuring it reflects how digital infrastructure is actually designed, financed and deployed. The goal is to deliver a draft to market by early summer, giving municipalities a tangible resource at a time when infrastructure decisions are becoming increasingly consequential.

At PTC’26, where global connectivity, data centers and digital ecosystems take center stage, Miller’s message resonated clearly: the future of digital infrastructure depends not only on innovation and investment, but on trust, transparency and alignment with the communities that host it. By helping municipalities better understand what they are evaluating, initiatives like the Digital Infrastructure Framework aim to move the industry toward a more collaborative, sustainable model for growth.

Save the dates for PTC’27 which will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii from January 17-20, 2027.

You can find the full interview here.

The post PTC’ 26: Ilissa Miller on Building a Community-Centered Digital Infrastructure Framework appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on Datalec LTD.

In a digital economy where uptime is non-negotiable, effective critical facilities management (FM) is becoming a primary lever for managing outage risk in high‑density, AI‑driven data centres. As infrastructure grows more complex and AI-driven compute places unprecedented strain on power and cooling systems, operators face escalating risks, making the cost of getting FM wrong higher than ever.

Evolving Pressures, Escalating Risks: The New Reality for Data Centre Operators

Despite steady year-on-year improvements in resilience, the industry continues to operate under significant pressure. According to Uptime Institute’s 2025 Outage Analysis, outages are occurring less frequently but are becoming more complex and more expensive when they do happen. Power-related failures remain the leading cause of impactful incidents, accounting for 54% of major outages, while 53% of operators reported at least one outage in the past three years, even as overall rates decline.

This challenge is amplified by the rapid rise of AI and the high-density compute requirements. AI workloads are now “straining existing infrastructure, especially around power and cooling,” creating new categories of risk that simply didn’t exist a decade ago. Staffing shortages across the sector add further pressure, reducing the availability of experienced professionals capable of managing mission-critical environments.

The financial implications are equally significant. More than 54% of organisations reported that their most recent outage exceeded $100,000 in cost, and 20% experienced losses above $1 million. For large enterprises, downtime can reach $540,000 to well over $1 million per hour, depending on sector and workload criticality.

This is the operating landscape that data centre leaders must now navigate, where even small procedural missteps can cascade into business-critical failures.

To continue reading, please click here.

The post Why Effective Facilities Management Is Essential for Today’s Data Centre Operators appeared first on Data Center POST.

By Kevin Dickens, CEO at Empire Fiber Internet

Reliable, high-speed Internet access is essential for economic growth, education, and online engagement in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. However, many communities in Northeastern Pennsylvania struggle with limited access to affordable broadband options and are often stuck with suboptimal methods such as traditional cable. These factors restrain business and residential users in their ability to fully utilize the modern Internet which has evolved into an essential utility and bedrock of digital business. This leaves rural areas behind their urban counterparts, creating the digital divide. The deployment of fiber optic network infrastructure in these communities has the potential to stimulate economic growth and development while improving bandwidth performance and Internet access for residential users, resulting in substantial benefits on a multitude of levels.

While other Internet technologies exist, fiber is the gold standard. As the CEO of Empire Fiber Internet, a local provider, I understand how these technologies work and affect communities like Bloomsburg. Fiber networks are inherently more reliable and secure than other methods because the cables are installed underground, making them less susceptible to physical damage and weather-induced events. Fiber optic technology is made from glass and transmits data through the network by sending pulses of light which travel at the speed of light, unmatched by any other Internet transport medium. This allows home users to more seamlessly connect to educational resources, streaming services, and online gaming without worrying about buffers and lag time, while businesses can improve their overall efficiency and drive higher levels of customer satisfaction.

Bloomsburg and the surrounding area is receiving major investments in technology through the development of data centers. These secure facilities store and manage Internet data. They support a stronger digital infrastructure by keeping data local, which enhances performance and reliability for nearby users. But how do we get the most out of it? Fiber connects buildings directly to the infrastructure backbone laid out by data centers, which reduces latency (improves Internet speeds), making it the technology of choice.

Fiber optic Internet improves the online experience for residents with significantly faster speeds and better reliability compared to traditional cable and copper facilities. With multi-device functionality, multiple users can simultaneously connect to home Wi-Fi without experiencing significant speed drops, whereas cable Internet users may suffer from lag and connectivity issues during high-usage time. Additionally, if a user needs higher speeds, such as to support work-from-home demands, fiber offers built-in scalability. Speed adjustments are easy to make as needs evolve, thanks to fiber’s ability to accommodate changes without requiring infrastructure upgrades.

While businesses already operating in Northeast Pennsylvania can become more efficient leveraging the superior performance capabilities of fiber, the presence of enhanced performance fiber infrastructure will also attract new businesses. Fiber allows companies to transfer data faster, conduct virtual meetings with quality video, and drive digital business. These are especially relevant for retail, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, and high-tech businesses, which are major drivers of today’s markets. Fiber can also lead to cost savings for businesses because it is future-proof and scalable, meaning as businesses grow, their Internet needs can be easily met. The impact of stronger and new business ventures can create jobs and increase tax revenue to these communities, stimulating economic growth.

Unlike cable Internet, fiber optic technology provides unparalleled scalability, reliability, security, and speeds. These qualities make fiber the ideal choice for businesses looking to gain a competitive advantage, and for residents who want faster and more consistent services. By embracing the benefits of fiber-based Internet with local providers who strive to bridge the digital divide, Northeastern Pennsylvania can better utilize the full power of the modern Internet.

The post The Impact of Fiber Internet on Northeast Pennsylvania appeared first on Data Center POST.

Datalec Precision Installations (DPI) has introduced its next-generation Data Centre Modularisation Solution, targeting operators that need to add capacity quickly without sacrificing control, reliability or lifecycle value.

Developed in response to surging demand for rapid capacity expansion, the new solution is designed to compress delivery timelines while maintaining full flexibility over configuration, performance and long-term scalability. Each system is precision engineered and manufactured by Datalec to ensure compatibility across structural, mechanical and electrical systems, helping to reduce onsite risk and integration challenges.

Datalec’s modular approach combines pre-engineered design principles with tailored manufacturing, enabling customers to adapt deployments to specific site conditions, operational requirements and growth strategies, including AI-intensive workloads. By shifting more work offsite into a controlled manufacturing environment, the solution minimises disruption associated with traditional construction-led projects and supports safer, more succinct installations and a faster speed to market.

“With organisations under pressure to scale quickly while managing capital expenditure and quality, this launch marks a pivotal shift in how data centre capacity can be delivered,” said John Lever, Director of Modular Solutions at Datalec. “Our modular solution brings these priorities together, giving customers the confidence and agility to develop at the pace their business requires.”

By emphasising reliability, engineering excellence and lifecycle value, Datalec’s new Modularisation Solution reinforces the company’s role in delivering robust, scalable infrastructure for today’s data-driven enterprises and AI-led digital transformation. More information on Datalec’s modular critical infrastructure solutions is available at www.datalecltd.com/critical-infrastructure/modular.

The post Datalec Unveils Next-Generation Modular Data Centre Solution to Accelerate Deployment appeared first on Data Center POST.

While power dominates the headlines in AI infrastructure, water is the silent arbiter of project viability. Investors and developers obsess over megawatts and grid capacity, but the reality is that cooling systems are tethered to a resource that is often less predictable and more politically charged. When water or wastewater capacity hits a ceiling, the fallout moves beyond engineering. It triggers permitting stalls, operational interruptions, and structural impairment of asset value.

Across the U.S., municipalities are no longer just providing service; they are becoming the ultimate ‘gatekeepers’ for high-volume users. For instance, Tucson now requires any new or expanding large water user expecting more than 7.4 million gallons per month to submit a conservation plan, undergo public review, and secure City Council approval before accessing Tucson Water.

Marana’s policy further states that Marana Water will not supply potable water to data centers for cooling and requires documentation of an alternate source. In Chandler, the city council unanimously rejected a proposal to rezone land for a 422,000-square-foot AI data center campus after public opposition emphasized water use, noise, and limited local benefit.

Strategically positioned between engineering and financial close, these water policies represent a major ‘blind spot’ for developers. Late-stage discovery of water limitations results in stranded capital and protracted entitlement delays. For modern investors, such water risk is now a primary underwriting variable that can dictate the viability of an entire transaction.

Why Power Is Only Half the Constraint

Power determines how much IT load can be energized, but cooling determines whether that load can operate within temperature limits on peak summer days. Cooling design also determines whether the site depends on local water, meaning the true constraint is rarely singular.

Data centers typically rely on one of two primary heat rejection approaches.

Evaporative systems, such as cooling towers, remove heat through water evaporation. This requires continuous makeup water to replace evaporative loss and generates blowdown to control mineral concentration. Blowdown becomes a wastewater stream, tying the facility to sewer capacity, discharge regulations, and pretreatment requirements.

Dry systems, such as air-cooled chillers and dry coolers, reduce direct on-site water consumption but increase electrical demand as outdoor temperatures rise, particularly during summer peaks. That shift moves the constraint toward grid capacity and power pricing during the very hours when electricity is most expensive and constrained. In both configurations, the constraint does not disappear but shifts, and each approach carries a distinct exposure profile that must be evaluated at the basin and grid level.

Inside the Water Footprint of AI Data Centers

Water exposure extends beyond the visible intake line and is often more complex than initial site reviews suggest.

In tower-based systems, make-up water demand rises as ambient temperatures increase because more heat must be rejected during peak hours. Blowdown volumes also rise, increasing steady wastewater discharge. In many jurisdictions, wastewater capacity determines viability before raw water supply does. Dissolved solids and treatment chemistry can trigger pretreatment mandates or exceed plant acceptance thresholds, creating operational bottlenecks that were not modeled at the outset.

The true water footprint of an asset is often obscured by ‘siloed’ diligence. While a facility might minimize on-site usage, it remains tethered to the water intensity of the local energy mix—a dependency that creates a hidden risk during peak demand. Because most models consider water, power, and wastewater as isolated variables, the full scale of the water-energy nexus is rarely consolidated. This leaves the project exposed to systemic failure points that only become visible late in the development cycle.

Why Water Risk Is Frequently Mispriced

The assumption that water is a stable, predictable utility is a significant blind spot in traditional underwriting. Standard diligence often stops at a letter of intent from a provider, ignoring regulatory contingencies—such as recycled water mandates or peak-heat restrictions—that govern high-intensity facilities. Failing to account for these municipal requirements leads to Capex volatility and structural delays, turning a simple utility expense into a primary threat to projected returns.

At a portfolio level, aggregated corporate reporting can obscure localized exposure. Average water intensity metrics do not reveal whether specific assets sit in basins facing physical scarcity or wastewater systems operating near capacity. Valuations that assume perpetual expansion can fail at the local level when additional allocation is unavailable, undermining long-term growth assumptions embedded in underwriting models.

From Environmental Constraint to Financial Exposure

Water risk tends to accumulate over time, moving through operations, regulation, and local politics until it becomes a real constraint on performance.

For operators, the first pressure points are often summer peaks, when supply limits tighten and water quality can swing at the exact moment cooling systems are working hardest. This dilemma then leads to emergency operational changes that pull maintenance forward, or take short outages. Ultimately, the revenue impact of those decisions is usually disproportionate to the duration of the disruption.

For developers, on the other hand, regulatory shifts can trigger midstream redesigns. A project engineered around potable water may be required to transition to reclaimed supply, adding infrastructure, storage, and treatment complexity after capital has already been committed.

Public opposition at the local level introduces political friction that stalls approvals and compounds reputational risk. Contentious infrastructure upgrades can derail project schedules and force unfavorable cost-sharing renegotiations. Collectively, these municipal factors feed into underwriting through increased delay risk, Capex volatility, and a diminished capacity for long-term expansion.

What Needs to Change in Infrastructure Planning

Water must be evaluated at the same stage as power during site screening and early design.

A simple confirmation of water availability is no longer sufficient. Basin-level allocation rules, drought contingency plans, wastewater capacity, discharge quality requirements, and embedded grid water intensity must be assessed before engineering assumptions are finalized.

Every investment memo and design review should include a transparent water balance that identifies source type, volume requirements, discharge pathways, and regulatory triggers under peak conditions. This allows engineering and underwriting teams to evaluate exposure in parallel rather than sequentially.

Water limits are now shaping asset values in a direct, measurable way. Resilience starts with expansion plans that can hold up under tighter supply caps, and with capital that funds backup sourcing options and protection against shifting rules. Financing and insurance need to move to basin-by-basin risk models, because water availability is already the deciding factor in approvals and the constraint that most reliably dictates whether an asset can keep performing over time.

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About the Author

Dr. Vian Sharif is the Founder and President of NatureAlpha, an AI-first fintech platform delivering science-based environmental risk insights across nearly $3 trillion in assets under management. With 20 years of experience at the intersection of finance, technology, and sustainability, she also serves as Head of Sustainability at FNZ Group and is a global advisor on nature-aligned investing. She holds a PhD in Environmental Behavior Change and was recognized with a 2025 Fin-Earth Award for Natural Capital and Biodiversity.

The post Why Water Risk Is the Missing Variable in AI Infrastructure Planning appeared first on Data Center POST.

On the waters off O‘ahu, a growing digital infrastructure tradition is quietly helping shape Hawai‘i’s next generation of IT professionals. fifteenfortyseven Critical Systems Realty (1547) recently hosted its 3rd Annual Aloha Charity Fishing Tournament: Fishing for Futures, raising $40,000 to support technology education and workforce development across the islands. Held on January 17, 2026, ahead of the Pacific Telecom Council’s annual PTC’26 conference, the event highlighted how industry collaboration can directly advance technology education and workforce development across the islands.

All proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Chamber of Commerce Hawai’i’s Information Technology Sector Partnership Program, helping to expand technology education, training, and career pathways for students and jobseekers statewide. The initiative aligns with 1547’s ongoing investment in Hawai‘i through its local operations, including DRFortress and AlohaNAP, the state’s premier multi-tenant, carrier-neutral data centers that serve as key hubs in the region’s digital infrastructure ecosystem.​

This year’s tournament also reinforced 1547’s commitment to supporting the local economy by partnering with Hawai‘i-based vendors for catering, hospitality, and charter services. Event catering was provided by Aloha Culinary Group and Fin’s Bagels, while Whipsaw Sportfishing, a local O‘ahu-based charter, coordinated the fleet and donated a charter experience to the tournament winner. Additional local charter operators participating in the tournament included Golden Dragon, Limitless, Magic, Mattie, Play N Hooky, Reel Life, Renegade, Ruckus (Five Star Sportfishing), Ruckus (Ruckus Sportfishing & Diving), and Sea Hawk.

The tournament’s fundraising success was driven by the generous support of sponsors across the digital infrastructure ecosystem, including Allianca Group, Connect Data Centers Powered by Oppidan, DLA Piper, DRFortress, Harrison Street, Hawaiian Telcom, Holt Construction Mission Critical, Oberle Law, Stillwell-Hansen, TPK Consulting, Trane, Competitive Telecoms Group, iMiller Public Relations and WTEC Their contributions will directly support technology education and workforce development programs that help prepare the next generation of IT professionals in Hawai‘i.

“The 1547 Aloha Charity Fishing Tournament is a powerful expression of the Spirit of Aloha, uniting our industry around a shared purpose of investing in Hawai‘i’s future,” said J. Todd Raymond, CEO & Managing Director at 1547. “When we come together as a community, we can do more than build networks; we can open doors for the next generation of technologists, innovators, and leaders across the islands.”​

Building on the momentum of the first three tournaments, which together have raised tens of thousands of dollars for Hawai‘i communities, the Aloha Charity Fishing Tournament has become a highly anticipated tradition ahead of the annual PTC conference, blending industry networking with philanthropy. Looking ahead, 1547 plans to expand the event’s reach and impact, with the 4th Annual Aloha Charity Fishing Tournament scheduled for Saturday, January 16, 2027, followed by an awards presentation and barbecue at Ala Moana Regional Park in Honolulu. Those interested in participating in the 2027 tournament or learning more about 1547, AlohaNAP, and the company’s community initiatives can visit 1547’s website for additional information.

To read the full release, please click here.

The post Aloha Fishing Tournament Casts a Wider Net for Hawai‘i’s Tech Future appeared first on Data Center POST.

A veteran forensic consultant’s patent-pending platform is exposing the hidden scheduling failures that silently destroy value across every major infrastructure project in America.

Every year, billions of dollars in construction value are destroyed; not by bad materials, not by incompetent workers, not even by unforeseen site conditions. They are destroyed by scheduling failures that nobody caught in time.

Ricardo Hinojos has spent more than two decades in the field, from underground utilities to hyperscale data centers serving some of the most demanding clients on the planet. In project after project, he kept seeing the same quiet crisis: schedules that looked clean on paper but were riddled with deficiencies invisible to the human eye — missing logic ties, resource conflicts, unrealistic durations, and cascading risks that would not surface until millions of dollars were already committed.

The industry accepted this as normal. Mr. Hinojos refused to.

The Data Tells a Brutal Story

In forensic work analyzing over $3.2 billion in construction projects, RHSS found that more than 70 percent of construction schedules contain critical deficiencies; errors significant enough to compromise project delivery, inflate costs, and expose owners to litigation. These are not minor formatting issues. These are logic gaps that cause downstream collapse. Duration assumptions that defy physics. Resource allocations that exist only on paper.

For hyperscale data center construction, where a single day of delay can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue, this is not merely an operational problem. It is a financial crisis in slow motion. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and the broader hyperscale ecosystem are racing to bring capacity online against unprecedented demand, with the margin for error shrinking every quarter.

Why Traditional Scheduling Tools Are Not Enough

Primavera P6. Microsoft Project. Oracle. These are powerful platforms. But they are instruments, not intelligence. They record what you tell them. They do not question whether what you told them is right. The gap between a schedule that looks compliant and one that is defensible has always required a seasoned expert to bridge. Until now, that meant expensive consultants, weeks of review, and subjective judgment calls that did not always hold up in court or in client meetings.

The construction industry has been waiting, perhaps without realizing it, for something categorically better.

A New Paradigm: Predictive Schedule Intelligence

The platform developed by Ricardo Hinojos Scheduling Solutions represents what the firm calls predictive schedule intelligence, an AI-powered validation system purpose-built for the complexity of hyperscale infrastructure projects. The patent-pending system achieves 91 percent accuracy in identifying schedule deficiencies before they become field problems. It does not merely flag errors; it predicts cascading impacts, generates litigation-grade documentation, and produces defensible forensic analysis at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods.

“This is not a bolt-on feature for an existing platform,” Mr. Hinojos said. “It is a ground-up rethinking of how construction intelligence should work. The industry has accepted preventable failure for too long.”

What RHSS Delivers

• Automated Schedule Validation: Quality checks against DCMA 14-Point analysis, contract specifications, and industry standards, completed in hours rather than weeks.
• AI-Driven Resource Loading: Manpower forecasting and crew productivity analysis tied to real-world RS Means labor data across all construction disciplines.
• Forensic Delay Analysis: Court-ready documentation and defensible delay analysis built to withstand litigation, arbitration, and regulatory scrutiny.
• Earned Value Integration: Real-time project health visibility through EVM metrics calibrated for hyperscale data center construction workflows.

The Bigger Picture

We are entering an era where the organizations that build the fastest, most reliably, and most cost-effectively will not simply be the ones with the best labor or the best materials. They will be the ones with the best intelligence systems. RHSS was built precisely for this moment, and for the clients, partners, and technology companies that recognize what is at stake in the race to deliver the infrastructure that powers the modern economy.

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About the Author

Ricardo Hinojos is a Certified Forensic Construction Consultant (CFCC) with 20+ years in construction project management and forensic consulting. He specializes in hyperscale data center construction scheduling, forensic delay analysis, and AI-powered project intelligence. He holds a patent-pending AI schedule validation system achieving 91% accuracy across $3.2 billion in analyzed projects and serves as an expert witness in construction delay litigation and arbitration.

The post The Construction Industry Has a $500 Billion Problem — And AI Is Finally Ready to Solve It appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on DāSTOR LLC.

Healthcare organizations are under increasing pressure to protect patient data while maintaining uninterrupted clinical operations. Ransomware activity continues to target hospitals, regulatory scrutiny is rising, and years of accumulated unstructured data have made security and compliance more difficult to manage. At the same time, many organizations are being asked to modernize infrastructure and prepare for cloud adoption with limited internal resources.

As a strategic technology partner to the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA), DāSTOR is working with member hospitals to bring unstructured data under control, strengthen security, and build a more reliable foundation for future AI and analytics. This collaboration focuses on giving hospitals a clearer view of their data so they can reduce risk, curb costs, and move forward with confidence.

Unstructured Data Risk in Healthcare

Much of a hospital’s most sensitive information lives in unstructured form, including clinical documents, imaging files, shared drives, and historical records. These files often remain accessible long after their primary use has ended, increasing storage costs and expanding the attack surface for ransomware and other threats.

When teams lack a complete inventory of this data, several challenges follow:

• Limited visibility into where sensitive patient data resides
• Greater exposure during ransomware and breach events
• Compliance risk from over-retention and inconsistent classification
• Rising storage and backup costs driven by low-value data

Many hospitals already invest in security tools, yet still lack visibility into the data those tools are meant to protect.

To continue reading, please click here.

The post Securing Healthcare Data Without Disrupting Care appeared first on Data Center POST.

As organizations modernize infrastructure, expand cloud environments, and support hybrid workforces, cybersecurity strategies are evolving alongside them. While investments in network security, data center resilience, and endpoint protection continue to grow, one constant remains: people are often the first line of defense against phishing and social engineering threats.

To address this reality, Aureon has introduced a new Security Awareness Training platform designed to help organizations reduce preventable incidents through continuous, behavior-focused education. The solution combines realistic phishing simulations, adaptive learning modules, and executive-level reporting to support measurable improvement over time.

Moving Beyond Check-the-Box Training

Traditional security awareness programs frequently rely on annual compliance-based training. While important, that approach alone may not reflect the pace at which threat actors adapt their tactics.

“Security awareness has to move beyond annual check-the-box training,” said Rhiannon Thompson, Product Manager, Managed Services at Aureon. “With Aureon Security Awareness Training, customers get continuous, adaptive education tied to real-world threats, along with executive-level reporting that helps organizations demonstrate measurable impact.”

Aureon’s platform incorporates multi-vector phishing simulations built around realistic, AI-driven scenarios. These simulations provide employees with practical exposure to common attack techniques, helping reinforce recognition and reporting behaviors in real-world contexts.

Adaptive microlearning modules further tailor content based on role, department, and individual risk exposure. By aligning education with job function and industry requirements, organizations can deliver more relevant training while strengthening overall security culture.

Executive Visibility into Human Risk

In addition to end-user training, the platform provides leadership teams with actionable insight. Human risk dashboards track reporting rates, risky behaviors, and improvement trends, offering a clearer view into how employee behavior evolves over time.

This level of visibility enables organizations to demonstrate progress internally and support audit readiness through policy acknowledgments, attestations, and structured reporting. For regulated industries in particular, tying awareness initiatives to measurable metrics can simplify governance efforts.

“Organizations don’t just need awareness, they need resilience,” said Joseph Johnson, VP Product Development at Aureon. “Our training helps make security an everyday habit, reducing preventable incidents and strengthening security culture across teams.”

Managed Support for Sustainable Impact

Beyond the technology itself, Aureon provides managed program support that includes implementation, campaign oversight, and ongoing reporting. This approach is designed to ensure that security awareness remains consistent and adaptive rather than a one-time initiative.

As digital infrastructure grows more complex, strengthening security posture requires attention not only to systems and networks but also to the individuals interacting with them daily. Continuous education, realistic simulations, and executive-level insight together form a framework that supports long-term organizational resilience.

For more information about Aureon’s Security Awareness Training solution, visit www.aureon.com/landing/what-is-security-awareness-training.

The post Aureon Strengthens Security Culture Through Continuous Awareness Training appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on Compu Dynamics.

The data center industry is entering a new phase — one defined less by generic flexibility and more by purpose-built design. For years, operators relied on large, adaptable white-space shells to support a wide range of workloads. That model served the cloud era well. But the rise of AI and high-density computing is reshaping infrastructure requirements, pushing the industry toward more integrated, modular, and performance-driven environments.

In a recent QTS podcast with David McCall, Steve Altizer, CEO of Compu Dynamics, shares his perspective on how prefabrication and modular white-space design are becoming foundational to building data centers ready for the AI era.

Why the White Space Is the New Frontier for Modular Innovation

As AI workloads push power density to new extremes, long-standing assumptions about how data centers are designed and built are being challenged. White space, once treated as a static and custom-built environment, is rapidly becoming the next frontier for modular innovation.

Why Density Changes Everything

AI workloads aren’t just hotter, they’re architecturally different. When you’re deploying GPU arrays that demand 100kW per rack today and 600kW tomorrow, you’re not simply installing servers; you’re building a machine. The sheer volume of structural steel, high-pressure liquid cooling pipes, power distribution, and network infrastructure required to support these dense deployments creates an entirely new opportunity: factory assembly.

Traditional cloud data centers were too light and airy to justify prefabrication – components would literally fall apart in transit. But modern AI infrastructure is robust, dense, and highly engineered. It’s perfect for modular construction. Think of it as building a motherboard rather than a room. Every element – power, cooling, network – works in precise coordination to support the chips doing the computational work.

To continue reading, please click here.

The post Rethinking Data Center Construction In The AI Era – The QTS Experience Podcast appeared first on Data Center POST.

PTC’26, held January 18–21 in Honolulu, Hawaii, brought together thousands of leaders across telecommunications, data centers, subsea networks, cloud, and investment to examine the rapidly evolving future of global connectivity. As one of the industry’s most influential annual gatherings, the conference served as a central forum for exploring how artificial intelligence is reshaping infrastructure strategy, workforce planning, and international collaboration.

This year’s agenda reflected a pivotal moment for the digital ecosystem. Discussions throughout the week made clear that AI is no longer an emerging trend, it is a core driver of network design, capital investment, and operational transformation. From subsea capacity planning to power availability and edge computing, nearly every conversation pointed to a shared reality: the infrastructure required to support AI is redefining how the industry plans, builds, and partners.

The AI Era: Technology Accelerated, People Essential

A recurring theme across the conference was the evolving relationship between AI tools and human expertise. One of the most talked-about sessions, “The Future of Recruiting: Powered by AI, Perfected by People,” captured this balance directly.

The panel featured a diverse group of industry leaders: Matt DeMartino, Partner for Competitive Telecoms Group; Phill Lawson-Shanks, Chief Innovation Officer of Aligned Data Centers; Jennifer Parkhill, Senior Director of Strategy Execution/Program Management for Verizon Partner Solutions; Aidan Walker, Founder and CEO, Infraviva; and was moderated by Rhys Morgan, Partner, Infranovus.

The panel highlighted how automation is improving résumé screening, candidate sourcing, and scheduling, while emphasizing that leadership evaluation, cultural alignment, and strategic hiring decisions still require human judgment. The takeaway resonated far beyond HR teams: AI can enhance speed and efficiency, but people remain central to innovation, leadership, and long-term success.

Industry Voices at the Center 

Throughout PTC’26, the interdependence of compute, power, and connectivity shaped nearly every major discussion. Sessions focused on subsea systems, global network capacity, and AI-ready infrastructure reinforced how deeply interconnected the ecosystem has become.

Many companies contributed to these discussions. Assured Communications’ CEO Joel Ogren and Chief Growth Officer Tim Parker shared their insights through poster sessions and lightning talks examining subsea cable capacity, edge computing, and AI inference at scale. Their perspectives highlighted both the opportunities and challenges of meeting surging AI-driven demand, particularly around resilience, regulatory complexity, and global system integration.

A major highlight of the week came with the annual PTC awards ceremony. A number of companies went home with pride of being recognized as a stand out contributor among many categories of submissions, including Duos Edge AI a subsidiary of Duos Technologies Group, which received the Outstanding Innovation Award at PTC’26, one of the conference’s most prestigious honors. The award celebrated Duos Edge AI’s pioneering modular Edge Data Center platform, designed to bring AI-ready compute closer to end users through secure, scalable, and rapidly deployable infrastructure. By localizing computing power at the edge in underserved communities, Duos Edge AI enables real-time AI processing and supports use cases like telemedicine, digital learning, and municipal services.

Beyond formal sessions and awards, hundreds of private meetings and informal discussions echoed the same message: success in the AI era will require closer coordination between carriers, data center operators, technology providers, and investors than ever before.

The Road Ahead

PTC’26 emphasized a powerful reality: the future of digital infrastructure will be built at the intersection of AI, energy, connectivity, and human expertise. While technology is advancing at unprecedented speed, long-term success will depend on collaboration, adaptability, and strategic clarity.

As organizations prepare for the next wave of AI-driven demand, the conversations and relationships formed at PTC continue to serve as a foundation for progress.

For 2027, we expect the event to be as well attended as this year. Strategic support is available, particularly for companies new to the sector or seeking to differentiate and gain greater exposure. Data Center POST’s parent company, iMiller Public Relations provides industry-leading public relations and community engagement programs along with event and trade show marketing packages that help propel and differentiate brands. Companies can learn more by visiting www.imillerpr.com.

In the meantime, SAVE THE DATE for PTC’27 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, HI: January 17-20, 2027.

To learn more about the Pacific Telecommunications Council and upcoming events, visit www.ptc.org.

The post Inside PTC’26: AI Infrastructure, Edge Innovation, and the Power of Human Expertise appeared first on Data Center POST.

The digital landscape is undergoing a fundamental shift as computing power moves closer to the source of data generation. Distributed edge data centers are becoming the backbone of smart cities and critical infrastructure, providing the low latency and high bandwidth required for real-time applications. However, this decentralized model introduces a significant operational challenge. Unlike traditional centralized facilities, these edge sites are often small, unmanned, and located in diverse environments prone to temperature fluctuations and humidity.

A recent milestone in this sector highlights how large-scale organizations are addressing these complexities. A major Mexican municipality recently implemented a Smart IoT data center solution to oversee its growing network of facilities. This initiative serves as a blueprint for how urban centers can maintain resilient infrastructure without the need for constant on-site personnel. By adopting a proactive management strategy, the municipality ensured that its critical data services remain operational regardless of environmental stressors.

The Imperative for Remote Oversight

Data centers of all sizes require perfect working order to support cloud services and business operations. When facilities are distributed across a wide geographic area, the risks associated with equipment failure or unauthorized access increase. Traditional manual inspections are no longer sufficient or cost-effective. An ideal solution must instead rely on a network of sensors that monitor environmental conditions and potential risks in real time.

Environmental factors such as excessive heat, moisture, or even dust can lead to catastrophic hardware failures. Without automated oversight, a minor leak or a failing cooling fan can escalate into a major outage before it is even detected. Consequently, the industry is moving toward a framework that prioritizes predictive maintenance and real-time visibility.

Core Components of a Modern Monitoring Framework

To achieve true resilience, an ideal remote management system should integrate several key technological pillars.

First, connectivity must be both reliable and simple to deploy. Utilizing Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) technology allows for long-range, low-power communication between sensors and the IoT gateway that delivers the data to and from the management platform. This approach eliminates the need for complex wiring or extensive new network infrastructure, significantly reducing setup costs and operational overhead.

Second, the sensor array must be comprehensive. Monitoring temperature and humidity is a baseline requirement, but true protection involves detecting a broader range of anomalies. Effective systems incorporate water leak detectors to protect liquid cooling systems and prevent moisture damage. They also utilize vibration sensors to identify mechanical failures in fans or servers before they cease functioning. Air quality and dust sensors are equally vital for maintaining the integrity of cooling systems over the long term.

Third, physical security must be integrated into the environmental monitoring platform. Automated access control sensors and motion detectors allow for the tracking of authorized personnel while immediately alerting operators to unauthorized entries.

From Data Collection to Actionable Intelligence

The value of an IoT solution lies in its ability to transform raw data into immediate action. A centralized dashboard should provide a clear overview of all conditions across the infrastructure. Rather than overwhelming users with information, alerts should be categorized by severity to allow for the quick resolution of the most critical issues.

Customizable thresholds enable users to define the exact parameters for their specific hardware requirements. When these limits are exceeded, the system should trigger instant notifications, allowing for an incident response that prevents impact on operations. Furthermore, maintaining detailed logs of all events is essential for troubleshooting and ensuring compliance with industry regulations.

Ultimately, the goal of modern data center management is to create a system that is as scalable as the data it processes. As organizations expand their footprint, they should be able to integrate additional sensors and facilities seamlessly into their existing monitoring architecture. This intelligent, proactive approach is the future of maintaining reliable and efficient digital infrastructure.

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About the Author

Bjørn Bæra is RAD’s IoT solution manager. In his networking and Industrial IoT career, he served as a product manager for Nvidia’s Spectrum silicon and prior to that as a solution engineer at Cisco, specializing in internet, switching, routing, and management.

The post The Evolution of Remote Data Center Management: Insights from a Modern Municipality appeared first on Data Center POST.

Data Center POST had the opportunity to connect with Clearfield’s Chief Commercial Officer, Anis Khemakhem, who is deeply passionate about technology, particularly in advancing fiber optics and telecommunications solutions. Throughout his career, he has consistently focused on leveraging cutting-edge technology to improve connectivity and enhance digital access across various sectors. His executive experience, including leadership positions at Clearfield, Amphenol and Carlisle Interconnect Technologies, demonstrates his executive engagement capabilities and capacity to handle complex, multi-stakeholder projects.

The information below is summarized to provide our readers a deeper dive into who Clearfield is, what they do and the problems they are solving in the industry.

What does Clearfield do?  

Clearfield designs and manufactures fiber connectivity solutions that simplify how operators build and scale modern networks. We focus on critical connection points across broadband, data center, edge, and wireless environments.

Since our inception, we’ve helped community broadband providers close the digital divide. Today, we also apply that modular, craft-friendly approach to wireless networks as well as data centers and distributed edge facilities that support AI-driven workloads. Our goal is to help operators deploy high-performance fiber faster, with less complexity and lower long-term operational costs.

What problems does Clearfield solve in the market?

Network operators are facing rising fiber density, limited space and labor constraints – not to mention pressure to scale quickly without disrupting live infrastructure. Clearfield addresses these challenges by simplifying fiber deployment and ongoing management.

Our solutions reduce installation time, streamline maintenance, and enable incremental growth. Whether supporting broadband expansion or high-density data center environments, we help customers reduce operational friction and future-proof their networks as data volumes and performance demands accelerate.

What are Clearfield’s core products or services?

Our core offerings include fiber management, protection, and delivery solutions, such as patch panels, cassettes, passive and edge cabinets, racks, enclosures, and fiber assemblies. A key recent introduction is our NOVA Platform, a modular, high-density fiber ecosystem designed for data centers, modern central offices, and edge environments.

The NOVA Platform features tool-less installation, front-of-rack access, and consistent documentation to simplify scaling. Across our portfolio, we focus on labor lite design and operational consistency to help customers deploy and manage fiber efficiently. NOVA is no exception.

What markets do you serve?

Clearfield serves community broadband providers, regional and national ISPs, incumbent telcos, utilities, municipalities, cooperatives, and enterprise networks. We also support hyperscale and colocation data centers, enterprise campuses, government and military networks, and distributed edge environments.

Increasingly, our solutions are used where fiber connects data centers to AI workloads and local compute resources at the edge. High-bandwidth, low-latency fiber is the only way society will be able to support data-intensive emerging technologies — from autonomous vehicles to precision agriculture. In rural broadband builds and high-density data halls alike, we serve operators that need scalable, reliable fiber infrastructure across diverse environments.

What challenges does the global digital infrastructure industry face today?

The industry is navigating explosive data growth driven by AI, cloud computing, and increasingly distributed architectures. Networks are extending beyond centralized data centers toward edge environments closer to users and applications. So, fiber counts, space, and power requirements are growing while skilled labor remains limited.

Operators must scale capacity quickly without sacrificing reliability or affordability. The challenge is not only bandwidth, but also density, manageability, and the ability to evolve without constant redesign.

How is Clearfield adapting to these challenges?

Clearfield is addressing these challenges by designing platforms that reduce complexity at every stage of deployment. The NOVA Platform exemplifies this approach, offering high-density, modular solutions with tool-less installation and all work performed at the front of the rack.

Across our portfolio, we emphasize consistent installation methods, clean documentation, and incremental scalability. This reduces training requirements, limits downtime, and allows operators to grow capacity without disrupting active networks — whether in a rural head end or a data center supporting AI workloads.

What are Clearfield’s key differentiators?

Our primary differentiator is how intentionally we design for the realities of the field. Clearfield solutions are modular, craft-friendly, and built to minimize labor and operational complexity.

Rather than isolated products, we deliver platform-based ecosystems that scale consistently across environments. This helps customers simplify inventory, standardize training, and deploy fiber with confidence. Our roots in community broadband give us a unique perspective that translates well to today’s data center and edge applications, where efficiency and scalability are critical.

What can we expect to see/hear from Clearfield in the future?  

You can expect Clearfield to continue expanding its footprint in data centers and edge computing while remaining committed to community broadband. We’ll introduce additional high-density, modular solutions that support AI-driven architectures and growing fiber demands. But our focus will remain on platforms that bridge environments.

We want to empower operators to apply a consistent, efficient approach as networks become more distributed. Ultimately, we aim to help customers scale faster, manage complexity more easily, and build infrastructure that supports both current and future workloads.

What upcoming industry events will you be attending? 

Clearfield launched the NOVA Platform at BICSI Winter 2026, where attendees were able to see live demonstrations of our high-density patch panels and cassettes and explore the broader ecosystem. That won’t be the last chance to see NOVA. We will participate in many major industry events this year, engaging with network operators, designers, and partners to share best practices and demonstrate how our solutions simplify fiber deployment.

Do you have any recent news you would like us to highlight?

Clearfield recently launched the NOVA Platform, a modular, high-density fiber ecosystem designed for data centers, enterprise networks, and edge environments. NOVA delivers tool-less installation, higher port density, and improved documentation. This innovative solution suite addresses the growing demands of AI-driven and 100G-plus networks. The platform includes patch panels, cassettes, cabinets, racks, and fiber assemblies that scale consistently across environments and are already generating strong interest across multiple markets.

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about Clearfield and capabilities?

Clearfield sits at the intersection of broadband and data center infrastructure at a time when AI is reshaping network design. Fiber is the common foundation, but operational simplicity is becoming just as important as speed. Our experience helping operators deploy efficient, scalable networks translates directly to today’s high-density and edge environments. Whether connecting communities or powering AI workloads closer to users, Clearfield delivers fiber infrastructure designed to scale cleanly and perform reliably.

Where can our readers learn more about Clearfield?  

Visit us online at www.seeclearfield.com and follow us on social media.

How can our readers contact Clearfield? 

The contact page on our website has multiple ways to get in touch with our team to learn more about the NOVA Platform and our other solutions.

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About Data Center POST

Data Center POST provides a comprehensive view of the digital infrastructure landscape, delivering industry insights into the global data center ecosystem. As the industry’s only peer-contributed and online publication, we offer relevant information from developers, managers, providers, investors, and trendsetters worldwide.

Data Center POST works hard to get the most current information and thought-provoking ideas most apt to add relevance to the success of the data center industry. Stay informed, visit www.datacenterpost.com.

If you are interested in contributing to Data Center POST, contact us at contributions@datacenterpost.com or submit your article here.

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The post Company Profile: Clearfield on Simplifying Fiber for AI-Ready Networks appeared first on Data Center POST.

Author: Paulo Campos, President, R&M USA Inc.

U.S. data centers are moving quickly from 100G/200G to 400G and 800G, while preparing for 1.6T. The main driver is AI: training and inference fabrics generate huge east-west (server-to-server) traffic, and any network bottleneck leaves expensive GPUs/accelerators underutilized. Cisco notes that modern AI workloads are “data-intensive” and generate “massive east-west traffic within data centers”.

This step-change is now viable because switching and NIC silicon can deliver much higher bandwidth density. Broadcom’s Tomahawk 5-class devices, for example, support up to 128×400GbE or 64×800GbE in a single chip, enabling higher-radix leaf/spine designs with fewer boxes and links. Optics are improving cost- and power-efficiency as well; a Cisco Live optics session highlights a representative comparison of one 400G module at ~12W versus four 100G modules at ~17W for the same aggregate bandwidth.

In parallel, multi-site “metro cloud” growth is increasing demand for faster data center interconnect (DCI). Coherent pluggables and emerging standards such as OIF 800ZR are making routed IP-over-DWDM architectures more practical for metro DCI.

What this changes

As data centers move to 400G/800G+, the physical layer shifts toward higher-density fiber with tighter loss budgets and stricter operational discipline:

• Parallel optics increase multi-fiber connectivity. Many short-reach 400G links (e.g., 400GBASE-DR4) use four parallel single-mode fiber pairs with 100G PAM4 per lane, which increases the use of MPO/MTP trunking, polarity management and breakout harnesses/cassettes over simple duplex patching. VSFF connectors (for example MMC/SN-MT) are currently becoming an alternative to familiar MTP/MPO connectivity.
• PAM4 is less forgiving. Operators typically specify lower-loss components, reduce mated pairs, and enforce more rigorous inspection and cleaning to protect link margin.
• Single-mode (OS2) expands inside the building. New builds often standardise on OS2 for spine/leaf and any run beyond in-row distances, while copper is largely confined to very short in-rack DACs (with AOCs/AECs or fiber used as lengths increase).
• DCI emphasizes single-mode duplex LC with coherent optics/DWDM, where fiber quality and minimal patching become critical.

The pre-con solution

Pre-connectorized (pre-terminated) cabling systems – including hardened variants – fit current U.S. requirements for speed, performance and repeatability:

• Faster deployment and predictable performance: factory-terminated “plug-and-play” trunks and panels reduce on-site termination, minimize installer variability, and help teams hit tight loss budgets at 400G/800G and beyond.
• Higher density and simpler change control: preterm MPO/MTP trunks with modular panels/cassettes pack more fibers into less space and make adds/changes faster with less disruption.
• Alignment to standards and repeatable architectures: ANSI/TIA-942 defines minimum requirements for data-center infrastructure, while ANSI/BICSI 002-2024 provides widely used best-practice guidance for data-center design and implementation – both encouraging well-defined pathways and modular, repeatable approaches.
• Resilience for harsh pathways: between buildings, in ducts, and at the edge (modular/outdoor DCs), hardened features such as robust pulling grips and improved protection against water/dirt can reduce rework during construction.

As U.S. data centers push into 400G/800G and prepare for 1.6T, pre-connectorized fiber helps deliver deployment speed, high-density layouts, and repeatable, testable performance – often with less reliance on scarce specialist termination labor.

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References

1. Cisco. “AI Networking in Data Centers.” Cisco website. (Accessed Jan 2026).
2. Cisco Live 2025. “400G, 800G, and Terabit Pluggable Optics” (BRKOPT-2699).
3. OIF. “Implementation Agreement for 800ZR Coherent Interfaces (OIF-800ZR-01.0).” Oct 8, 2024.
4. Semiconductor Today. “OIF releases 800ZR coherent interface implementation agreement.” Nov 1, 2024.
5. Ciena. “Standards Update: 200GbE, 400GbE and Beyond.” Jan 29, 2018.
6. TIA. “ANSI/TIA-942 Standard.” TIA Online.
7. BICSI. “ANSI/BICSI 002-2024: The Standard for Data Center Design.” BICSI website.

The post Pre-Connectorized Fiber for 400G/800G and Beyond: Implications for U.S. DCs appeared first on Data Center POST.

Direct-source cooling moves from niche to necessity as AI-era thermal limits collide with traditional airflow design

For decades, server and IT device cooling has followed a predictable playbook: move enough air, manage hot and cold aisles, and rely on increasingly sophisticated fans and facility-level HVAC to keep silicon within tolerance. That model is now approaching its limits.

The rise of AI workloads–characterized by dense computing, high-bandwidth memory, and sustained 24/7 utilization–is forcing a rethink of how heat is removed from systems. The industry is shifting from generalized airflow toward direct-source cooling: targeted, device-level technologies designed to eliminate localized hot spots before they degrade performance or reliability.

2026 will mark a notable turning point as OEM roadmaps, AI-driven performance expectations, and the physical limits of traditional fans converge, making new thermal approaches not optional but inevitable. It will be a pivotal year for system design evolution, with a growing number of manufacturers aligning their roadmaps around architectures that must deliver very high compute horsepower and memory bandwidth to support AI workloads.

As a result, advanced thermal management is emerging as a critical enabler of performance, reliability, and product differentiation across the IT sector.

The Problem: AI Is Breaking the Thermal Envelope

AI-era servers and PCs don’t just run hotter — they also run continuously. Unlike bursty enterprise workloads of the past, AI inference and training systems push CPUs, GPUs, and memory at sustained utilization levels. Heat becomes the dominant constraint.

In practice, this manifests as thermal orphans: localized pockets of trapped heat inside a server or rack that traditional airflow simply can’t reach. When those pockets overheat, the system responds the only way it can: by throttling performance. For data center operators, throttling is not a thermal issue; it’s a business problem. It means paid-for silicon isn’t delivering paid-for performance.

From Airflow to Direct-Source Cooling

The industry needs to supplement, not replace, existing cooling with direct-source airflow applied exactly where heat accumulates. Ventiva’s approach is to add compact ionic modules near problem components, creating just enough directed airflow to clear thermal orphans without redesigning the whole chassis.

Rather than spinning fans faster or redesigning entire racks, system designers can use solid-state, ionic cooling-based solutions that sit close to heat-generating components. These solutions each create airflow by charging ions and using their motion to pull air through a targeted zone.

The result is modest but decisive: 2 to 3 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of airflow, precisely applied, is enough to push trapped hot air out of isolated pockets and back into the main airflow path. That small amount of airflow can be the difference between sustained full performance and permanent throttling.

How Ionic Cooling Works and Why It Matters

With ionic cooling technology, a current is passed through an emitter that ionizes molecules in the surrounding air. Those ions are attracted to an oppositely charged collector, and their movement creates airflow — without any mechanical parts. This has implications enterprises should care about:

• No moving parts means fewer mechanical failures and longer operational life.
• Dust-aware sensing allows the system to detect contamination and trigger automated cleaning, addressing a common failure mode in fans.
• Consistent airflow over time prevents the gradual thermal degradation that shortens component lifespan.

Heat is the fastest way to degrade electronics. By keeping memory and processors within optimal temperature ranges, direct-source cooling doesn’t just improve performance — it improves system longevity.

Performance First, Not Just Efficiency

While energy efficiency is often part of cooling conversations, performance stability is also a key concern. In AI-heavy environments, the worst outcome isn’t higher power draw; it’s unpredictable performance. There are a lot of issues around how high you can go with performance and still deal with the thermal envelopes, such that your system is reliable and can run as required.

By ensuring thermal stability, direct-source cooling allows systems to run at full bore, 24/7, without throttling. For enterprises, this reframes the ROI discussion. Cooling is no longer a facilities cost to be minimized; it’s a performance enabler that protects compute investment.

Fans Are Hitting Their Design Limits

Traditional fan technology is mature, and that’s part of the problem. Incremental gains are getting harder, while fan-based designs face inherent trade-offs. These are: a) higher RPM increases noise and power consumption; b) mechanical wear limits reliability; and c) airflow paths struggle to reach dense, obstructed layouts.

Cold plate and liquid cooling approaches address some of these challenges but add complexity, cost, and service requirements. Ionic cooling occupies a different niche: solid-state, targeted, and augmentative.

Ionic cooling technology isn’t a replacement for fans or liquid cooling. Instead, it fills the gap where traditional methods fail. These include hot spots, edge deployments, and compact systems.

Edge and Client Devices: The Steeper Hill

Ironically, qualifying new cooling technology for laptops and edge devices is more difficult than for data centers. Constrained spaces, lack of physical supervision, dust exposure, and high reliability expectations make these environments unforgiving.

Because there is so much more room in a data center, there’s much more volume of air moving, so you’re not necessarily going to contaminate your data center with, say, pet dander, fibers, or other kinds of dust that you would with a mobile (PC) unit. Edge devices also fall into this category.

Ionic cooling technology has proven particularly well-suited here. Edge devices often run unattended, making mechanical reliability critical. Mini-data center form factors, such as compact AI systems, combine high compute density with limited airflow. Client devices are becoming AI-aware, running inference locally and behaving more like servers than PCs.

As edge systems increasingly process AI workloads on-device, rather than in centralized clouds, they inherit data center-class thermal challenges without data center-class infrastructure.

2026: Why the Timing Matters

2026 is when multiple forces will align. Here’s the evidence:

• OEM “AI-ready” commitments. Major OEMs are locking product release schedules around AI capability. That means more memory, more compute, and higher sustained power.
• Thermal headroom is gone. Existing designs have little margin left. Incremental fan improvements won’t close the gap.
• Market realism. Data center managers are no longer asking if AI workloads will strain cooling but how to prevent performance collapse when they do.

CTO Choices: What to Evaluate Now

For IT and infrastructure buyers planning 2026 and beyond, the cooling decision tree is changing. Key questions include the following:

• Where do performance bottlenecks originate — facility-level airflow or device-level hot spots?
• Is throttling already occurring under sustained AI load?
• Do edge or compact systems lack serviceability or supervision?
• Can targeted airflow extend system life without redesigning the entire rack?

Direct-source ionic cooling technologies such as Ventiva’s don’t replace existing infrastructure, but they can delay costly redesigns, protect performance, and extend hardware ROI.

The Bigger Shift

The transition from fan-centric cooling to hybrid, direct-source approaches mirrors earlier infrastructure shifts. Just as AI forced a rethink of networking, storage, and compute architectures, it is now reshaping thermal design. In that sense, cooling is no longer a background concern. It is becoming a first-class architectural decision–one that will increasingly differentiate AI-ready systems from those that merely claim to be.

2026 is now here, and enterprises that treat cooling as a strategic lever and not an afterthought will be better positioned to extract real value from their AI investments.

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About the Author

Dr. Brian Cumpston is Director of Application Engineering at Ventiva, where he leads the integration of advanced thermal management technologies into consumer electronics and computing platforms. With 25+ years of experience spanning multiple industries, he specializes in the commercialization of disruptive technologies that redefine performance and efficiency standards.

Brian brings a deep background in system architecture and a nuanced understanding of power and performance tradeoffs. He partners with OEMs to solve complex design challenges across acoustics, form factor, and energy efficiency, helping to unlock new possibilities for AI-enabled devices and next-generation platforms.

Brian holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The post Why 2026 Will Be a Turning Point for Server Cooling – and What Enterprises Should Know About It appeared first on Data Center POST.

Data Center POST had the opportunity to connect with Christina Mertens, who joined VIRTUS as VP Business Development EMEA in June of 2022. With her she brings over ten years’ experience in developing strategies for, and expanding, existing and new hyperscale infrastructure geographies across EMEA.

For the past decade, she has worked for Amazon in EMEA, where she expanded the existing AWS data centre regions in colocation and self-built facilities, as well as launched new region geographies as the country manager. In her previous role as Data Center Divestiture Principal at Amazon Web Services in EMEA, Christina worked alongside large strategic hyperscale cloud customers, advising them on their infrastructure assets and developing new models to facilitate and enhance their cloud migration journey. She is the Managing Director of Germany and Italy, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the business, including expansions, sales, data centre design, construction and operations.

The information below is summarized to provide our readers a deeper dive into who VIRTUS is, what they do and the problems they are solving in the industry.

What does VIRTUS do?  

VIRTUS is a European data centre provider and the largest in the UK. With over 10 years of experience, whichever sector a business operates in, VIRTUS tailors solutions to specific customer requirements.

What problems does VIRTUS solve in the market?

Businesses have unique workloads, project durations and changing requirements. VIRTUS’ solutions are designed to provide the digital infrastructure which supports these needs. Built to a vast scale, all of our data centres are designed modularly, allowing full flexibility for data centre customers’ requirements. Our facilities operate using 100% renewable energy and are amongst the most efficient facilities in the world.

What are VIRTUS’ core products or services?

We build AI-ready, built to suit and colocation data centres.

VIRTUS’ AI Ready Data Centres are designed to support the high performance computing (HPC) demands of artificial intelligence workloads. Our facilities provide the optimum environment for HPC deployments of any size, including the next generation of AI IT infrastructure and Machine Learning (ML) workloads, which require next generation cooling deployment and increased power per rack.

Our built to suit data centres are those designed specially for the customer. We know that organisations of all sizes need real flexibility, which is why we work with our customers to create bespoke solutions. For example, some require cutting-edge AI solutions which may require space to scale at speed, others might have a hyperscale cloud deployment that needs custom built data halls.

Our colocation service is designed to provide maximum flexibility with individual IT power and space requirements. The modular facilities are designed to scale up with customer growth. This combined with truly flexible commercials allows customers to grow in a cost efficient and unrestrictive environment.

What markets do you serve?

VIRTUS’ European data centres are strategically located in key markets; currently this is London (UK), Berlin (Germany) and Milan (Italy). As part of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres’ (STT GDC) global platform, we have a presence in ten geographies, more than 101 data centres and over 2GW of IT load across 20+ major business markets.

Our vast experience comes from working with many industry sectors – from financial institutions which require ultra-low latency, to thriving tech start ups which rely on contiguous space to grow, and providing entire buildings or campuses for the world’s largest hyperscalers.

What challenges does the global digital infrastructure industry face today?

Many current European data centres simply cannot meet the short- and long-term demands for critical digital infrastructure, often due to a shortage of infrastructure that can support high HPC workloads. It is a fundamental challenge to find land with access to renewable power to build new facilities, quickly and at scale.

For years, development revolved around a handful of key metropolitan hubs. Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris (collectively known as the FLAP locations) carried much of the continent’s cloud, enterprise and interconnection load, due to their proximity to financial services, global carriers and concentrated digital ecosystems.

Undoubtedly, whilst those hubs continue to grow, their conditions have changed. Power supply is being delayed due to parts of the electricity distribution network not being capable of transporting it, suitable land parcels are becoming scarcer and therefore more expensive to secure, and planning regulations are increasing, lengthening timelines to approvals, if they are granted at all.

Meanwhile, demand for computing power is surging in ways that surpass forecasts made even two years ago. AI training and inference, HPC, analytics and modernised public services all require significant and sustained energy and cooling capacity.

McKinsey suggests that global demand for data centre capacity could more than triple by 2030. It is clear that Europe needs more digital infrastructure, but it needs that infrastructure in places with the headroom and regulatory clarity to support long term expansion. And this is partly why what is sometimes known as the second-tier locations are becoming increasingly more critical to expanding Europe’s digital architecture.

Over the next five years, this is not a marginal shift. Analysts expect Europe’s installed data centre capacity to more than double, from roughly 24 GW in 2025 to around 55 GW by 2030, with secondary markets growing fastest. And, while recent CBRE analysis indicates that in 2025, around 57% of new capacity will still be delivered in the core FLAP-D markets, the remaining 43% will come from secondary locations such as Milan, Madrid and Berlin, many of which are now on track to exceed 100 MW of installed capacity in their own right. This is the context in which tier two locations are moving from “nice to have” to essential if Europe is to keep pace with global demand.

How is VIRTUS adapting to these challenges?

Our strategy is to build new facilities at scale, located close to, but not necessarily in major European metropolitan cities, and supplied with renewable energy.

We are currently building a €3bn 300MW data centre campus development at Wustermark, west of Berlin. Wustermark offers what many central locations cannot – land large enough for a multi-building campus, access to sustainable electricity, proximity to rail and motorway networks, and alignment with Germany’s policy focus on digital capacity. The site is also positioned to benefit from Germany’s wider energy and grid modernisation programmes, including access to renewable energy to power the campus as it is adjacent to Germany’s largest on-shore windfarms capable via a substation and direct coupling, of fulfilling the energy requirements of the facility.

This move towards larger campuses is a calculated strategy that acknowledges the non-linear cost relationship inherent in these types of operations; larger megascale campuses capable of 200-500MWs can often afford providers – and therefore customers – greater efficiencies.

We are also constructing another facility in Italy. Located in Cornaredo, within the Milan West data centre cluster the site will provide ample capacity to support hyperscalers, enterprises and service providers as digital infrastructure demands in Europe continue to grow.

What are VIRTUS’s key differentiators?

What sets VIRTUS apart from our competitors can be found in many aspects of the design, build and operations of our facilities. However, the quality of operations – the Operational Excellence – is where we truly excel. The way we have implemented design innovations makes a difference to the service we provide in terms of efficiency and resilience. It’s how we design, build, test, maintain, change and operate our facilities that differentiates us – ensuring robust and reliable availability is delivered.

What can we expect to see/hear from VIRTUS in the future?  

It’s an exciting time for VIRTUS Europe, but to meet customer demand we’re still increasing our presence as the leader in the UK market, opening two new London data centres in 2026 (LONDON12 and LONDON14) and in the near future a large four data centre campus at Saunderton, whilst continuing our European expansion.

What upcoming industry events will you be attending? 

The VIRTUS team is attending the following events: Platform UK where Adam Eaton will be speaking on a keynote panel, Energy Storage Summit where Helen Kinsman will be speaking on a panel, Compute Summit where Ramzi Charif will be speaking on a panel, and finally Datacloud Energy where Helen Kinsman will be speaking on another panel.

Do you have any recent news you would like us to highlight?

Earlier in 2026 we announced VIRTUS’ new CEO, Adam Eaton. Under his leadership, we will continue to expand our portfolio of high-efficiency, sustainable data centres, building on more than a decade of rapid growth across the UK and Europe. VIRTUS remains committed to its vision to deliver world-class, energy-efficient infrastructure that supports the growth of the digital economy.

Where can our readers learn more about VIRTUS?  

You can learn more about us on our website, www.virtusdatacentres.com.

How can our readers contact VIRTUS? 

You can contact us through the form on our website, www.virtusdatacentres.com/contact-us.

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About Data Center POST

Data Center POST provides a comprehensive view of the digital infrastructure landscape, delivering industry insights into the global data center ecosystem. As the industry’s only peer-contributed and online publication, we offer relevant information from developers, managers, providers, investors, and trendsetters worldwide.

Data Center POST works hard to get the most current information and thought-provoking ideas most apt to add relevance to the success of the data center industry. Stay informed, visit www.datacenterpost.com.

If you are interested in contributing to Data Center POST, contact us at contributions@datacenterpost.com or submit your article here.

Want more digital infrastructure news? Stay in the know and subscribe to Data Center POST today!

The post Company Profile: VIRTUS on Redefining Data Centre Growth in Europe appeared first on Data Center POST.

The global data center liquid cooling market was valued at USD 4.8 billion in 2025 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 18.2% to reach USD 27.1 billion by 2035, according to a recent report by Global Market Insights Inc.

Rising energy costs, coupled with stringent sustainability requirements, are accelerating the adoption of liquid cooling technologies across data centers. Liquid cooling systems offer significantly lower Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) ratios ranging from 1.05 to 1.15 compared to 1.4-1.8 for traditional air-cooled facilities, which directly lowers electricity consumption and reduces carbon emissions. Regulatory mandates, including the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, Germany’s Energy Efficiency Act targeting PUE 1.3 by 2027, and California’s energy efficiency standards, are pushing operators toward advanced cooling solutions.

Furthermore, the ability of liquid cooling systems to recover waste heat for district heating or industrial processes transforms data centers into contributors to circular energy economies, supporting corporate net-zero initiatives and enhancing operational sustainability. North America continues to lead the data center liquid cooling market, driven by a dense concentration of hyperscale cloud operators, semiconductor manufacturers, and systems integrators deploying high-density AI and HPC infrastructure.

The solution segment held a 71% share in 2025 and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 15% from 2026 to 2035. Direct-to-chip cooling is the fastest-growing technology, employing cold plates and micro-channel coolers attached directly to processors, GPUs, and memory to remove 60-80% of heat before it enters the air. These systems circulate coolants such as water with inhibitors or glycol mixtures across chip surfaces, achieving thermal resistances as low as 0.01-0.05°C/W.

The single-phase liquid cooling systems segment reached USD 3.1 billion in 2025. These systems maintain coolant in liquid form throughout the cycle, transferring heat via conduction and convection without phase change. Coolants circulate through cold plates, immersion tanks, or heat exchangers at 18-50°C, depending on design, while facility chillers, dry coolers, or towers remove heat from the loop.

U.S. data center liquid cooling market captured USD 1.29 billion in 2025. Federal initiatives, including AI and HPC programs, semiconductor funding under the CHIPS Act, and defense modernization projects incorporating AI, are key drivers of liquid cooling adoption in public sector data centers.

Leading companies in the data center liquid cooling market include Alfa Laval, Asetek, Boyd, CoolIT Systems, Green Revolution Cooling, LiquidStack, Rittal, Schneider Electric (Motivair), Stulz, and Vertiv. Key strategies adopted by companies in the market focus on technological innovation, such as developing high-efficiency immersion and direct-to-chip cooling solutions for next-generation processors and GPUs. Firms are forming strategic partnerships with hyperscale cloud providers, semiconductor manufacturers, and HPC integrators to expand deployment. Investments in R&D for energy-efficient, modular, and scalable systems strengthen product differentiation. Companies are also emphasizing geographic expansion into emerging markets, supporting sustainability initiatives, and integrating IoT-enabled monitoring tools to optimize performance, enhance reliability, and maintain long-term client relationships.

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Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), a leader in intelligent technologies and digital infrastructure, has announced that it achieved its stated revenue guidance for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025. The company recorded revenue of $28 million, an estimated 288% increase over the prior year and almost double its previous best year. Duos also expects to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of FY25 which would be the second consecutive quarter this was accomplished.

Building on strong momentum throughout 2025, Duos has expanded its offerings to include Data Center Infrastructure Solutions, enhancing its core data center vertical while supporting the accelerating deployment cadence of Duos Edge AI’s patented modular Edge Data Centers. Duos has rolled out 12 of the EDCs to leased site locations across Texas with an additional two EDCs shipping in the coming week and the final one planned for the Illinois location will be deployed as soon as weather permits.

“I am very pleased that we were able to deliver on our commitment of at least $28 million revenue for 2025 and that we expect to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter,” said Doug Recker, President of Duos and Founder of Duos Edge AI. “We continue to roll out our EDCs, now with the patented clean room and can also acknowledge that we are engaged in multiple discussions with industry leaders regarding planned expansion of our EDCs for use in AI applications. I will provide further updates as they are available and in any case, no later than our earnings call in late March.”

Complementing this growth, Duos recently launched its Infrastructure Solutions Group, a dedicated subdivision within Duos Edge AI. In its initial quarter of operation, the Infrastructure Solutions Group signed approximately $7 million in contracts during Q4, demonstrating early traction and validating the strategic value of this expansion.

Final results remain subject to audit. The company expects to report comprehensive fourth quarter and full year 2025 results at the end of March.

To learn more about Duos Technologies Group, Inc., visit www.duostech.com.

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Empire Fiber Internet, a leading fiber optic internet service provider serving communities across New York and Pennsylvania, has been named the presenting sponsor for the 2026 Finger Lakes Film Festival in downtown Geneva, NY. The festival is hosted at the historic Smith Center for the Arts and continues to gain momentum as a regional hub for independent film.

Empire Fiber Internet has served the Geneva area since 2023 and is The Smith’s internet provider. The company has also supported local arts programming, including classic productions like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, while its 100% fiber service now reaches thousands of residents and businesses across the Finger Lakes.

“The Finger Lakes Film Festival is a rapidly growing event, both in scope and in profile,” said Tim Banach, Deputy Director of the Rochester/Finger Lakes Film Commission and Festival Organizer. “The hundreds of submissions we received for our 2026 festival represent over a third of the total submissions the festival has received since its inception in 2022. We are thrilled to welcome Empire Fiber Internet, a company whose strong reputation and growth mirror our own, as the presenting sponsor of the 2026 Finger Lakes Film Festival. We look forward to working with Empire in the years to come, as our festival continues to expand as a premier cultural event in New York’s world-renowned Finger Lakes region”.​

The 2026 festival will be held on February 28 in downtown Geneva, with short films from around the world screening throughout the day and evening. Programming begins at 10:30 AM at The Dove Block Project on Exchange Street, then moves to The Smith Center for the Arts on Seneca Street for nighttime screenings.

“We’re very excited to support the Finger Lakes Film Festival,” said Kevin Dickens, Empire Fiber Internet CEO. “Our mission is all about connecting communities, not just online, but to the experiences they love, including arts and film. We are proud of our relationship with the Smith Center for the Arts, and look forward to growing this partnership and supporting the festival’s continued success”.

To learn more about Empire Fiber Internet, visit www.empireaccess.com.

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Data Center POST had the opportunity to connect with Jean-François Berche, the Chief Technology Officer at GreenScale, who is guiding the company’s technological vision towards infrastructure that is scalable, efficient, and above all, sustainable. He focuses on developing data centres capable of supporting the complex needs of AI-driven workloads, while ensuring GreenScale leads in technology integration within the energy ecosystem.

Jean-François previously held senior roles at Microsoft and AWS, where he was instrumental in expanding the cloud infrastructure to meet the growing demands of AI. His extensive work in site selection, colocation, and cloud region expansion at Microsoft and AWS positions him to drive GreenScale’s technological capabilities to the pinnacle of what is possible.

His passion for sustainability in technology is well-aligned with GreenScale’s mission. Outside of work, Jean-François remains committed to exploring how technology can positively impact society through sustainable and innovative practices. The interview information below has been summarized to provide readers with clarity into who GreenScale is, what they do and the problems they are solving in the industry.

What does GreenScale do?  

GreenScale is a sustainable data centre platform redefining the future of sustainable digital infrastructure across Europe’s expanding data centre markets.

What problems does GreenScale solve in the market?

As demand for high-performance AI and cloud workloads accelerates, power availability, grid constraints, and environmental impact have become critical bottlenecks. At GreenScale, we are developing a sustainable data centre platform that positively contributes to the grid, local communities, and the wider energy ecosystem. We provide access to long-term power scalability, combined with deep local relationships with grid utilities and local communities, to enable customers to grow compute capacity quickly, efficiently, and responsibly.

What are GreenScale’s core products or services?

Digital infrastructure

What markets do you serve?

We’re developing data centres in Europe, with plans for international expansion.

What challenges does the global digital infrastructure industry face today?

The global digital infrastructure industry faces the challenge of scaling AI and cloud capacity amid constrained power availability, grid limitations, and growing environmental concerns.

How is GreenScale adapting to these challenges?

Sustainability at GreenScale starts with site selection. By focusing on new power-rich regions such as Norway, where hydropower is abundant, and Derry/Londonderry, where strong wind resources support renewable energy generation, we secure clean, scalable energy from the outset. Working closely with local utilities allows us to contribute positively to the grid while accelerating speed to deployment and enabling responsible, long-term growth for digital infrastructure.

What are GreenScale’s key differentiators?

GreenScale’s key differentiators lie in our ability to deliver at speed while maintaining a strong sustainability focus. We prioritise rapid deployment through strategic partnerships, including our recently announced collaboration with Vertiv, and by building in new power-rich markets that support long-term scalability. Our platform is underpinned by a deep commitment to ESG and led by a team with over 100 years of combined industry experience, enabling us to execute reliably in a rapidly evolving market.

What upcoming industry events will you be attending? 

PTC, NVIDIA GTC, DCAC, Data Centre Expo, Data Centre World London, Datacloud Global Congress and many more!

Do you have any recent news you would like us to highlight?

Vertiv and GreenScale Announce Strategic Collaboration to Deploy AI-Ready Data Centre Platforms across Europe.

Where can our readers learn more about GreenScale?  

Readers can learn more on our company website, www.greenscaledc.com.

How can our readers contact GreenScale? 

You can contact us through our website, www.greenscaledc.com/contact.

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About Data Center POST

Data Center POST provides a comprehensive view of the digital infrastructure landscape, delivering industry insights into the global data center ecosystem. As the industry’s only peer-contributed and online publication, we offer relevant information from developers, managers, providers, investors, and trendsetters worldwide.

Data Center POST works hard to get the most current information and thought-provoking ideas most apt to add relevance to the success of the data center industry. Stay informed, visit www.datacenterpost.com.

If you are interested in contributing to Data Center POST, contact us at contributions@datacenterpost.com or submit your article here.

Want more digital infrastructure news? Stay in the know and subscribe to Data Center POST today!

The post Company Profile: GreenScale on Building Sustainable, Power-Rich Digital Infrastructure appeared first on Data Center POST.

TA Realty and its data center development arm, TA Digital Group, have completed the sale of two hyperscale data center buildings totaling 745,000 square feet and 165MW of IT load capacity in Leesburg, Virginia. The facilities mark its first two completed and fully leased buildings within a planned five-building, 450MW hyperscale campus designed for a single hyperscale cloud tenant.

“This sale is a significant milestone for TA Realty and TADG,” commented Allison O’Rourke, Partner at TA Realty. “It reflects our strategy of developing build-to-suit facilities for hyperscale customers in Tier 1 U.S. markets and monetizing assets upon stabilization. Northern Virginia is the premier global data center market, and the completion and sale of these initial buildings demonstrates the strength of our development and execution capabilities.”

Located in the heart of Loudoun County’s “Data Center Alley,” this sale reflects TA Realty’s execution of a build-to-suit hyperscale campus in Northern Virginia, the world’s largest data center market. The Leesburg campus has been purpose-built to meet the increasing demand from hyperscale cloud operators for scalable power and connectivity in a Tier 1 market.

In addition to its core development work, TA Realty’s ability to deliver a project of this scale reflects deep coordination with local utilities and regional infrastructure partners. “Being able to assemble the land to support a development of this scale, which also included partnering with some of the local utilities to add additional infrastructure that will not only support this project but provide for growth in the surrounding area, is also part of our strategy in these Tier 1 markets,” said Tim Shaheen, Partner at TA Realty and Chief Development Officer at TADG. “The scale of this campus enabled the delivery of two independent substations to support grid power, providing a level of redundancy and capacity that is increasingly difficult to achieve in core markets.”

TA Realty has established a scaled data center platform that includes more than 12 projects owned or controlled across its investment vehicles, representing nearly 3GW of power capacity. Based in Ashburn, Virginia, the center of global interconnectivity, TA Digital Group oversees development and construction activity across the platform. Alongside its Northern Virginia portfolio, the company’s data center assets also include strategic developments in Chicago and Atlanta, with plans for continued expansion.

As data-heavy workloads and AI-driven infrastructure continue to shape hyperscale demand, TA Realty’s latest sale highlights the firm’s disciplined approach to value creation: designing, developing, and stabilizing mission-critical campuses that contribute to the strength and scalability of the nation’s digital backbone.

The post TA Realty Announces Sale of Two Hyperscale Data Centers in Northern Virginia appeared first on Data Center POST.

The digital infrastructure industry is accelerating rapidly.  New facilities are being built at record speed, and hyperscale customers continue to push for faster deployment timelines.  According to Uptime Institute’s 2024 Staffing Survey, ‘data centers continue to expand their hiring, with 35% reporting more new hires in 2024 compared to 2023.’

Competition has intensified, with Uptime also reporting that ‘57% of organizations increased salary spending in 2024, while only 6% reduced it.’  This aligns with the reality many operators experience: talented technicians routinely receive multiple offers, often at significantly higher pay.

AFCOM’s 2024 State of the Data Center Report underscores how market expansion fuels staffing instability.  The report states, ‘There are nearly 10,000 colocation and wholesale data center facilities across North America, and this number is expected to rise dramatically in the next three years.’

This growth isn’t limited to footprint.  AFCOM adds: ‘New data center builds are expected to multiply sixfold over the next three years,’ contributing to rising wage pressure and aggressive hiring tactics among competitors.

Synergy Research Group provides additional context, noting: ‘The number of hyperscale data centers surpassed 1,000 in early 2024,’ and ‘total hyperscale capacity has doubled in the past four years and is expected to double again in the next four.’

These massive industry shifts increase the demand for qualified operators and heighten turnover risk.  But retaining talent is not solely about matching salary offers, it requires intentional leadership and a strong, supportive culture.

Technicians value trust, recognition, inclusion, and connection.  These emotional drivers often outweigh financial incentives.  Many organizations underestimate their power.  For example, simple cultural investments; providing lunches, snacks, or occasional team entertainment, can materially improve team morale and connection.  These small enhancements help build a positive and inclusive environment.  I have personally turned down external offers because of the strong sense of belonging and support at my current company.

A critical industry-wide shift is also needed.  As operators, we should work collaboratively to reduce extreme market volatility.  Personnel movement will always be part of business but offering 20–30% above market rates just to secure staffing is not sustainable.  More responsible, proactive hiring practices, such as beginning recruitment earlier during buildout and commissioning phases, can help stabilize wage expectations and normalize staffing patterns across the industry.

In one practical example, an engineer on my team appeared increasingly disengaged.  Through direct conversation, I learned he had received an external offer.  Because our leadership team proactively monitored regional wage trends, we were prepared to offer a competitive adjustment and a clear development path.  This combination of financial acknowledgement and emotional investment resulted in his decision to stay, and he eventually became one of our strongest leaders.

Sustainable retention requires long-term systems: continuous market analysis, consistent leadership visibility, structured development pipelines, and meaningful cultural investment.  These practices signal to employees that they are valued, and that their future is worth building inside the organization.

The data center workforce landscape will continue to evolve.  Retention is no longer a transactional process but a strategic, people-centered leadership responsibility.  Organizations that anticipate change, invest in people, and create environments where employees feel valued will be the ones best positioned to thrive in the years ahead.

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About the Author

Tim Shoemaker is a data center operations leader with extensive experience managing mission-critical environments, operational teams, staffing strategies, and organizational change. He has overseen teams through rapid growth cycles, market wage pressures, and major buildouts across multiple data center facilities.  Tim is passionate about developing strong operational cultures that retain talent and reinforce reliability.

The post Leading Through Change: How Data Center Leaders Can Retain Talent in a Competitive Market appeared first on Data Center POST.

Data Center POST had the opportunity to connect with Carlo Malana, President and CEO of STT GDC Philippines, which is a joint venture among Globe Telecom, Ayala Corporation and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres. The company provides secure, reliable, and sustainable data centers to enable digital transformation for global and local businesses. With more than two decades of diverse leadership experience in the ICT industry, his background includes strategic roles at AT&T and as CIO for Globe. He earned a double degree from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

With over 20 years in Information Communications Technology (ICT) including roles with AT&T, across the United States, Mexico, and the Philippines, he has led both technology and business organizations in such diverse areas as strategy, program management, merger integration, retail, finance, customer operations, and sales.

The interview information below has been summarized to provide readers with clarity into who STT GDC Philippines is, what they do and the problems they are solving in the industry.

What does STT GDC Philippines do?  

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) Philippines empowers business digital transformation through a service model integrating Colocation, Cross connect, and Support Services. We provide Colocation via scalable, sustainable, and secure infrastructure operated to strict global standards, a commitment recently validated by our flagship 124MW STT Fairview Data Center Campus, achieving the IDCA G2 Design Certification, and our STT Cavite 1 data center earning the Uptime Institute Tier III Design Certification. While our Interconnect & Connectivity solutions provide a carrier-neutral platform optimized for seamless access to hybrid and multi-cloud environments, our Support Services complement this technology as your extended technical team, managing critical facility operations so you can focus exclusively on your core business performance.

What problems does STT GDC Philippines solve in the market?

STT GDC Philippines addresses the critical shortage of high-quality digital infrastructure in Southeast Asia (SEA) by replacing outdated systems with massive, scalable facilities built for the future. We solve the capacity shortfall by delivering hyperscale-ready infrastructure, such as our 124MW STT Fairview campus, designed to meet the rigorous TIA-942 Rated 3 and Uptime Institute Tier III standards for concurrent maintainability. We specifically address the urgent demand for AI and high-performance computing by building AI-ready facilities equipped with high power density and advanced liquid cooling support. Most importantly, we eliminate downtime concerns by providing SLA-backed availability, ensuring your mission-critical business operations remain secure and stable 24/7 with a sustainable environment. Finally, we remove connectivity restrictions through our carrier-neutral ecosystem, providing a resilient platform that offers customers superior network choice and the flexibility to connect with the partners that best serve their requirements.

What are STT GDC Philippines’s core products or services?

Our core services are colocation, cross connect, and support services.

What markets do you serve?

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) Philippines is a leading carrier-neutral provider dedicated to supporting the high-density requirements of Hyperscalers, AI companies, and large enterprises in the banking, financial services, and telecommunications sectors.

As a joint venture between Globe Telecom, Ayala Corporation, and STT GDC, we enable digital transformation by offering scalable, sustainable, and secure infrastructure designed for mission-critical applications. Our facilities are specifically optimized for high-performance workloads, leveraging strategic partnerships with industry leaders and partners to deploy advanced solutions such as liquid cooling for AI-driven demands.

Our data centers provide a flexible technology foundation with direct access to major global cloud platforms and a diverse ecosystem of connectivity partners. This carrier-neutral approach ensures optimal connectivity for hybrid and multi-cloud environments, while our strict operational excellence and 24/7 on-site technical expertise deliver industry-leading uptime. By integrating these best-in-class partnerships, we allow your organization to rely completely on our reliable infrastructure while you focus on driving your core business growth.

What challenges does the global digital infrastructure industry face today?

The industry is currently facing a massive energy and power crisis, where securing reliable electricity has become significantly harder than finding physical land. Because AI operations consume vast amounts of energy, they place an immense strain on local power grids, making it difficult for operators to find suitable locations while sticking to green energy goals.

Secondly, the rapid adoption of AI has created a thermal management challenge; the extreme heat generated by modern high-performance chips exceeds the limits of traditional air cooling, forcing a pivot toward advanced liquid cooling methods even as universal standards remain undefined.

Finally, geopolitical instability and supply chain disruptions are acting as a major brake on progress. Rising global tensions are complicating where secure networks can be built, while acute shortages of essential equipment, like high-voltage transformers and backup generators, are delaying construction and preventing the infrastructure from keeping pace with global demand.

How is STT GDC Philippines adapting to these challenges?

STT GDC Philippines is adapting by building flexible, high-capacity infrastructure, such as the 124 MW STT Fairview Data Center Campus, that is fully ready for AI and liquid cooling but remains adaptable to changing technology rather than being limited to a single purpose. We are addressing the energy challenge by committing to 100% renewable energy for our operations. To navigate global instability, we maintain a fairly neutral position as a carrier-neutral platform, ensuring resilience and open choices for all networks.

What are STT GDC Philippines’s key differentiators?

Our key differentiators begin with our adherence to global standards, ensuring that every facility in our portfolio operates with the same rigor and reliability found across our international platform. This foundation allows us to provide the most extensive capacity in the region, highlighted by the 124MW STT Fairview Data Center Campus, the largest, most interconnected carrier-neutral, and sustainable data center in the Philippines. Our commitment to international, sustainability-driven design is evident in our LEED Gold and TIA-942 Rated 3 certifications, as well as our “AI-ready” infrastructure that supports liquid cooling to reduce environmental impact.

Beyond physical assets, we prioritize our talent through the DC Power Up program, a milestone initiative that trains and certifies the next generation of data center professionals to ensure a future-ready workforce. Our operational excellence is the heartbeat of our business, utilizing advanced automation and AI-powered cooling to maintain peak efficiency 24/7. Finally, we leverage deep local expertise through our powerful partnership with Globe and Ayala, combining the country’s leading telecommunications reach and corporate heritage to provide customers with a seamless, trustworthy gateway into the Philippine digital economy.

What can we expect to see/hear from STT GDC Philippines in the future?  

STT GDC Philippines is focused on rapidly scaling its delivery capabilities, a goal already in motion as we begin operating with our first customers at STT Fairview 1. This marks a significant milestone for what will be the largest and most AI-ready data center campus in the Philippines, featuring infrastructure specifically engineered for high-density computing and advanced liquid cooling. Our commitment to innovation is further showcased at our AI Synergy Lab, where we demonstrate the future of thermal management and high-efficiency power solutions. To support this growth, we are accelerating partnerships across the ecosystem by  recently onboarding key connectivity partners to ensure our facilities serve as the premier, carrier-neutral gateway for Southeast Asia’s digital future.

What upcoming industry events will you be attending? 

We are excited to represent STT GDC Philippines at two of the most influential technology gatherings in the region and the world this year. This February, our team will be in Jakarta for APRICOT 2026, the Asia Pacific region’s premier internet operations and networking summit. This event is a critical forum for us to collaborate with network engineers and policymakers to strengthen the digital fabric of Southeast Asia. Following this, we will be attending NVIDIA GTC in March in San Jose, California. Often called the “Super Bowl of AI,” GTC is where we engage with the latest breakthroughs in AI infrastructure and high-performance computing, ensuring that our data centers remain at the cutting edge of the global AI revolution.

Do you have any recent news you would like us to highlight?

We are excited to share several major milestones that underscore our rapid growth and commitment to the Philippines’ digital future. Most recently, in October 2025, we announced the onboarding of our first connectivity partners at our flagship STT Fairview Data Center campus. These partnerships are significant for our carrier-neutral ecosystem, providing customers with diverse network choices and the resilience needed for AI-powered growth. Additionally, the 124MW STT Fairview Data Center campus recently achieved the prestigious IDCA G2 Design Certification, recognizing its world-class N+1 design and operational excellence. On the sustainability front, we are proud to have transitioned to 100% renewable energy across all our operational data centers as of early 2025.

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about STT GDC Philippines and capabilities?

Finally, we want your readers to know that STT GDC Philippines is actively pioneering the future of high-performance computing through our AI Synergy Lab. Launched in collaboration with industry leaders, the lab allows enterprises to run actual AI workloads in a controlled environment, providing a live showroom for high-density computing solutions that are essential for modern digital transformation. By bridging the gap between theoretical AI potential and real-world deployment, the AI Synergy Lab ensures that our partners can optimize their hardware configurations for maximum performance and efficiency. This initiative reinforces our commitment to making the Philippines a premier hub for AI innovation in Southeast Asia, providing the specialized environment required to support the next generation of intelligent computing.

Where can our readers learn more about STT GDC Philippines?  

Readers can learn more on our company website, www.sttelemediagdc.com/ph-en.

How can our readers contact STT GDC Philippines? 

You can contact us through Facebook, Linkedin, or our website.

# # #

About Data Center POST

Data Center POST provides a comprehensive view of the digital infrastructure landscape, delivering industry insights into the global data center ecosystem. As the industry’s only peer-contributed and online publication, we offer relevant information from developers, managers, providers, investors, and trendsetters worldwide.

Data Center POST works hard to get the most current information and thought-provoking ideas most apt to add relevance to the success of the data center industry. Stay informed, visit www.datacenterpost.com.

If you are interested in contributing to Data Center POST, contact us at contributions@datacenterpost.com or submit your article here.

Want more digital infrastructure news? Stay in the know and subscribe to Data Center POST today!

The post Company Profile: STT GDC Philippines on Building the Philippines’ Largest AI-Ready Data Center Campus appeared first on Data Center POST.

In the latest episode of NEDAS Live!, host Ilissa Miller welcomes David Bacino, CEO of Symphony Towers Infrastructure, for a candid conversation about the evolution of wireless infrastructure. Drawing on more than three decades in telecom and digital infrastructure, Bacino reflects on a career that has spanned leadership roles with wireless carriers, equipment manufacturers, and infrastructure ownership platforms. He notes that what keeps him energized is the ever‑changing, never‑boring nature of the industry and the fact that people now depend on wireless connectivity every day, whether for voice, data, or rich content.

Episode 64 highlights Bacino’s recent appointment as CEO of Symphony Towers in 2025 following Palistar’s integration of CTI’s towers and national telecom easements portfolio. The conversation also discusses his prior roles as CEO of CTI Towers and President of Melody Wireless Infrastructure, where he helped lead a landmark sector exit. Today, as he oversees roughly 3,000 wireless assets across all 50 states, Bacino is focused on how this platform can support the growing demands of carriers and end users alike.

Building a Hard-Asset Platform for Carrier Needs

Bacino explains that Symphony Towers Infrastructure is fundamentally a hard‑asset business, not a services company. The platform owns towers and rooftop rights that provide physical locations for antennas and radio equipment deployments, giving wireless carriers and other users the critical points they need to build and expand their networks. Backed by Palistar Capital, Symphony Towers operates with a dual mandate: acquire as many financially sound tower and rooftop assets as possible each year, and “lease up” those assets so carriers can use them to their fullest capacity.

A key strategic move discussed in the episode is Palistar’s decision to integrate Symphony Wireless into CTI Towers under the Symphony Towers banner. Rather than having two separate 1,500‑asset entities engaging the same carriers, the combined platform now approaches operators as a single company with more than 3,000 assets. For Bacino, this consolidation makes it easier for carriers, like AT&T, Verizon, and T‑Mobile, to interface with one partner for network locations and equipment installations and enables more robust, strategic conversations instead of one‑off, site‑by‑site evaluations.

Growth, 5G, 6G and the Broader Infrastructure Landscape

When Miller asks about Symphony Towers’ growth goals and geographic focus, Bacino breaks the answer into three parts. First, the company aims to acquire new assets where carriers demonstrate demand. Second, it strives to drive utilization across its existing sites, ensuring each asset delivers maximum value. Third, while Symphony Towers is focused across the entire U.S. rather than prioritizing one region over another, the team is ready to pivot if a carrier identifies a specific area or “mobile desert” where additional coverage and capacity are needed.

On technology, Bacino is clear that there is still plenty of work to do with 5G; upgrading from 4G to 5G nationwide is necessary for consistent network performance. Looking ahead, he sees real advantages and room for future technologies such as 6G, particularly for high‑demand use cases like streaming video, live business meetings, and other bandwidth or speed‑sensitive applications. He also frames wireless infrastructure in the broader context of the digital ecosystem, noting that data centers, subsea cables, and other platforms all ultimately rely on reliable wireless links to reach people’s devices. As he observes, it is now rare to attend any meeting, lunch, or dinner where someone does not have a mobile device in front of them. Wireless connectivity has become woven into everyday life.

Partnering with Municipalities and Communities

The conversation moves into how infrastructure providers like Symphony Towers can better partner with municipalities. When Miller raises the challenges of zoning, permitting, and community expectations, Bacino flips the question: the real key, he says, is for municipalities to clearly communicate what they need and expect. He points to “stealth” towers, sites designed to blend into the environment, such as structures that look like pine trees or rocks, as examples of how infrastructure can be deployed in ways that respect local aesthetics and ordinances, provided those requirements are defined up front.

Miller connects this to her work with the OIX Association’s Digital Infrastructure Framework Committee, which aims to educate city planners and economic developers about proactively master‑planning digital infrastructure. The goal is to help communities understand what they have, what they need to support government services and businesses, and what kind of place they want to become, whether a smart city, a tech hub, or something else. Bacino notes that municipalities are generally focused on supporting their residents and constituents, and that companies like Symphony Towers can step in as partners once there is a clear vision and strong communication around objectives and end‑state goals.

To continue the conversation, listen to the full podcast episode here.

The post Building America’s Wireless Future appeared first on Data Center POST.

Data Center POST had the opportunity to connect with Allan Schurr, Chief Commercial Officer at Enchanted Rock, where he leads commercial strategy, partnerships, and market expansion across data centers, utilities, industrial facilities, and critical infrastructure. With deep experience at the intersection of energy, infrastructure, and technology, Allan works closely with hyperscalers, developers, and operators to address one of the industry’s most pressing challenges: securing reliable, scalable power amid tightening grid constraints.

Throughout the conversation, Allan shared a pragmatic perspective to the energy transition, focused on solutions that work today, while enabling lower-carbon outcomes over time. The information below is summarized to provide our readers a deeper dive into who Enchanted Rock is, what they do and the problems they are solving in the industry.

What does Enchanted Rock do?  

Enchanted Rock delivers resilient, dispatchable onsite power generation that enables data centers and other critical facilities to secure power when and where the grid cannot. Working in partnership with utilities, our turnkey power solutions accelerate deployment, protect operations, and strengthen grid reliability.

What problems does Enchanted Rock solve in the market?

Enchanted Rock addresses the growing gap between fast-growing data center power demand and grid capacity. Our solutions help customers overcome interconnection delays, transmission constraints, and utility upgrade timelines, while ensuring reliable power during early operations, peak demand, and grid outages.

What are Enchanted Rock’s core products or services?

At Enchanted Rock, we focus on dispatchable onsite generation systems, end-to-end project delivery (such as design, engineering, EPC, commissioning), and long-term operations and maintenance. We also prioritize portfolio-level power strategy, market participation, and policy support.

What markets do you serve?

Enchanted Rock serves critical infrastructure customers across North America, with a focus on regions experiencing grid congestion, rapid load growth, and constrained interconnection capacity. This includes hyperscale, enterprise, colocation, and edge data center operators, as well as commercial and industrial sites.

What challenges does the global digital infrastructure industry face today?

The defining issue for the global digital infrastructure industry today is power. As AI and cloud adoption accelerate, electricity demand is increasing faster than traditional grid expansion timelines. This has resulted in longer interconnection queues, higher costs, and greater engagement from communities and regulators. In this environment, power availability, reliability, sustainability, and speed to deployment are no longer separate considerations, they must be addressed together.

How is Enchanted Rock adapting to these challenges?

We enable customers to bring capacity online immediately through onsite natural gas or renewable natural gas generation while remaining flexible as grid conditions evolve. Our portfolio-level approach allows developers and operators to standardize scalable solutions, reduce risk across multiple sites, achieve emissions-reduction goals, and align near-term reliability with long-term energy strategies.

What are Enchanted Rock’s key differentiators?

At Enchanted Rock, we focus on proven, dispatchable onsite power that protects customer uptime while supporting grid stability alongside flexible interconnection strategies that adapt to evolving utility, market, and regulatory conditions. Also, we have onsite generation that enables early operations and capacity ramp while data centers await permanent grid interconnection and end-to-end ownership and operational accountability across the full project lifecycle. On top of that, we have portfolio-level scalability for multi-site data center deployments and the ability to integrate with renewable energy and long-term decarbonization strategies.

What can we expect to see/hear from Enchanted Rock in the future?  

Enchanted Rock will continue expanding its role as a long-term power partner across data centers, industrial customers, and other critical infrastructure. We are focused on scaling portfolio-level onsite power solutions, developing new models for collaboration with utilities, and advancing systems that enhance grid reliability and community resilience. Looking ahead, we will continue investing in flexible, lower-emission generation that enables faster infrastructure deployment while supporting the evolving needs of the grid and the communities it serves.

What upcoming industry events will you be attending? 

Enchanted Rock attends and participates in industry events throughout the year focused on energy resiliency, power infrastructure, and digital infrastructure development. Later this month, catch us at PowerGen and the Power Resilience Forum; for a full schedule of upcoming events, visit www.enchantedrock.com/events.

Do you have any recent news you would like us to highlight?

Enchanted Rock recently appointed John Carrington as Chief Executive Officer to guide the company’s next phase of strategic growth, leveraging his extensive experience scaling energy and technology businesses nationwide. The company also introduced new onsite power generation platforms, the ERT500TM natural gas generator and RockBlock TM system, engineered to deliver higher power density, lower emissions, and utility-grade resiliency while reducing reliance on traditional diesel generators.

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about Enchanted Rock and capabilities?

As grid conditions become more volatile and utility constraints intensify, Enchanted Rock is focused on helping customers and grid operators adapt to both near-term reliability risks and long-term structural change. We work alongside utilities, regulators, and customers to deploy flexible onsite power that not only protects facilities from outages, but also supports grid operations, evolving interconnection models, and emerging policy requirements.

Even in a year without U.S. hurricane landfalls, the grid faced significant stress in 2025, from winter storms and record heat to accelerating load growth driven by data centers and electrification. During that period, Enchanted Rock protected 348 sites, avoided 2,022 outages, and prevented more than 4,800 hours of downtime, including one avoided outage lasting 628 hours. That real-world performance underscores our role as a dependable, adaptive power partner, helping facilities stay powered, utilities manage constraints, and communities remain resilient as reliability margins tighten heading into 2026 and beyond.

Where can our readers learn more about Enchanted Rock?  

Visit www.enchantedrock.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

How can our readers contact Enchanted Rock? 

You can reach us on the contact page on our website; www.enchantedrock.com/contact.

# # #

About Data Center POST

Data Center POST provides a comprehensive view of the digital infrastructure landscape, delivering industry insights into the global data center ecosystem. As the industry’s only peer-contributed and online publication, we offer relevant information from developers, managers, providers, investors, and trendsetters worldwide.

Data Center POST works hard to get the most current information and thought-provoking ideas most apt to add relevance to the success of the data center industry. Stay informed, visit www.datacenterpost.com.

If you are interested in contributing to Data Center POST, contact us at contributions@datacenterpost.com or submit your article here.

Want more digital infrastructure news? Stay in the know and subscribe to Data Center POST today!

The post Company Profile: Enchanted Rock – Focused on the Future of Data Center Power Reliability appeared first on Data Center POST.

Datalec Precision Installations (DPI) and PODTECH have announced a global technology partnership focused on delivering pre-staged, deployment-ready AI infrastructure solutions as hyperscaler demand drives data center vacancy rates to historic lows. With capacity tightening to 6.5% in Europe and 5.9% in the U.K., the partnership addresses a critical bottleneck in AI data center commissioning, where deployment timelines and technical complexity have become major constraints for enterprises and cloud platforms scaling GPU-intensive workloads.

The AI Infrastructure Commissioning Challenge

As hyperscalers deploy more than $600 billion in AI data center infrastructure this year, representing 75% of total capital expenditure, the focus has shifted from simply securing capacity to ensuring infrastructure is fully validated and production-ready at deployment. AI workloads demand far more than traditional data center services. NVIDIA-based AI racks require specialized expertise in NVLink fabric configuration, GPU testing, compute node initialization, dead-on-arrival (DOA) testing, site and factory acceptance testing (SAT/FAT), and network validation. These technical requirements, combined with increasingly tight deployment windows, have created demand for integrated commissioning providers capable of delivering turnkey solutions.

Integrated Capabilities Across the AI Lifecycle

The DPI-PODTECH partnership brings together complementary capabilities across the full AI infrastructure stack. DPI contributes expertise in infrastructure connectivity and mechanical systems. PODTECH adds software development, commissioning protocols, and systems integration delivered through more than 60 technical specialists across the U.K., Asia, and the Middle East. Together, the companies offer end-to-end services from pre-deployment validation through network bootstrapping, ensuring AI environments are fully operational before customer handoff.

The partnership builds on successful NVIDIA AI rack deployments for international hyperscaler programs, where both companies demonstrated the ability to manage complex, multi-site rollouts. By formalizing their collaboration, DPI and PODTECH are positioning to scale these capabilities across regions where data center capacity is most constrained and AI infrastructure demand is accelerating fastest.

Strategic Focus on High-Growth Markets

The partnership specifically targets Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, markets experiencing acute capacity constraints and surging AI investment. PODTECH’s existing presence across these regions gives the partnership immediate on-the-ground capacity to support hyperscaler and enterprise deployments. The company’s ISO 27001, ISO 9001, and ISO 20000-1 certifications provide the compliance foundation required for clients in regulated industries and public sector engagements.

Industry Perspective

“As organizations accelerate their AI adoption, the reliability and performance of the underlying infrastructure have never been more critical,” said James Bangs, technology and services director at DPI. “Building on our partnership with PODTECH, we have already delivered multiple successful deployments together, and this formal collaboration enables us to scale our capabilities globally.”

Harry Pod, founder at PODTECH, emphasized the operational benefits of the integrated model: “Following our successful collaborations with Datalec on major NVIDIA AI rack deployments, we are very proud to officially combine our capabilities. By working as one integrated delivery team, we can provide clients with packaged, pre-staged, and deployment-ready AI infrastructure solutions grounded in quality, precision, and engineering excellence.”

Looking Ahead

For enterprises and hyperscalers navigating AI infrastructure decisions in 2026, the partnership signals a shift toward specialized commissioning providers capable of managing the entire deployment lifecycle. With hyperscaler capital expenditure forecast to remain elevated through 2027 and vacancy rates showing no signs of easing, demand for integrated commissioning services is likely to intensify across DPI and PODTECH’s target markets.

Organizations evaluating AI infrastructure commissioning strategies can learn more at datalecltd.com.

The post DPI and PODTECH Partner to Scale AI Infrastructure Commissioning Across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East appeared first on Data Center POST.

Empire Fiber Internet, a leading fiber optic internet service provider serving communities across New York and Pennsylvania, has officially lit up the Downtown Cortland Wi-Fi Project in partnership with the City of Cortland. Residents, visitors, and local businesses can now tap into free, fast, and reliable public Wi-Fi throughout the downtown district.

Empire Fiber Internet first brought its high-speed fiber network to Cortland in 2024, delivering symmetrical, gig-ready connectivity to more than 5,500 homes and businesses. The Downtown Wi-Fi Project extends powerful, reliable internet access into the city’s most active public spaces.

​”Our partnership with the City of Cortland puts connection within everyone’s reach–residents, visitors, students, and families,” said Kevin Dickens, Empire Fiber Internet CEO. “When fast, free Wi-Fi is available in the places people gather, it strengthens community, expands access, and enhances everyday life.”

Empire Fiber Internet completed new community Wi-Fi installations at Beaudry Park, Dexter Park, and Suggett Park in Fall 2025, expanding fast, free public connectivity across some of Cortland’s most popular gathering spaces.

“As we put the finishing touches on Main Street, it’s exciting to expand free Wi-Fi access not only downtown, but into our public parks as well,” said Mayor of Cortland, Scott Steve. “This project strengthens accessibility, supports local businesses, and improves connectivity for residents and visitors alike.”

These projects deliver free, reliable public Wi-Fi across key downtown and park locations, increased foot traffic and visibility for local businesses, stronger community events supported by dependable connectivity, and modern digital infrastructure that fuels innovation, engagement, and economic growth.

To learn more about Empire Fiber Internet, visit www.empireaccess.com.

The post Empire Fiber Internet Lights Up Downtown Cortland with Free Wi-Fi appeared first on Data Center POST.

As artificial intelligence reshapes how organizations generate value from data, a quieter shift is happening beneath the surface. The question is no longer just how data is protected, but where it is processed, who governs it, and how infrastructure decisions intersect with national regulation and digital policy.

Datalec Precision Installations (DPI) is seeing this shift play out across global markets as enterprises and public sector organizations reassess how their data center strategies support both AI performance and regulatory alignment. What was once treated primarily as a compliance issue is increasingly viewed as a foundational design consideration.

Sovereignty moves upstream.

Data sovereignty has traditionally been addressed after systems were deployed, often resulting in fragmented architectures or operational workarounds. That approach is becoming less viable as regulations tighten and AI workloads demand closer proximity to sensitive data.

Organizations are now factoring sovereignty into infrastructure planning from the start, ensuring data remains within national borders and is governed by local legal frameworks. For many, this shift reduces regulatory risk while creating clearer operational boundaries for advanced workloads.

AI raises the complexity

AI intensifies data governance challenges by extending them beyond storage into compute and model execution. Training and inference processes frequently involve regulated or sensitive datasets, increasing exposure when data or workloads cross borders.

This has driven growing interest in sovereign AI environments, where data, compute, and models remain within a defined jurisdiction. Beyond compliance, these environments offer greater control over digital capabilities and reduced dependence on external platforms.

Balancing performance and governance 

Supporting sovereign AI requires infrastructure that can deliver high-density compute and low-latency performance without compromising physical security or regulatory alignment. DPI addresses this by delivering AI-ready data center environments designed to support GPU-intensive workloads while meeting regional compliance requirements.

The objective is to enable organizations to deploy advanced AI systems locally without sacrificing scalability or operational efficiency.

Regional execution at global scale

Demand for localized, compliant infrastructure is growing across regions where digital policy and economic strategy intersect. DPI’s expansion across the Middle East, APAC, and other international markets reflects this trend, combining regional delivery with standardized operational practices across 21 global entities.

According to Michael Aldridge, DPI’s Group Information Security Officer, organizations increasingly view localized infrastructure as a way to future-proof their digital strategies rather than constrain them.

Compliance as differentiation

As AI adoption accelerates, infrastructure and governance decisions are becoming inseparable. Organizations that can control where data lives and how AI systems operate are better positioned to manage risk, meet regulatory expectations, and move faster in regulated markets.

DPI’s approach reflects a broader industry shift: compliance is no longer just about meeting requirements, but about enabling innovation in an AI-driven environment.

To read DPI’s full perspective on data sovereignty and AI readiness, visit the company’s website.

The post Why Data Sovereignty Is Becoming a Strategic Imperative for AI Infrastructure appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on Sabey Data Centers.

The post 2025 in Review: Sabey’s Biggest Milestones and What They Mean appeared first on Data Center POST.

Duos Technologies Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), through its operating subsidiary Duos Edge AI, Inc., received the Outstanding Innovation Award at Pacific Telecommunication Conference 2026 (PTC’26). This honor recognizes Duos Edge AI’s leadership in modular Edge Data Center (EDC) solutions that boost efficiency, scalability, security, and customer experience.

Duos Edge AI’s capital-efficient model supports rapid 90-day installations and scalable growth tailored to regional needs like education, healthcare, and municipal services. High-availability designs deliver up to 100 kW+ per cabinet with resilient, 24/7 operations positioned within 12 miles of end users for minimal latency.

“This recognition from Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) is a meaningful validation of our strategy and execution,” said Doug Recker, President of Duos and Founder of Duos Edge AI. “Our mission has been to bring secure, low-latency digital infrastructure directly to communities that need it most. By deploying edge data centers where people live, learn, and work, we’re helping close the digital divide while building a scalable platform aligned with long-term growth and shareholder value.”

The award spotlights Duos Edge AI’s patented modular EDCs deployed in underserved communities for low-latency, enterprise-grade infrastructure. These centers enable real-time AI processing, telemedicine, digital learning, and carrier-neutral connectivity without distant cloud reliance.

Duos Edge AI thanks partners like Texas Regions 16 and 3 Education Service Centers, Dumas ISD, and local leaders embracing localized tech for equity.

To learn more about Duos Edge AI, visit www.duosedge.ai.

The post Duos Edge AI Earns PTC’26 Innovation Honor appeared first on Data Center POST.

As AI and high‑performance computing (HPC) workloads strain traditional air‑cooled data centers, Sabey Data Centers is expanding its partnership with JetCool Technologies to make direct‑to‑chip liquid cooling a standard option across its U.S. portfolio. The move signals how multi‑tenant operators are shifting from experimental deployments to programmatic strategies for high‑density, energy‑efficient infrastructure.

Sabey, one of the largest privately held multi‑tenant data center providers in the United States, first teamed with JetCool in 2023 to test direct‑to‑chip cooling in production environments. Those early deployments reported 13.5% server power savings compared with air‑cooled alternatives, while supporting dense AI and HPC racks without heavy reliance on traditional mechanical systems.

The new phase of the collaboration is less about proving the technology and more about scale. Sabey and JetCool are now working to simplify how customers adopt liquid cooling by turning what had been bespoke engineering work into repeatable designs that can be deployed across multiple sites. The goal is to give enterprises and cloud platforms a predictable path to high‑density infrastructure that balances performance, efficiency and operational risk.

A core element of that approach is a set of modular cooling architectures developed with Dell Technologies for select PowerEdge GPU‑based servers. By closely integrating server hardware and direct‑to‑chip liquid cooling, the partners aim to deliver pre‑validated building blocks for AI and HPC clusters, rather than starting from scratch with each project. The design includes unified warranty coverage for both the servers and the cooling system, an assurance that Sabey says is key for customers wary of fragmented support models.

The expanded alliance sits inside Sabey’s broader liquid cooling partnership program, an initiative that aggregates multiple thermal management providers under one framework. Instead of backing a single technology, Sabey is positioning itself as a curator of proven, ready‑to‑integrate cooling options that map to varying density targets and sustainability goals. For IT and facilities teams under pressure to scale GPU‑rich deployments, that structure promises clearer design patterns and faster time to production.

Executives at both companies frame the partnership as a response to converging pressures: soaring compute demand, tightening efficiency requirements and growing scrutiny of data center energy use. Direct‑to‑chip liquid cooling has emerged as one of the more practical levers for improving thermal performance at the rack level, particularly in environments where power and floor space are limited but performance expectations are not.

For Sabey, formalizing JetCool’s technology as a standard, warranty‑backed option is part of a broader message to customers: liquid cooling is no longer a niche or one‑off feature, but an embedded part of the company’s roadmap for AI‑era infrastructure. Organizations evaluating their own cooling strategies can find the full announcement here.

The post Sabey and JetCool Push Liquid Cooling from Pilot to Standard Practice​ appeared first on Data Center POST.

Empire Fiber Internet, a leading fiber optic internet service provider serving communities across New York and Pennsylvania, continues its ongoing expansion in the Greater Rochester area with the completion of its buildout in Irondequoit. This follows the company’s successful launch in Greece in August 2025 and underscores Empire Fiber Internet’s commitment to bringing high speed reliable fiber internet to Rochester area communities.

This expansion delivers 100% high speed fiber internet with symmetrical upload and download speeds to over 3,500 homes, with transparent rates, no hidden fees, no long term contracts, and locally based 24/7 customer support.​

“Irondequoit is a natural fit for our expansion: it’s a community that values choice and reliability, and our local team is already lighting up neighborhoods with 100% fiber, transparent pricing (no hidden fees or contracts), and 24/7 local support for residents and businesses,” said Kevin Dickens, CEO of Empire Fiber Internet. “High speed internet fuels work, learning, innovation, and growth, and we’re proud to bring that kind of game changing connectivity to the Irondequoit community.”​

Empire Fiber Internet’s network is designed to meet the growing needs of today’s households and businesses, supporting streaming, gaming, remote work, cloud applications, and secure operations. Plans in serviceable areas start at $55 per month with symmetrical speeds up to 2 Gig, free installation, no hidden fees, and 24/7 local customer support.​

To learn more about Empire Fiber Internet, visit www.empireaccess.com.

The post Empire Fiber Internet Brings High-Speed Fiber To Irondequoit appeared first on Data Center POST.

Originally posted on TelecomNewsroom.

Telcos are the missing link in AI adoption, say paying AI subscribers

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of US consumers who pay for generative AI services want those tools included directly with their mobile phone plan, according to new research from subscription bundling platform, Bango.

The survey of 1,400 ChatGPT subscribers in the US also reveals that demand for AI-inclusive telco bundles extends beyond mobile. A further 72% of AI subscribers want AI included as part of their home broadband or TV package, while more than three-quarters (77%) want generative AI tools paired with streaming services such as Netflix or Spotify, offering a bundling opportunity for telcos.

The findings signal a major opportunity for telcos to become the primary distributors of AI services. AI subscribers already spend over $65 per month on these tools, representing a high value audience for telcos.

To read the full press release, please click here.

The post Three-quarters of AI Subscribers in the US Want Generative AI Included With Their Mobile Contract appeared first on Data Center POST.

Data Center POST connected with Raul K. Martynek, Chief Executive Officer of DataBank Holdings, Ltd., ahead of PTC’26. Martynek joined DataBank in 2017 and brings more than three decades of leadership experience across telecommunications, Internet infrastructure, and data center operations. His background includes senior executive roles at Net Access, Voxel dot Net, Smart Telecom, and advisory positions with DigitalBridge and Plainfield Asset Management. Under his leadership, DataBank has expanded its national footprint, strengthened its interconnection ecosystems, and positioned its platform to support AI-ready, high-density workloads across enterprise, cloud, and edge environments. In the Q&A below, Martynek shares his perspective on the challenges shaping global digital infrastructure and how DataBank is preparing customers for the next phase of AI-driven growth.

Data Center Post (DCP) Question: What does your company do?  

Raul Martynek (RM) Answer: DataBank helps the world’s largest enterprises, technology, and content providers ensure their data and applications are always on, always secure, always compliant, and ready to scale to meet the needs of the artificial intelligence era.

DCP Q: What problems does your company solve in the market?

RM A: DataBank addresses a broad set of challenges enterprises face when managing critical infrastructure. Reliability and uptime are foundational, as downtime can severely impact revenue and customer trust. We also help organizations meet security and compliance requirements without having to build costly internal expertise. Our platform allows customers to scale infrastructure without large capital expenditures by shifting to an operating expense model. In addition, we provide managed expertise that frees internal teams to focus on strategic priorities, simplify hybrid IT and cloud integration, improve latency for distributed and edge workloads, strengthen cybersecurity posture, and mitigate talent and resource constraints.

DCP Q: What are your company’s core products or services?

RM A: Data center colocation, Interconnection, Enterprise Cloud, Compliance Enablement, Data Protection. Powered by expert, human support

DCP Q: What markets do you serve?

RM A: DataBank serves customers across a broad geographic footprint in the United States and Europe. In the western United States, the company operates in key markets including Irvine, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley in California, as well as Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. Its central U.S. presence includes Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, and Kansas City. In the southern region, DataBank supports customers in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and Waco. Along the East Coast and Midwest, the company operates in markets such as Boston, Cleveland, New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Internationally, DataBank also serves customers in the United Kingdom.

DCP Q: What challenges does the global digital infrastructure industry face today?

RM A: The industry is facing a convergence of challenges, including power availability and grid constraints, sustainability and carbon reduction requirements, cooling demands for high-density AI and HPC workloads, supply chain pressures, land acquisition and zoning issues, and increasing interconnection complexity. At the same time, organizations must contend with talent shortages and rising cybersecurity risks, all while supporting rapidly expanding digital workloads.

DCP Q: How is your company adapting to these challenges?

RM A: We are building in markets with available power headroom and designing scalable power blocks to support future growth. Our facilities are being prepared for AI-era density with liquid-ready designs and more efficient cooling strategies. Sustainability remains a priority, with a focus on lowering energy and water usage. We are standardizing construction to improve efficiency and flexibility while expanding interconnection ecosystems such as DE-CIX. Additionally, our managed services help fill enterprise talent gaps, and we continue to invest in operational excellence, security, and company culture.

DCP Q: What are your company’s key differentiators?

RM A: DataBank differentiates itself through strong engineering and operational management, future-ready platforms, and deep compliance expertise. Our geographic focus allows us to serve customers where they need infrastructure most, while our managed services provide visibility and control across complex environments. We are also supported by patient, long-term investors, enabling disciplined growth and sustained investment.

DCP Q: What can we expect to see/hear from your company in the future?  

RM A: Customers can expect continued commitment to enterprise IT infrastructure alongside expanded AI-ready platforms. We are growing our interconnection ecosystems, advancing sustainability initiatives, modernizing key campuses, and expanding managed and hybrid IT services. Enhancing security, compliance, and customer success will remain central, as will our focus on talent and culture.

DCP Q: What upcoming industry events will you be attending? 

RM A: AI Tinkers; Metro Connect; ATC CEO Summit; MIMSS 26; DCD>Connect 2026; ITW 2026; 7×24 Cloud Run Community Festival; CBRE Digital Infrastructure Summit 2026; AI Infra Conference; TMT M&A Forum; MegaPort Connect; TAG Data Center Summit; Supercomputing 2026; Incompany; DE-DIX Dallas Olde World Holiday Market

DCP Q: Do you have any recent news you would like us to highlight?

RM A: DataBank has recently announced several milestones that underscore its continued growth and long-term strategy. The company expanded its financing vehicle to $1.6 billion to support the next phase of platform expansion and infrastructure investment. DataBank also released new research showing that 60 percent of enterprises are already seeing a return on investment from AI initiatives or expect to within the next 12 months, highlighting the accelerating business impact of AI adoption. In addition, DataBank introduced a company-wide employee ownership program, reinforcing its commitment to culture, alignment, and long-term value creation across the organization.

DCP Q: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about your company and capabilities?

RM A: DataBank is building the digital foundation for the AI, cloud, and connected-device era. Its national footprint of data centers delivers secure, high-density colocation, interconnection, and managed services that help enterprises deploy mission-critical workloads with confidence.

We are designing for the future with liquid-cooling capabilities, campus modernization, and expanded interconnection ecosystems. We are equally committed to responsible digital infrastructure: improving efficiency, reducing water use, strengthening security, and advancing compliance.

Above all, DataBank we are a trusted infrastructure partner, providing the expertise and operational support organizations need to scale reliably and securely.

DCP Q: Where can our readers learn more about your company?  

RM A: www.databank.com

DCP Q: How can our readers contact your company? 

PQ A: www.databank.com/contact-us

To learn more about PTC’26, please visit www.ptc.org/ptc26. The event takes place January 18-21, 2026 in Honolulu, HI.

If you are interested in contributing to Data Center POST, contact us at contributions@datacenterpost.com.

Stay in the know! Subscribe to Data Center POST today.

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About Data Center POST

Data Center POST provides a comprehensive view of the digital infrastructure landscape, delivering industry insights into the global data center ecosystem. As the industry’s only peer-contributed and online publication, we offer relevant information from developers, managers, providers, investors, and trendsetters worldwide.

Data Center POST works hard to get the most current information and thought-provoking ideas most apt to add relevance to the success of the data center industry. Stay informed, visit www.datacenterpost.com.

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The post Building the Digital Foundation for the AI Era: DataBank’s Vision for Scalable Infrastructure appeared first on Data Center POST.

Data Center POST had the opportunity to connect with Paul Quigley, President of Airsys Cooling Technologies, Inc., ahead of PTC’26. With more than 36 years of experience spanning HVAC contracting, distribution, and executive leadership in manufacturing, Quigley is widely recognized for his work in large-scale, high-demand cooling environments. His career includes co-designing one of the largest VRF projects in North America and leading complex cooling initiatives across the United States. Since joining Airsys in 2021, Quigley has focused on advancing precision and liquid-assisted cooling technologies to help data center operators address power constraints driven by AI, high-density compute, and rapid digital infrastructure growth. In the Q&A below, Quigley shares his perspective on the challenges facing the global digital infrastructure industry and how Airsys is helping operators turn cooling efficiency into usable compute power.

Data Center Post (DCP) Question: What does your company do?  

Paul Quigley (PQ) Answer: Airsys is an energy-focused cooling solutions company founded on a simple idea: power should serve computation, not be lost protecting it. Every system we build returns power back to the data center where it belongs. Our innovative, award-winning technologies give operators more usable power for compute, improving capacity, resilience, and overall profitability.

DCP Q: What problems does your company solve in the market?

PQ A: Airsys helps data centers recover power lost to cooling. As AI clusters push energy systems past their limits, operators are forced to choose between compute, capacity, and cost. Our cooling technologies solve that problem by returning power back to the data center, reducing stranded capacity, and giving operators more usable power for compute.

DCP Q: What are your company’s core products or services?

PQ A: We design and build the world’s most advanced cooling solutions for data centers, including:

• LiquidRack spray-cooling and liquid-assisted rack systems
• High-efficiency DX and chilled-water cooling systems
• Flooded-evaporator chillers (CritiCool-X)
• Indoor and outdoor precision cooling systems
• Edge, modular, and containerized data-center cooling
• Control systems, energy-optimization tools, and PCE/ROIP performance frameworks

DCP Q: What markets do you serve?

PQ A:

• Hyperscale and AI compute environments
• Colocation and enterprise data centers
• Modular and prefabricated data centers
• Edge and telecom infrastructure
• Education, industrial, government, and defense applications requiring mission-critical cooling

DCP Q: What challenges does the global digital infrastructure industry face today?

PQ A: The industry now operates in an environment of rapid compute expansion and structural power scarcity. Grid limitations, long construction timelines, inefficient legacy cooling, land constraints, and the explosive rise of AI workloads have created an energy bottleneck. Data centers no longer struggle with space… they struggle with power.

DCP Q: How is your company adapting to these challenges?

PQ A: Airsys has always shifted the conversation from cooling to energy stewardship. Every system we design focuses on reducing cooling overhead and returning power to computation. Our LiquidRack spray-cooling platform, low-lift CritiCool-X chillers, and high-efficiency DX systems enable operators to deploy more compute with less infrastructure. We’re also advancing new metrics – PCE and ROIP – to help operators quantify the financial value of returned power.

DCP Q: What are your company’s key differentiators?

PQ A:

• Energy-first design philosophy — our systems return power to compute
• Rapid delivery and global manufacturing — critical in today’s supply-strained market
• LiquidRack spray cooling — enabling high-density AI clusters without stranded power
• Flooded-evaporator chiller technology — high efficiency, low lift, faster deployment
• End-to-end portfolio — DX, chilled water, liquid-assisted cooling, modular systems
• Practical engineering — simple, reliable, maintainable designs
• PCE / ROIP frameworks — financial and operational tools that change how operators evaluate cooling impact

DCP Q: What can we expect to see/hear from your company in the future?  

PQ A: You will see a major expansion of our LiquidRack platform, new ultra-efficient chiller technologies, deeper integration of PCE/ROIP metrics, and broader support for modular and edge deployments. We are continuing to push innovation toward one goal: giving operators more usable power for compute.

DCP Q: What upcoming industry events will you be attending? 

PQ A: Events Airsys is considering for 2026:

PTC’26 Hawaii; Escape the Cold Aisle Phoenix; Advancing DC Construction West; DCD>Connect New York; Data Center World DC; World of Modular Las Vegas; NSPMA; 7×24 Exchange Spring Orlando; Data Center Nation Toronto; Datacloud USA Austin; AI Infra Summit Santa Clara; DCW Power Dallas; Yotta Las Vegas; 7×24 Exchange Fall San Antonio; PTC DC; DCD>Connect Virginia; DCAC Austin; Supercomputing; Gartner IOCS; NVIDIA GTC; OCP Global Summit.

DCP Q: Do you have any recent news you would like us to highlight?

PQ A: Yes, Airsys has expanded its high-density cooling portfolio with several major advancements:

• LiquidRack spray-cooling platform for AI clusters
• CritiCool-X flooded-evaporator chiller line
• PowerOne high-density cooling solutions supporting AI, HPC, and hyperscale growth
• New PCE and ROIP frameworks that help operators quantify power-to-compute efficiency and energy stewardship

More announcements are planned for early 2026 as Airsys continues to expand its advanced cooling portfolio for high-density compute environments

DCP Q: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about your company and capabilities?

PQ A: Airsys is built on a simple idea: power should serve computation, not be lost protecting it. Our mission is to help operators turn cooling losses into compute gains and to make energy stewardship a competitive advantage in the AI era.

DCP Q: Where can our readers learn more about your company?  

PQ A: www.airsysnorthamerica.com

DCP Q: How can our readers contact your company? 

PQ A: www.airsysnorthamerica.com/contact

To learn more about PTC’26, please visit www.ptc.org/ptc26. The event takes place January 18-21, 2026 in Honolulu, HI.

If you are interested in contributing to Data Center POST, contact us at contributions@datacenterpost.com.

Stay in the know! Subscribe to Data Center POST today.

# # #

About Data Center POST

Data Center POST provides a comprehensive view of the digital infrastructure landscape, delivering industry insights into the global data center ecosystem. As the industry’s only peer-contributed and online publication, we offer relevant information from developers, managers, providers, investors, and trendsetters worldwide.

Data Center POST works hard to get the most current information and thought-provoking ideas most apt to add relevance to the success of the data center industry. Stay informed, visit www.datacenterpost.com.

ADVERTISE | CONTRIBUTE | SUBSCRIBE

The post Power Should Serve Compute: Airsys’ Energy-First Approach to Data Center Cooling appeared first on Data Center POST.

The global AI data center market was valued at USD 98.2 billion in 2024 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 35.5% to reach USD 1.98 trillion by 2034, according to a recent report by Global Market Insights Inc.

Growing adoption of generative AI and machine learning tools requires extraordinary processing power and storage capabilities, increasing reliance on data centers specifically optimized for AI workloads. These environments depend on advanced GPUs, scalable system architecture, and ultra-low-latency networking to support complex model training and inference across industries such as finance, healthcare, and retail. Big data analytics is also accelerating demand, as organizations handle massive streams of structured and unstructured information that must be processed rapidly.

AI-focused facilities enable high-performance computing for real-time workloads, strengthening their role as essential infrastructure for global digital transformation. The rapid expansion of cloud computing, along with the rising number of hyperscale facilities, continues to amplify the need for AI-ready infrastructures. Providers are investing in advanced AI data platforms that offer scalable services to enterprises and developers, further increasing market momentum.

The AI data center market from the hardware segment accounted for USD 61.1 billion in 2024. Growth is driven by expanding use of AI chips, GPU accelerators, advanced cooling technologies, high-density server systems, and optical networking solutions. Rising GPU energy requirements, the shift toward rack densities between 30-120 kW, and large-scale deployment strategies introduced by leading technology companies are shaping long-term capital allocation in the sector.

The cloud-based category held a 58% share in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 35.2% from 2025 through 2034. This segment leads due to its unmatched scalability, flexible consumption options, and access to the latest AI-accelerated computing hardware without upfront investment. Hyperscale providers are making multi-billion-dollar commitments to strengthen global AI infrastructures, propelling adoption of AI-driven services and increasing demand for GPUs, TPUs, and specialized processors.

U.S. AI Data Center Market generated USD 33.2 billion in 2024. The country maintains a leading position supported by prominent hyperscale operators and substantial investments in GPU clusters, liquid cooling, and large-scale AI-aligned builds. Federal incentives, regional tax advantages, and infrastructure funding have further solidified the United States as the most capacity-rich region for AI computing.

Key participants in the AI data center market include Huawei, AWS, NVIDIA, HPE, Digital Realty, Google, Lenovo, Microsoft, Equinix, and Dell Technologies. Companies expanding their foothold in the market are focusing on infrastructure modernization, large-scale GPU deployments, and energy-efficient system design.

Many firms are investing in high-density racks, integrated liquid cooling, and next-generation networking to support advanced AI workloads. Strategic partnerships with chipmakers, cloud providers, and colocation operators help accelerate capacity expansion and ensure access to cutting-edge AI hardware. Providers are also scaling global data center footprints, enhancing automation capabilities, and optimizing power utilization through renewable-energy integration. Long-term contracts with enterprises, AI-as-a-service offerings, and the buildout of specialized AI clusters further reinforce competitive positioning and market dominance.

The post AI Data Center Market to Surpass USD 1.98 Trillion by 2034 appeared first on Data Center POST.

Data centers are the backbone of modern digital infrastructure. They power cloud services, financial systems, healthcare platforms, and nearly every technology-driven business. As demand for data storage and processing grows, so do the operational, financial, and risk-related challenges data centers face. For managers, understanding these issues and knowing how to address them proactively is critical to maintaining uptime, security, and long-term viability. This is what you need to know to ensure you can meet up with demand.

Rising Energy Costs and Efficiency Demands

One of the most persistent challenges for data centers is energy consumption. Powering servers, cooling systems, and redundancy infrastructure requires enormous amounts of electricity, and energy costs continue to rise globally. Beyond cost, there is increasing pressure from regulators and customers to reduce environmental impact.

Managers can address this by investing in energy-efficient hardware, optimizing airflow and cooling layouts, and adopting real-time monitoring tools to identify waste. Long-term strategies may include transitioning to renewable energy sources or partnering with utility providers for more favorable pricing structures.

Cooling and Thermal Management Challenges

Heat is an unavoidable byproduct of high-density computing. Inefficient cooling not only increases costs but also raises the risk of equipment failure and downtime. As server densities increase, traditional cooling methods often struggle to keep up.

Modern solutions include hot-aisle/cold-aisle containment, liquid cooling, and AI-driven thermal monitoring systems. For managers, the key is treating cooling as a dynamic system rather than a fixed infrastructure. However, this needs to be one that evolves alongside hardware demands.

Financial Risk and Insurance Considerations

Data centers face significant financial exposure from equipment damage, downtime, liability claims, and unforeseen events. Even with strong operational controls, risk cannot be eliminated entirely.

This is where insurance becomes a critical part of risk management. Evaluating coverage that aligns with the unique needs of data center operations can help protect against losses that would otherwise threaten business continuity. BOP insurance by Next Insurance can help managers think more holistically about protecting assets, operations, and revenue streams as part of an overall risk strategy.

Downtime and Business Continuity Risks

Even brief outages can result in significant financial losses, reputational damage, and contractual penalties. This downtime may be caused by:

• Power failures
• Human error
• Equipment malfunction
• External events

To mitigate this risk, managers should prioritize redundancy at every critical point, including power supplies, network connections, and backup systems. Regular testing of disaster recovery plans is just as important as having them documented, too. A plan that hasn’t been tested is often unreliable in real-world conditions. You put your business and those whom you cater to at risk.

Cybersecurity and Physical Security Threats

Data centers face a dual security challenge: digital threats and physical risks. Cyberattacks continue to grow in sophistication, while physical threats such as unauthorized access, theft, or vandalism remain real concerns.

Addressing this requires layered security. On the digital side, this includes continuous patching, network segmentation, and monitoring for unusual activity. Physically, access controls, surveillance systems, and strict visitor protocols are essential. Managers should also ensure that staff training keeps pace with evolving threats, as human error remains a major vulnerability.

Compliance and Regulatory Pressure

Data centers often operate under complex regulatory requirements related to data privacy, industry standards, and regional laws. Compliance failures can result in fines, legal exposure, and loss of customer trust.

Managers can stay ahead by maintaining clear documentation, conducting regular audits, and working closely with legal and compliance teams. Building compliance into operational processes, rather than treating it as an afterthought, reduces risk and simplifies reporting.

Turning Challenges Into Strategic Advantage

While data centers face a wide range of operational and strategic challenges, these issues also present opportunities for improvement and differentiation. Managers who address all of the above proactively are better positioned to deliver reliability and value in a competitive market. Don’t let yours be the one that falls victim to the issues and instead take action.

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About the Author:

James Daniels is a freelance writer, business enthusiast, a bit of a tech buff, and an overall geek. He is also an avid reader, who can spend hours reading and knowing about the latest gadgets and tech, whilst offering views and opinions on these topics.

The post Issues Data Centers Face and How to Overcome Them: A Guide for Managers appeared first on Data Center POST.

Cyber incidents haven’t ceased to escalate in 2025, and they keep making their presence felt more and more impactfully as we transition into 2026. The quick evolution of novel cyber threat trends leaves data centers increasingly exposed to disruptions extending beyond the traditional IT boundaries.

The Uptime Institute’s annual outage analysis shows that in 2024, cyber-related disruptions occurred at roughly twice the average rate seen over the previous four years. This trend aligns with findings from Honeywell’s 2025 Cyber Threat Report, which identified a sharp increase in ransomware and extortion activity targeting operational technology environments based on large-scale system data.

There are many discussions today around infrastructure complexity and attack sophistication, but it’s a lesser-known reality that human error in cybersecurity remains a central factor behind many of these incidents. Routine configuration changes, access decisions, or decisions taken under stress can create conditions that allow errors to sneak in. Looking at high-availability environments, human error often becomes the point at which otherwise contained threats begin to escalate into bigger problems.

As cyberattacks on data centers continue to grow in number, downtime is carrying heavier and heavier financial and reputational consequences. Addressing human error in cybersecurity means recognizing that human behavior plays a direct role in how a security architecture performs in practice. Let’s take a closer look.

How  Attackers Take Advantage of Human Error in Cybersecurity

Cyberattacks often exploit vulnerabilities that stem from both superficial, maybe even preventable mistakes, as well as deeper, systemic issues. Human error in cybersecurity often arises when established procedures are not followed through consistently, which can create gaps that attackers are more than eager to exploit. A delayed firmware update or not completing maintenance tasks can leave infrastructure exposed, even when the risks are already known. And even if organizations have defined policies to reduce these exposures, noncompliance or insufficient follow-through often weakens their effectiveness.

In many environments, operators are aware that parts of their IT and operational technology infrastructure carry known weaknesses, but due to a lack of time or oversight, they fail to address them consistently. Limited training also adds to the problem, especially when employees are expected to recognize and respond to social engineering techniques. Phishing, impersonation, and ransomware attacks are increasingly targeting organizations with complex supply chains and third-party dependencies, and in these situations, human error often enables the initial breach, after which attackers move laterally through systems, using minor mistakes to trigger disruptions.

Why Following Procedures is Crucial

Having policies in place doesn’t always guarantee that the follow-through will be consistent. In everyday operations, teams often have to juggle many things at once: updates, alerts, and routine maintenance, and small steps can be missed unintentionally. Even experienced staff can make these kinds of mistakes, especially when managing large or complex environments over an extended period of time. Gradually, these small oversights can add up and leave systems exposed.

Account management works similarly. Password rules, or the policies for the handling of inactive accounts are usually well-defined; however, they are not always applied homogeneously. Dormant accounts may go unnoticed, and teams can fall behind on updates or escape regular review. Human error in cybersecurity often develops step by step through workloads, familiarity, and everyday stress, and not because of a lack of skill or awareness.

The Danger of Interacting With Social Engineering Without Even Knowing

Social engineering is a method of attack that uses deception and impersonation to influence people into revealing information or providing access. It relies on trust and context to make people perform actions that appear harmless and legitimate at the moment.

The trick of deepfakes is that they mirror everyday communication very accurately. Attackers today have all the tools to impersonate colleagues, service providers, or internal support staff. A phone call from someone claiming to be part of the IT help desk can easily seem routine, especially when framed as a quick fix or standard check. Similar approaches can be seen in emails or messaging platforms, and the pattern is the same: urgency overrides safety.

With the various new tools available, visual deception has become very common. Employees may be directed to login pages that closely resemble internal systems and enter credentials without hesitation. Emerging techniques like AI-assisted voice or video impersonation further blur the line between legitimate requests and malicious activity, making social engineering interactions very difficult to recognize in real time.

Ignoring Security Policies and Best Practices

It’s not enough if security policies exist only as formal documentation, but are not followed consistently on the floor. Sometimes, even if access procedures are defined, employees under the pressure of time can make undocumented exceptions. Access policies, or change management rules, for example, require peer review and approval, but urgent maintenance or capacity pressures often lead to decisions that bypass those steps.

These small deviations create gaps between how systems are supposed to be protected and how they are actually handled. When policies become situational or optional, security controls lose their purpose and reliability, leaving the infrastructure exposed, even though there’s a mature security framework in place.

When Policies Leave Room for Interpretation

Policies that lack precision introduce variability into how security controls are applied across teams and shifts. When procedures don’t explicitly define how credentials should be managed on shared systems, retained login sessions, or administrative access can remain in place beyond their intended scope. Similarly, if requirements for password rotation or periodic access reviews are loosely framed or undocumented, they are more likely to be deferred during routine operations.

These conditions rarely trigger immediate alerts or audit findings. However, over time, they accumulate into systemic weaknesses that expand the attack surface and increase the likelihood of attacks.

Best Practices That Erode in Daily Operations

Security issues often emerge through slow, incremental changes. When operational pressure increases, teams might want to rely on more informal workarounds to keep everything running. Routine best practices like updates, access reviews, and configuration standards can slip down the priority list or become sloppy in their application. Individually, all of these decisions can seem reasonable at the moment; over time, however, they do add up and dilute the established safeguards, which leaves the organization exposed even without a single clearly identifiable incident.

Overlooking Access and Offboarding Control

Ignoring best practices around access management introduces the next line of risks. Employees and third-party contractors often retain privileges beyond their active role if offboarding steps are not followed through. In the lack of clear deprovisioning rules, like disabling accounts, dormant access can linger on unnoticed. These inactive accounts are not monitored closely enough to detect and identify if misuse or compromise happens.

Policy Gaps During Incident Response

The consequences of ignoring procedures become most visible when an actual cybersecurity incident occurs. When teams are forced to act quickly without clear guidance, errors start to surface. Procedures that are outdated, untested, or difficult to locate offer little support during an emergency. There’s no policy that can eliminate risks completely, however, organizations that treat procedures as living, enforceable tools are better positioned to respond effectively when an incident occurs.

A Weak Approach to Security Governance

Weak security governance often allows risks to persist unnoticed, especially when oversight from management is limited or unclear. Without clear ownership and accountability, routine tasks like applying security patches or reviewing alerts can be delayed or overlooked, leaving systems exposed. These seemingly insignificant gaps create an environment over time in which vulnerabilities are known but not actively addressed.

Training plays a very important role in closing this gap, but only when it is treated as part of governance,and not as an isolated activity. Regular, structured training helps employees develop a habit of verification and reinforces the checks and balances defined by organizational policies. To remain effective, training has to evolve in tandem with the threat landscape. Employees need ongoing exposure to emerging attack techniques and practical guidance on how to recognize and respond to them within their daily workflows. Aligned governance and training help organizations position themselves better to reduce risk driven by human factors.

Understanding the Stakes

Human error in cybersecurity is often discussed as a collection of isolated missteps, but in reality, it reflects how people operate within complex systems under constant pressure.

In data center environments, these errors rarely occur as isolated events but are influenced by interconnected processes, tight timelines, and attackers who deliberately exploit trust, familiarity, and routine behavior. Looking at it from this angle, human error doesn’t show only individual mistakes but provides insight into how risks develop across an organization over time.

Recognizing the role of human error in cybersecurity is essential for reducing future incidents, but awareness alone is not enough. Training also plays an important role, but it cannot compensate for unclear processes, weak governance, or a culture that prioritizes speed more than safety.

Data center operators have to continuously adapt their security practices and reinforce expectations through daily operations instead of treating security best practices as rigid formalities. Building a culture where employees understand how their actions influence security outcomes helps organizations respond more effectively to evolving threats and limits the conditions that allow small errors to turn into major, devastating incidents.

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About the Author

Michael Zrihen  is the Senior Director of Marketing & Internal Operations Manager at Volico Data Centers.

The post Human Error in Cybersecurity and the Growing Threat to Data Centers appeared first on Data Center POST.

Sabey Data Centers is adding OptiCool Technologies to its growing ecosystem of advanced cooling partners, aiming to make high-density and AI-driven compute deployments more practical and energy efficient across its U.S. footprint. This move highlights how colocation providers are turning to specialized liquid and refrigerant-based solutions as rack densities outstrip the capabilities of traditional air cooling.

OptiCool is known for two-phase refrigerant pumped systems that use a non-conductive refrigerant to absorb heat through phase change at the rack level. This approach enables efficient heat removal without chilled water loops or extensive mechanical plant build-outs, which can simplify facility design and cut both capital and operating costs for data centers pushing into higher power densities. Sabey is positioning the OptiCool alliance as part of its integrated cooling technologies partnership program, which is designed to lower barriers to liquid and alternative cooling adoption for customers. Instead of forcing enterprises to engineer bespoke solutions for each deployment, Sabey is curating pre-vetted architectures and partners that align cooling technology, facility infrastructure and operational responsibility. For operators planning AI and HPC rollouts, that can translate into clearer deployment paths and reduced integration risk.

The appeal of two-phase refrigerant cooling lies in its combination of density, efficiency and retrofit friendliness. Because the systems move heat directly from the rack to localized condensers using a pumped refrigerant, they can often be deployed with minimal disruption to existing white space. That makes them attractive for operators that need to increase rack power without rebuilding entire data halls or adding large amounts of chilled water infrastructure.

Sabey executives frame the partnership as a response to customer demand for flexible, future-ready cooling options. As more organizations standardize on GPU-rich architectures and high-density configurations, cooling strategy has become a primary constraint on capacity planning. By incorporating OptiCool’s technology into its program, Sabey is signaling to customers that they will have multiple, validated pathways to support emerging workload profiles while staying within power and sustainability envelopes.

As liquid and refrigerant-based cooling rapidly move into the mainstream, customers evaluating their own AI and high-density strategies may benefit from understanding how Sabey is standardizing these technologies across its portfolio. To explore how this partnership and Sabey’s broader integrated cooling program could support specific deployment plans, readers can visit Sabey’s website for more information at www. sabeydatacenters.com.

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Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft; these tech giants’ cloud services, Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure, respectively, are considered the driving force behind all current business computing, data, and mobile services. But back in the mid-2000s, they weren’t immediately seen as best bets on Wall Street. When Amazon launched AWS, analysts and investors were skeptical. They dismissed AWS as a distraction from Amazon’s core retail business. The Wall Street wizards did not understand the potential of cloud computing services. Many critics believed enterprises would never move their mission-critical workloads off-premises and into remote data centers.

As we all know, the naysayers were wrong, and cloud computing took off, redefining global business. It turbo-charged the economy, creating trillions in enterprise value while reducing IT costs, increasing application agility, and enabling new business models. In addition, the advent of cloud services lowered barriers to entry for startups and enabled rapid service scaling. Improving efficiency, collaboration, and innovation through scalable, pay-as-you-go access to computing resources was part of the formula for astounding success. The cloud pushed innovation to every corner of society, and those wise financiers misunderstood it. They could not see how this capital-intensive, long-horizon bet would ever pay off.

Now, we are at that moment again. This time with artificial intelligence.

Headlines appear every day saying that we’re in an “AI bubble.” But AI has gone beyond mere speculation as companies (hyperscalers) are in early-stage infrastructure buildout mode. Hyperscalers understand this momentum. They have seen this movie before with a different protagonist, and they know the story ends with transformation, not collapse. The need for transformative compute, power, and connectivity is the catalyst driving a new generation of data center buildouts. The applications, the productivity, and the tools are there. And unlike the early cloud era, sustainable AI-related revenue is a predictable balance sheet line item.

The Data

Consider these most recent quarterly earnings:

• Microsoft Q3 2025: Revenue: $70.1B, up 13%. Net income: $25.8B, up 18%. Intelligent Cloud grew 21% led by Azure, with 16 points of growth from AI services.
• Amazon Q3 2025: Revenue: $180.2B, up 13%. AWS grew 20% to $33B. Trainium2, its second-gen AI chip, is a multi-billion-dollar line. AWS added 3.8 GW of power capacity in 12 months due to high demand.

• Alphabet (Google Parent) Q3 2025: Revenue: $102.35B, up 16%. Cloud revenue grew 33% to $15.2B. Operating income: up nearly 85%, backed by $155B cloud backlog.
• Meta Q3 2025: Revenue: $51.2B, up 26%. Increased infrastructure spend focused on expanding AI compute capacity. (4)

These are not the signs of a bubble. These are the signatures of a platform shift, and the companies leading it are already realizing returns while businesses weave AI into operations.

Bubble or Bottleneck

However, let’s be clear about this analogy: AI is not simply the next chapter of the cloud. Instead, it builds on and accelerates the cloud’s original mission: making extraordinary computing capabilities accessible and scalable. While the cloud democratized computing, AI is now democratizing intelligence and autonomy. This evolution will transform how we work, secure systems, travel, heal, build, educate, and solve problems.

Just as there were cloud critics, we now have AI critics. They say that aggressive capital spending, rising energy demand, and grid strain are signs that the market is already overextended. The pundits are correct about the spending:

• Alphabet (Google) Q3 2025: ~US $24B on infrastructure oriented toward AI/data centers.
• Amazon (AWS) Q3 2025: ~US $34.2B, largely on infrastructure/AI-related efforts.
• Meta Q3 2025: US $19.4B directed at servers/data centers/network infrastructure for AI.
• Microsoft Q3 2025: Roughly US $34.9B, of which perhaps US $17-18B or more is directly AI/data-center infrastructure (based on “half” of capex).

However, the pundits’ underlying argument is predicated on the same misunderstandings seen in the run-up to the cloud era: it confuses infrastructure investment with excess spending. The challenge with AI is not too much capacity; it is not enough. Demand is already exceeding grid capacity, land availability, power transmission expansion, and specialized equipment supply.

Bubbles do not behave that way; they generate idle capacity. For example, consider the collapse of Global Crossing. The company created the first transcontinental internet backbone by laying 100,000 route-miles of undersea fiber linking 27 countries.

Unfortunately, Global Crossing did not survive the dot-com bubble burst (1990-2000) and filed for bankruptcy. However, Level 3, then CenturyLink (2017), and Lumen Technologies knew better than to listen to Wall Street and acquired Global Crossing’s cables. Today, Lumen has reported total 2024 revenue of $13.1 billion. Although they don’t specifically list submarine cable business revenue, it’s reasonable to infer that these cables are still generating in the low billion-dollar revenue figures—a nice perpetual paycheck for not listening to the penny pinchers.

The AI economy is moving the value chain down the same path of sustainable profitability. But first, we must address factors such as data center proximity to grid strength, access to substation expansion, transformer supply, water access, cooling capacity, and land for modern power-intensive compute loads.

Power, Land, and the New Workforce

The cloud era prioritized fiber; the AI era is prioritizing power. Transmission corridors, utility partnerships, renewable integration, cooling systems, and purpose-built digital land strategies are essential for AI expansion. And with all that comes the “pick and shovel” jobs building data centers, which Wall Street does not factor into the AI economy. You need to look no further than Caterpillar’s Q3 2025 sales and revenue of $16.1 billion, up 10 percent.

Often overlooked in the tech hype are the industrial, real estate, and power grid requirements for data center builds, which require skilled workers such as electricians, steelworkers, construction crews, civil engineers, equipment manufacturers, utility operators, grid modernizers, and renewable developers. And once they’re up and running, data centers need cloud and network architects, cybersecurity analysts, and AI professionals.

As AI scales, it will lift industrial landowners, renewable power developers, utilities, semiconductor manufacturers, equipment suppliers, telecom networks, and thousands of local trades and service ecosystems, just as it’s lifting Caterpillar. It will accelerate infrastructure revitalization and strengthen rural and suburban economies. It will create new industries, just like the cloud did with Software as a Service (SaaS), e-commerce logistics, digital banking, streaming media, and remote-work platforms.

Conclusion

We’ve seen Wall Street mislabel some of the most significant tech expansions, from the telecom-hotel buildout of the 1990s to the co-location wave, global fiber expansion, hyperscale cloud, and now, with AI. Just like all revolutionary ideas, skepticism tends to precede them, even though there’s an inevitability to them. But stay focused: infrastructure comes before revenue, and revenue tends to arrive sooner than predicted, which brings home the point that AI is not inflating; it is expanding.

Smartphones reshaped consumer behavior within a decade; AI will reshape the industry in less than half that time. This is not a bubble. It is an infrastructure super-cycle predicated on electricity, land, silicon, and ingenuity. Now is the time to act: those who build power-first digital infrastructure are not in the hype business; they’re laying the foundation for the next century of economic growth.

# # #

About the Author

Ryne Friedman is an Associate at hi-tequity, where he leverages his commercial real estate expertise to guide strategic site selection and location analysis for data center development. A U.S. Coast Guard veteran and licensed Florida real estate professional, he previously supported national brands such as Dairy Queen, Crunch Fitness, Jimmy John’s, and 7-Eleven with market research and site acquisition. His background spans roles at SLC Commercial, Lambert Commercial Real Estate, DSA Encore, and DataCenterAndColocation. Ryne studied Business Administration and Management at Central Connecticut State University.

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Equinix customers can now order last-mile connectivity from enterprise edge locations to any of Equinix’s 270+ data centers globally, eliminating weeks of manual sourcing and the margin stacking that has long plagued enterprise network procurement.

The collaboration integrates Resolute CS’s NEXUS platform directly into the Equinix Customer Portal, giving enterprises transparent access to 3,200+ carriers across 180 countries. Rather than navigating opaque pricing through multiple intermediaries, customers can design, price, and order last-mile access with full visibility into costs and carrier options.

The Last-Mile Problem

While interconnection platforms like Equinix Fabric have transformed data center connectivity, the edge connectivity gap has remained a persistent friction point. Enterprises connecting branch offices or remote facilities to data centers typically face weeks-long sourcing cycles, opaque pricing structures with 2-4 layers of margin stacking (25-30% each), and inconsistent delivery across geographies.

This inefficiency becomes particularly acute as AI workloads shift toward distributed architectures. Unlike centralized applications, AI infrastructure increasingly requires connectivity across edge locations, multiple data centers, and cloud platforms, creating exponentially more last-mile requirements that manual sourcing processes cannot efficiently handle.

How It Works

Resolute NEXUS automates route design, identifies diversity and resiliency options, simplifies cloud access paths, and coordinates direct ordering with carriers. The result: enterprises can manage connectivity from branch office to data center to cloud through a single portal, with transparent pricing and no hidden margin layers.

“We are empowering customers to design their network architecture without access constraints,” said Patrick C. Shutt, CEO and co-founder of Resolute CS. “With Equinix and Resolute NEXUS, customers can design, price, and order global last-mile access with full transparency, removing complexity and lowering costs.”

Benefits for Carriers Too

The platform also creates opportunities for network providers. By operating as a carrier-neutral marketplace, Resolute NEXUS gives providers direct visibility into qualified enterprise demand, improved infrastructure utilization, and lower customer acquisition costs, all without the traditional intermediary layers.

AI and Distributed Infrastructure

With Equinix operating 270+ AI-optimized data centers across 77 markets, automated last-mile sourcing directly addresses the connectivity requirements for distributed AI deployments. Enterprises can now provision edge-to-cloud connectivity with the speed and transparency expected from modern cloud services.

Equinix Fabric customers can access the platform immediately through the Equinix Customer Portal by navigating to “Find Service Providers” and searching for Resolute NEXUS – Last Mile Access.

To learn more, read the full press release here.

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DC BLOX has taken a significant step in accelerating digital transformation across the Southeast with the closing of a new $240 million HoldCo financing facility from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock. This strategic funding positions the company to rapidly advance its hyperscale data center expansion while reinforcing its role as a critical enabler of AI and cloud growth in the region.​

Strategic growth financing

The $240 million facility from GIP provides fresh growth capital dedicated to DC BLOX’s hyperscale data center strategy, building on the company’s recently announced $1.15 billion and $265 million Senior Secured Green Loans. Together, these financings support the development and construction of an expanding portfolio of digital infrastructure projects designed to meet surging demand from hyperscalers and carriers.​

Powering AI and cloud innovation

DC BLOX has emerged as a leader in connected data center and fiber network solutions, with a vertically integrated platform that includes hyperscale data centers, subsea cable landing stations, colocation, and fiber services. This model allows the company to offer end-to-end solutions for hyperscalers and communications providers seeking capacity, connectivity, and resiliency in high-growth Southeastern markets.​

Community and economic impact

The new financing is about more than infrastructure; it is also about regional economic development. DC BLOX’s investments help bring cutting-edge AI and cloud technology into local communities, while driving construction jobs, tax revenues, and power grid enhancements that benefit both customers and ratepayers.

“We are excited to partner with GIP, a part of BlackRock, to fuel our ambitious growth goals,” said Melih Ileri, Chief Investment Officer at DC BLOX. “This financing underscores our commitment to serving communities in the Southeast by bringing cutting-edge AI and cloud technology investments with leading hyperscalers into the region, and creating economic development activity through construction jobs, taxes paid, and making investments into the power grid for the benefit of our customers and local ratepayers alike.”​

Backing from leading investors

Michael Bogdan, Chairman of DC BLOX and Head of the Digital Infrastructure Group at Future Standard, highlighted that this milestone showcases the strength of the company’s vision and execution. Future Standard, a global alternative asset manager based in Philadelphia with over 86.0 billion in assets under management, leads DC BLOX’s sponsorship and recently launched its Future Standard Digital Infrastructure platform with more than 2 billion in assets. GIP, now a part of BlackRock and overseeing over 189 billion in assets, brings deep sector experience across energy, transport, and digital infrastructure, further validating DC BLOX’s role in shaping the Southeast as a global hub for AI-driven innovation.​

Read the full release here.

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Yotta 2026 is officially open for registration, returning Sept. 28–30 to Las Vegas with a larger footprint, a new venue and an expanded platform designed to meet the accelerating demands of AI-driven infrastructure. Now hosted at Caesars Forum, Yotta 2026 reflects both the rapid growth of the event and the unprecedented pace at which AI is reshaping compute, power and digital infrastructure worldwide.

As AI workloads scale faster than existing systems were designed to handle, infrastructure leaders are facing mounting challenges around power availability, capital deployment, resilience and integration across traditionally siloed industries. Yotta 2026 is built to convene the full ecosystem grappling with these realities, bringing together operators, hyperscalers, enterprise leaders, energy executives, investors, builders, policymakers and technology partners in one place.

Rebecca Sausner, CEO of Yotta, emphasizes that the event is designed for practical progress, not theoretical discussion. From chips and racks to networks, cooling, power and community engagement, AI is transforming every layer of digital infrastructure. Yotta 2026 aims to move conversations beyond vision and into real-world solutions that address scale, reliability and investment risk in an AI-first era.

A defining feature of Yotta 2026 is its advisory board-led approach to programming. The conference agenda is being developed in collaboration with the newly announced Yotta Advisory Board, which includes senior leaders from organizations spanning AI, cloud, energy, finance and infrastructure, including OpenAI, Oracle, Schneider Electric, KKR, Xcel Energy, GEICO and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). This cross-sector guidance ensures the program reflects how the industry actually operates, as an interconnected system where decisions around power, compute, capital, design and policy are inseparable.

The 2026 agenda will focus on the most urgent challenges shaping the AI infrastructure era. Key themes include AI infrastructure and compute density, power generation and grid interconnection, capital formation and investment risk, design and operational resilience, and policy and public-private alignment. Together, these topics offer a market-driven view of how digital infrastructure must be designed, financed and operated to support AI at scale.

With an anticipated 6,000+ AI and digital infrastructure leaders in attendance, Yotta 2026 will feature a significantly expanded indoor and outdoor expo hall, curated conference programming and immersive networking experiences. Hosted at Caesars Forum, the event is designed to support both strategic planning and hands-on execution, creating space for collaboration across the entire infrastructure value chain.

Early registration is now open, with passes starting at $795 and discounted rates available for early registrants. As AI continues to drive unprecedented infrastructure demand, Yotta 2026 positions itself as a critical forum for the conversations and decisions shaping the future of compute, power and digital infrastructure.

To learn more or register, visit yotta-event.com.

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ESI Total Fuel Management is expanding its Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO/R99) services to help data centers and other mission-critical facilities advance their sustainability strategies without sacrificing reliability. With this move, the company is deepening its role as a long-term partner for operators pursuing Net-Zero 2030 goals in an increasingly demanding digital infrastructure landscape.​

Advancing data center sustainability

Across the data center industry, operators are under growing pressure to reduce the environmental impact of standby power systems while maintaining assured uptime. ESI draws on decades of experience in fuel lifecycle management, having previously championed ultra-low sulfur diesel adoption, to guide customers through the transition to renewable diesel.​

To support practical and scalable adoption, ESI has established the first secure HVO/R99 supply chain on the East Coast, giving operators dependable access to renewable diesel as part of a long-term fuel strategy. This infrastructure enables data center and mission-critical operators to integrate HVO into their operations as a realistic step toward emissions reduction and operational continuity.​

Renewable diesel performance benefits

HVO/R99 can reduce carbon emissions by up to 90 percent compared with conventional diesel, while maintaining strong cold-weather performance and long-term fuel stability suited to standby generator storage cycles. As a drop-in fuel, it requires no modifications to existing infrastructure and directly supports Scope 1 emissions reduction initiatives.​

Integrated lifecycle approach

Within ESI’s broader portfolio, HVO is one component of a comprehensive approach encompassing fuel quality, monitoring, compliance, and system resiliency.

“Sustainability goals do not replace the need for resiliency, and they can be complementary,” said Alex Marcus, CEO and president of ESI Total Fuel Management. “Our focus is helping customers implement solutions that are technically sound and operationally proven. By managing the entire fuel lifecycle, from supply and storage to monitoring, consumption, and pollution control, we help customers reduce environmental impact while maintaining resilient, mission-critical systems.”​

Supporting Net-Zero 2030 objectives

For data center operators pursuing Net-Zero 2030, ESI provides the engineering expertise, infrastructure, and operational support needed to move beyond isolated initiatives toward coordinated, data-driven fuel strategies. This combination of renewable fuel options and full lifecycle management helps strengthen both sustainability and resiliency for mission-critical environments.​

Read the full release here.

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Duos Technologies Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), through its operating subsidiary Duos Edge AI, Inc., has deployed another patented modular Edge Data Center (EDC) in Hereford, Texas. The facility was deployed in partnership with Hereford Independent School District (Hereford ISD) and marks another milestone in Duos Edge AI’s mission to deliver localized, low-latency compute infrastructure that supports education and community technology growth across rural and underserved markets.

​”We are thrilled to partner with Duos Edge AI to bring a state-of-the-art Edge Data Center directly to our Administration location in Hereford ISD,” said Dr. Ralph Carter, Superintendent of Hereford Independent School District. “This innovative deployment will dramatically enhance our digital infrastructure, providing low-latency access to advanced computing resources that will empower our teachers with cutting-edge tools, enable real-time AI applications in the classroom, and ensure faster, more reliable connectivity for our students and staff.​

Each modular facility is designed for rapid 90-day deployment and delivers scalable, high-performance computing power with enterprise-grade security controls, including third-party SOC 2 Type II certification under AICPA standards.

​Duos Edge AI’s patented modular infrastructure incorporates a U.S. patent for an Entryway for a Modular Data Center (Patent No. US 12,404,690 B1), providing customers with secure, compliant, and differentiated Edge infrastructure that operates exclusively on on-grid power and requires no water for cooling. Duos Edge AI continues to expand nationwide, capitalizing on growing demand for localized compute, AI enablement, and resilient digital infrastructure across underserved and high-growth markets.

“Each deployment strengthens our ability to scale a repeatable, capital-efficient edge infrastructure platform,” said Doug Recker, President of Duos and Founder of Duos Edge AI. “Our patented, SOC 2 Type II-audited EDCs are purpose-built to meet real customer demand for secure, low-latency computing while supporting long-term revenue growth and disciplined execution across our targeted markets.”

To learn more about Duos Edge AI, visit www.duosedge.ai.

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PowerBridge’s mission has always centered on developing powered, gigawatt-scale data center campuses that combine energy infrastructure and digital infrastructure. As demand for gigawatt-scale campuses accelerates across the U.S., the company continues to build a team designed to meet that movement. The appointment of Debra L. Raggio as Executive Vice President and General Counsel marks an important milestone in that journey.

Debra joins PowerBridge at a time of significant growth, as the convergence of energy, power, and digital infrastructure continues to reshape how large-scale data center campuses are developed. With more than 40 years of experience in the energy industry, as well as digital infrastructure experience, specializing in natural gas, electricity, and data center markets, she brings deep regulatory and commercial expertise to the role. At PowerBridge, she will oversee legal, regulatory, environmental, government affairs, and communications, while serving as a strategic advisor to Founder and CEO Alex Hernandez and the Board.

Throughout her career, Debra has been a leading national voice in shaping regulatory frameworks across energy and digital infrastructure sectors in the United States, with experience spanning power markets such as PJM and ERCOT. Her background includes private practice at Baker Botts and executive leadership roles at major energy companies, including Talen Energy Corp.

Debra was also a founding management team member of Cumulus Data LLC, a multi-gigawatt data center campus co-located with the Susquehanna Nuclear generation station in Pennsylvania. Her regulatory, commercial, and legal leadership helped enable the development and execution of the project, culminating in its sale to Amazon in 2024. Today, that campus is the foundation for an approximately $20 billion investment supporting the continued expansion of Amazon Web Services.

That experience directly aligns with PowerBridge’s approach to combining power generation, electric campus infrastructure, pad-ready data center sites, and fiber infrastructure to serve growing data center demand while adding needed power supply to regional electric grids. Reflecting on her decision to join the company, Debra shared, “I am honored to be joining CEO Alex Hernandez and the team of executives I worked with in the formation and execution of the Cumulus Data Center Campus. I look forward to helping PowerBridge become the country’s premier powered-campus development company at multi-gigawatt scale, combining power generation, electric campus infrastructure, pad-ready data center sites, and fiber infrastructure to serve the growing need for data centers, while adding needed power supply to the electric grids, including PJM and ERCOT.”

Debra’s appointment reinforces PowerBridge’s focus on regulatory leadership, strategic execution, and disciplined growth as the company advances powered, gigawatt-scale data center campuses across the United States.

Click here to read the full press release.

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Spain’s digital infrastructure landscape is entering a pivotal new phase, and Nostrum Data Centers is positioning itself at the center of that transformation. By engaging global real estate and data center advisory firm JLL, Nostrum is accelerating the development of a next-generation, AI-ready data center platform designed to support Spain’s emergence as a major connectivity hub for Europe and beyond.

Building the Foundation for an AI-Driven Future

Nostrum Data Centers, the digital infrastructure division of Nostrum Group, is developing a portfolio of sustainable, high-performance data centers purpose-built for artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and high-density workloads. In December 2025, the company announced that its data center assets will be available in 2027, with land and power already secured across all sites, an increasingly rare advantage in today’s constrained infrastructure markets.

The platform includes 500 MW of secured IT capacity, with an additional 300 MW planned for future expansion, bringing total planned development to 800 MW across Spain. This scale positions Nostrum as one of the country’s most ambitious digital infrastructure developers at a time when demand for compute capacity is accelerating across Europe.

Strategic Locations, Connected by Design

Nostrum’s six data center developments are strategically distributed throughout Spain to capitalize on existing power availability, fiber routes, internet exchanges, and subsea connectivity. This geographic diversity allows customers to deploy capacity where it best supports latency-sensitive workloads, redundancy requirements, and long-term growth strategies.

Equally central to Nostrum’s approach is sustainability. Each facility is designed in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), delivering industry-leading efficiency metrics, including a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.1 and zero Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), eliminating water consumption for cooling.

Why JLL? And Why Now?

To support this next phase of growth, Nostrum has engaged JLL to strengthen its go-to-market strategy and customer engagement efforts. JLL brings deep global experience in data center advisory, site selection, and market positioning, helping operators translate technical infrastructure into compelling value for hyperscalers, enterprises, and AI-driven tenants.

“Nostrum Data Centers has a long-term vision for balancing innovation and sustainability. We offer our customers speed to market and scalability throughout our various locations in Spain, all while leading a green revolution to ensure development is done the right way as we position Spain as the next connectivity hub,” says Gabriel Nebreda, Chief Executive Officer at Nostrum Group. “We are confident that our engagement with JLL will be able to help us bolster our efforts and achieve our long-term vision.”

From JLL’s perspective, Spain presents a unique convergence of advantages.

“Spain has a unique market position with its access to robust power infrastructure, its proximity to Points of Presence (PoPs), internet exchanges, subsea connectivity, and being one of the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) markets,” says Jason Bell, JLL Senior Vice President of Data Center and Technology Services in North America. “JLL is excited to be working with Nostrum Data Centers, providing our expertise and guidance to support their quest to be a leading data center platform in Spain, as well as position Spain as the next connectivity hub in Europe and beyond.”

Advancing Spain’s Role in the Global Digital Economy

With JLL’s support, Nostrum Data Centers is further refining its strategy to meet the technical and operational demands of AI and high-density computing without compromising on efficiency or sustainability. The result is a platform designed not just to meet today’s requirements, but to anticipate what the next decade of digital infrastructure will demand.

As hyperscalers, AI developers, and global enterprises look for scalable, energy-efficient alternatives to traditional European hubs, Spain, and Nostrum Data Centers, are increasingly part of the conversation.

Learn more about Nostrum Data Centers: www.thenostrumgroup.com/nostrum-data-centres

Click here to read the press release!

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Duos Technologies Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), through its operating subsidiary Duos Edge AI, Inc, has deployed a new Edge Data Center (EDC) in Abilene, Texas, in collaboration with Region 14 Education Service Center (ESC).​ This deployment expands Duos Edge AI’s presence in Texas while bringing advanced digital infrastructure to support K-12 education, healthcare, workforce development, and local businesses across West Texas.​

This installation builds on Duos Edge AI’s recent Texas deployments in Amarillo (Region 16), Waco (Region 12), and Victoria (Region 3), supporting a broader strategy to deploy edge computing solutions tailored to education, healthcare, and enterprise needs.​

“We are excited to partner with Region 14 ESC to bring cutting-edge technology to Abilene and West Texas, bringing a carrier neutral colocation facility to the market while empowering educators and communities with the tools they need to thrive in a digital world,” said Doug Recker, President of Duos and Founder of Duos Edge AI.​ “This EDC represents our commitment to fostering innovation and economic growth in regions that have historically faced connectivity challenges.”

The Abilene EDC will serve as a local carrier-neutral colocation facility and computing hub, delivering enhanced bandwidth, secure data processing, and low-latency AI capabilities to more than 40 school districts and charter schools across an 11-county region spanning over 13,000 square miles.​

Chris Wigington, Executive Director for Region 14 ESC, added, “Collaborating with Duos Edge AI allows us to elevate the technological capabilities of our schools and partners, ensuring equitable access to high-speed computing and AI resources. This data center will be a game-changer for student learning, teacher development, and regional collaboration.”

By locating the data center at Region 14 ESC, the partnership aims to help bridge digital divides in rural and underserved communities by enabling faster access to educational tools, cloud services, and AI-driven applications, while reducing reliance on distant centralized data centers.​

The EDC is expected to be fully operational in early 2026, with plans for a launch event at Region 14 ESC’s headquarters in Abilene.​

To learn more about Duos Edge AI, visit www.duosedge.ai.

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Originally posted on 1547Realty.

AI is changing what infrastructure needs to do. It is no longer enough to provide power cooling and a basic network connection. Modern AI and high performance computing workloads depend on constant access to large data sets and fast communication between systems. That makes interconnection an essential part of the environment that supports them.

Traditional cloud environments were not built for dense GPU clusters or latency sensitive applications. This has helped drive the rise of neocloud providers, which focus on specialized compute and rely on data centers for the physical setting in which it operates.

Industry reporting from RCR Wireless notes that many neocloud providers choose to colocate in established facilities instead of building new data centers. This gives them faster speed to market and direct access to network ecosystems that would take years to recreate on their own. In this context data centers with strong connectivity play a central role.

1547 operates facilities that combine space and power with the network access needed for AI and neocloud deployments. These environments allow operators to place infrastructure where it can perform as intended.

The Shift from Cloud First to Cloud Right

For many years, the default approach for new applications was simple. Put it in the cloud. That cloud first mindset is now giving way to a cloud-right strategy. The question is no longer only whether something can run in the cloud, but whether it should.

AI and high-performance workloads often need to run close to users, to data sources, or along specific network routes. They require predictable latency and steady throughput. When model training or inference spans many GPUs across different clusters, even small delays can affect performance and cost.

Analysts have observed that organizations are matching each workload to the environment that fits it best. As RTInsights highlights, not every workload performs well in a single centralized cloud. Some applications remain in hyperscale environments. Others move to edge sites, private clouds or colocation facilities that offer greater control over performance. Neocloud operators support this shift by offering GPU focused infrastructure from locations chosen for both efficiency and access to network routes.

To do that, they need more than space. They need carriers, cloud on-ramps, internet exchanges and private connection options. They need a fabric that lets them move data efficiently between customers, partners, and providers. Connectivity within the facility brings these elements together and supports cloud right placement.

1547 facilities support this shift by giving operators access to diverse networks in key markets. These environments allow AI workloads to sit where they perform best while staying connected to the wider ecosystem.

To continue reading, please click here.

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A new development on the Jersey Shore is signaling a shift in how and where AI infrastructure will grow. A subsea cable landing station has announced plans for a data hall built specifically for AI, complete with liquid-cooled GPU clusters and an advertised PUE of 1.25. That number reflects a well-designed facility, but it highlights an emerging reality. PUE only tells us how much power reaches the IT load. It tells us nothing about how much work that power actually produces.

As more “AI-ready” landing stations come online, the industry is beginning to move beyond energy efficiency alone and toward compute productivity. The question is no longer just how much power a facility uses, but how much useful compute it generates per megawatt. That is the core of Power Compute Effectiveness, PCE. When high-density AI hardware is placed at the exact point where global traffic enters a continent, PCE becomes far more relevant than PUE.

To understand why this matters, it helps to look at the role subsea landing stations play. These are the locations where the massive internet cables from overseas come ashore. They carry banking records, streaming platforms, enterprise applications, gaming traffic, and government communications. Most people never notice them, yet they are the physical beginning of the global internet.

For years, large data centers moved inland, following cheaper land and more available power. But as AI shifts from training to real-time inference, location again influences performance. Some AI workloads benefit from sitting directly on the network path instead of hundreds of miles away. This is why placing AI hardware at a cable landing station is suddenly becoming not just possible, but strategic.

A familiar example is Netflix. When millions of viewers press Play, the platform makes moment-to-moment decisions about resolution, bitrate, and content delivery paths. These decisions happen faster and more accurately when the intelligence sits closer to the traffic itself. Moving that logic to the cable landing reduces distance, delays, and potential bottlenecks. The result is a smoother user experience.

Governments have their own motivations. Many countries regulate which types of data can leave their borders. This concept, often called sovereignty, simply means that certain information must stay within the nation’s control. Placing AI infrastructure at the point where international traffic enters the country gives agencies the ability to analyze, enforce, and protect sensitive data without letting it cross a boundary.

This trend also exposes a challenge. High-density AI hardware produces far more heat than traditional servers. Most legacy facilities, especially multi-tenant carrier hotels in large cities, were never built to support liquid cooling, reinforced floors, or the weight of modern GPU racks. Purpose-built coastal sites are beginning to fill this gap.

And here is the real eye-opener. Two facilities can each draw 10 megawatts, yet one may produce twice the compute of the other. PUE will give both of them the same high efficiency score because it cannot see the difference in output. Their actual productivity, and even their revenue potential, could be worlds apart.

PCE and ROIP, Return on Invested Power, expose that difference immediately. PCE reveals how much compute is produced per watt, and ROIP shows the financial return on that power. These metrics are quickly becoming essential in AI-era build strategies, and investors and boards are beginning to incorporate them into their decision frameworks.

What is happening at these coastal sites is the early sign of a new class of data center. High density. Advanced cooling. Strategic placement at global entry points for digital traffic. Smaller footprints but far higher productivity per square foot.

The industry will increasingly judge facilities not by how much power they receive, but by how effectively they turn that power into intelligence. That shift is already underway, and the emergence of AI-ready landing stations is the clearest signal yet that compute productivity will guide the next generation of infrastructure.

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About the Author

Paul Quigley is the former President and current Chief Strategic Partnership Officer of Airsys Cooling Technologies, and a global advocate for high density, energy efficient data center design. With more than three decades in HVAC and mission critical cooling, he focuses on practical solutions that connect energy stewardship with real world compute performance. Paul writes and speaks internationally about PCE, ROIP, and the future of data center health in the age of AI.

The post AI Is Moving to the Water’s Edge, and It Changes Everything appeared first on Data Center POST.

Duos Technologies Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), through its operating subsidiary Duos Edge AI, Inc, has expanded its Edge Data Center (EDC) infrastructure beyond Texas. The company has deployed its first EDC serving the Greater Chicagoland Area and added two carrier-neutral EDCs in Lubbock, Texas.

This milestone marks a significant step in Duos Edge AI’s national growth strategy as the company broadens its geographic footprint into the Midwest. The expansion builds on strong momentum across multiple Texas markets, where Duos Edge AI has deployed EDCs supporting Education, Healthcare, and Service Providers in Amarillo, Victoria, Waco, Dumas, and Corpus Christi.

​Each modular facility is designed for rapid 90-day deployment and delivers scalable, high-performance computing power with enterprise-grade security controls, including third-party SOC 2 Type II certification under AICPA standards.

“Expanding within Texas and into the Illinois market is a meaningful milestone that reflects both execution discipline and rising demand for our Edge Data Center,” said Doug Recker, President of Duos and Founder of Duos Edge AI. “We are building a scalable, repeatable deployment model that supports education, carriers, and enterprises with secure, low-latency infrastructure. These expansions align with our growth strategy and reinforce our confidence in continued momentum as we execute against our long-term guidance.”

The Chicagoland deployment represents the first of multiple planned Midwest installations, while the two carrier-neutral EDCs in Lubbock emphasize the company’s focus on service provider demands. Duos Edge AI’s patented modular infrastructure incorporates a U.S. patent for an Entryway for a Modular Data Center (Patent No. US 12,404,690 B1), providing customers with secure, compliant, and differentiated Edge infrastructure.

Duos Edge AI continues to expand nationwide, capitalizing on growing demand for carrier-neutral facilities with localized compute, AI enablement, and resilient digital infrastructure across underserved and high-growth markets.

To learn more about Duos Edge AI, visit www.duosedge.ai.

The post Duos Edge AI Extends Secure Edge Infrastructure to Midwest and Texas Markets appeared first on Data Center POST.

As data centers evolve to support AI, edge computing, and high-density cloud architectures, the challenge is no longer just maintaining an optimal power usage effectiveness (PUE), it is about achieving thermal reliability with unprecedented compute loads. Direct-to-chip liquid cooling continues to push the envelope on heat transfer performance, but one underestimated element in overall system reliability is the material composition of the fluid conveyance network itself. The hoses and fittings that transport coolant through these systems operate in extreme thermal and chemical environments, and their design directly influences uptime, maintenance intervals, and total cost of ownership.

Why Material Selection Matters

At its core, a liquid cooling system is only as reliable as its weakest component. If hoses, fittings, or seals fail due to poor material compatibility, the result could be leaks, contamination, or shortened system life, leading to downtime and costly remediation. Rubber, and rubber-like, materials are critical in hose assemblies, as they must balance flexibility for installation and serviceability with long-term resistance to temperature, pressure, permeation, coolant and coolant additives.

The challenge lies in the fact that not all rubbers, or rubber-like materials, are created equal. Each formulation is a complex recipe of polymers, plasticizers, fillers, and curing agents designed to deliver specific performance characteristics. The wrong selection can lead to issues such as fluid permeation, premature aging, or contamination of the coolant. In mission-critical environments like data centers, where even minor disruptions are unacceptable, this risk is magnified.

Temperature and Chemical Compatibility

Although data center cooling systems typically operate at temperatures between 45°C (113°F) and 65°C (149°F), sometimes reaching 100°C (212°F), those ranges can stress certain materials. Nitrile rubber, for example, performs well in oil-based environments but ages quickly in water-glycol systems, especially at higher temperatures. This can cause hardening, cracking, or coolant contamination.

By contrast, ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber has excellent resistance to water, glycols, and the additives commonly used in data center coolants, such as corrosion inhibitors and biocides. EPDM maintains its properties across the required operating range, making it a proven choice for direct-to-chip applications.

However, not all EPDM is the same. Developing the right EPDM for the application demands a deep understanding of polymer chemistry, filler interactions, and process control to precisely balance flexibility, heat resistance, and long-term stability.

Additionally, two curing processes, sulfur-cured and peroxide-cured, produce different performance outcomes. Sulfur-cured EPDM, while widely used, introduces zinc ions during the curing process. When exposed to deionized water, these ions can leach into the coolant, causing contamination and potentially degrading system performance. Peroxide-cured EPDM avoids this issue, offering higher temperature resistance, lower permeation rates, and greater chemical stability, making it the superior choice for modern liquid cooling.

Even among peroxide-cured EPDM compounds, long term performance is not uniform. While the cure system defines the crosslink chemistry, other formulation choices, particularly filler selection and dispersion, can influence how the material performs over time.

The use of fillers and additives is common in rubber compounding. These ingredients are often selected to control cost, improve processability, or achieve certain performance characteristics such as flame resistance, strength, or flexibility.

The challenge is that some filler systems perform well during initial qualification but are not optimized for long-term exposures faced in the operating environment. Certain fillers or processing aids can slowly migrate over time, introducing extractables into the coolant or subtly altering elastomer properties. For data center applications, EPDM compounds must therefore be engineered with a focus on long term stability, reinforcing why EPDM should not be treated as a commodity material in critical cooling systems.

Risks of Non-Compatible Materials

Material incompatibility can have several cascading effects:

• Contamination – Non-compatible materials can leach extractables into the coolant, leading to discoloration, chemical imbalance, and reduced thermal efficiency.
• Permeation – Some rubbers allow fluid to slowly migrate through the hose walls, causing coolant loss or altering the fluid mixture over time.
• Premature Failure – Elevated temperatures can accelerate aging, leading to cracking, swelling, or loss of mechanical strength.
• Leakage – Rubber under compression may deform over time, jeopardizing seal integrity if not properly formulated for resistance to compression set and tear.

In a recent two-week aging test at 80°C using a water-glycol coolant, hoses made of nitrile and sulfur-cured EPDM showed visible discoloration of the coolant, indicating leaching and breakdown of the material. Peroxide-cured EPDM, on the other hand, maintained stability, demonstrating its compatibility and reliability in long-term data center applications.

The Gates Approach

Drawing on lessons from mission critical industries that have managed thermal challenges for decades, Gates engineers apply material science rigor to the design of liquid cooling hoses for data center applications.

Rather than relying solely on initial material ratings or short-term qualification criteria, Gates begins by tailoring compound design to the operating environment. This includes deliberate control of polymer selection, filler systems, and cure chemistry to manage long term aging behavior, extractables, permeation, and retention of mechanical properties over time in high purity coolant systems.

Compounds are validated through extended aging and immersion testing that reflects real operating conditions, including exposure to heat, deionized water, and water-glycol coolants. This allows potential material changes to be identified and addressed during development, before installation in the field.

This material science driven process is applied across Gates liquid cooling platforms, including the Data Master, Data Master MegaFlex, and newly released Data Master Eco product lines. By engineering for long term stability rather than only initial compliance, Gates designs hose solutions intended to support reliable operation, predictable maintenance intervals, and extended service life in direct-to-chip liquid cooled data center environments.

Looking Ahead

As data centers continue to scale, thermal management solutions must adapt in parallel. Advanced architectures, higher rack densities, and growing environmental regulations all point to a future where liquid cooling is standard. In this environment, material selection is no longer a secondary consideration; it is foundational to system reliability.

Operators who prioritize material compatibility in fluid conveyance lines will benefit from longer service intervals, improved coolant stability, and reduced risk of downtime. In other words, the proper rubber formulation doesn’t just move fluid, it moves the industry forward.

At Gates, sustainable, high-performance cooling begins with the details. By focusing on the science of materials, we help ensure that data center operators can confidently deploy liquid cooling systems designed for the challenges of today and the innovations of tomorrow.

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About the Author

Chad Chapman is a Mechanical Engineer with over 20 years of experience in the fluid power industry. He currently serves as a Product Application Engineering Manager at Gates, where he leads a team that provides technical guidance, recommendations, and innovative solutions to customers utilizing Gates products and services.

Driven by a passion for problem-solving, Chad thrives on collaborating with customers to understand their unique challenges and deliver solutions that optimize performance. He is energized by learning about new applications and technologies, especially where insights can be shared across industries. At Gates, he has been exploring the emerging field of direct-to-chip liquid cooling, an exciting extension of his deep expertise in thermal management. The rapid advancements in IT technology and AI have made his journey an inspiring and rewarding learning experience.

The post The Critical Role of Material Selection in Direct-to-Chip Liquid Cooling appeared first on Data Center POST.

The 2025 INCOMPAS Show, held November 2–4 at the JW Marriott and Tampa Marriott Water Street in Tampa, Florida, brought together more than 3,000 leaders across communications, broadband, fiber, and technology sectors to explore the evolving landscape of connectivity and competition. One of the most influential gatherings in the U.S. communications ecosystem, the event provided a platform for senior executives, policymakers, and innovators to align on strategies shaping the future of broadband deployment, infrastructure investment, and digital transformation.

This year’s theme of collaboration and convergence set the tone for a comprehensive agenda that highlighted how technology, policy, and innovation are coming together to expand connectivity and bridge the digital divide. Across three days of panels, workshops, and executive-level discussions, speakers addressed the accelerating impact of AI, automation, and public-private partnerships on both network operations and competitive strategy.

The Convergence Era: Policy, Infrastructure, and AI

The opening remarks emphasized the urgency of convergence in today’s communications landscape. Chip Pickering, CEO of INCOMPAS, framed the event with a focus on consolidation, critical infrastructure, and the growing interdependence of networks, power, and policy.

That theme carried into high-profile sessions featuring executives from Verizon, Lumen Technologies, and Bluebird Fiber, where speakers examined how fiber density, cloud connectivity, and edge infrastructure are reshaping both network design and M&A strategy. Panels such as Future-Proofing the Network and Strategic Convergence: How Wireline-Wireless Integration Is Impacting M&A highlighted how capacity planning and integration are now central drivers of transaction value.

AI-driven transformation emerged as a defining force throughout the agenda. In the session Powering Intelligence: The Convergence of Energy, Networks, and AI Infrastructure, leaders including Jeff Uphues, CEO, DC BLOX and Dan Davis, CEO and Co-Founder, Arcadian Infracom explored the mounting energy demands of AI workloads and the need for resilient, scalable infrastructure. Discussions emphasized that AI is no longer an overlay, but a foundational consideration in network architecture, power strategy, and long-term investment planning.

Cybersecurity also took center stage, with experts from Granite Telecommunications, UNITEL, Axcent Networks, and Verizon Partner Solutions outlining how AI is being deployed to detect threats, automate responses, and protect increasingly complex telecom environments.

Policy at the Center of Broadband Expansion

Policy reform remained a cornerstone of the INCOMPAS agenda. Sessions focused on the future of the Universal Service Fund, broadband permitting reform, and federal regulatory alignment drew strong engagement from both providers and policymakers. Led by INCOMPAS policy leadership and legal experts from firms including Morgan Lewis, Cooley, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, and JSI, these discussions reinforced the critical role of permitting, spectrum access, and funding mechanisms such as BEAD in accelerating equitable broadband deployment nationwide.

Modern Marketing and the Human Element

Beyond infrastructure and policy, the Marketing Workshop Series delivered some of the show’s most actionable insights. The opening session, Marketing’s New Blueprint: Balancing AI, Automation, and Authenticity, featured Laura Johns, Founder and CEO of The Business Growers, and Joy Milkowski, Partner at Access Marketing Company. Together, they explored how communications and technology companies can leverage automation and AI tools without losing the authenticity and strategic clarity required to build trust and drive revenue.

The discussion reinforced that AI should function as a strategic enabler rather than a replacement for human insight. Follow-on workshops expanded on this theme, with sessions focused on revenue-driven AI strategy, practical prompt frameworks, and marketing automation systems designed to align sales and marketing teams while supporting scalable growth.

Networking, Partnerships, and Industry Momentum

As always, the INCOMPAS Show excelled as a venue for relationship-building and deal-making. The Buyers Forum and Deal Center facilitated high-value, pre-scheduled meetings, while exhibit hall programming and networking events fostered collaboration across fiber providers, technology vendors, and service partners.

Workforce development, sustainability, and inclusion also emerged as shared priorities. Speakers stressed the need to build talent pipelines capable of supporting AI-driven networks while ensuring that digital transformation delivers measurable benefits across communities.

The Road Ahead

The 2025 INCOMPAS Show made one thing clear: the future of communications will be defined by integration, collaboration, and adaptability. From AI-powered networks and evolving policy frameworks to authentic marketing and workforce readiness, the conversations in Tampa reflected an industry actively shaping its next chapter.

As the ecosystem looks toward 2026, the momentum from INCOMPAS reinforces a collective commitment to closing connectivity gaps, modernizing infrastructure, and aligning innovation with opportunity.

To learn more about INCOMPAS and upcoming events, visit www.incompas.org and www.show.incompas.org.

The post Inside the 2025 INCOMPAS Show and the Convergence of Policy Infrastructure and AI appeared first on Data Center POST.

Individual data centers are now being planned with power loads that exceed those of America’s largest nuclear plants. This is happening for the first time in U.S. history, and it’s reshaping how and where AI infrastructure can realistically be built.

The scale of demand is like nothing we’ve seen before, and developers who once focused on site access, tax incentives, and interconnection speed are now having to evaluate something far more fundamental. They’re assessing whether the grid can deliver the gigawatts of reliable capacity that AI truly requires. This shift is redrawing the map of U.S. data center development, simply because traditional markets are straining under this new, unprecedented load. As a result, new regions are emerging as contenders.

There’s no shortage of opinions on which states are best positioned to capitalize on this moment. Environmentally, states like Texas, Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska offer low-carbon power, minimal water stress, and long-term sustainability advantages that could help hyperscalers move toward net-zero goals. But development doesn’t always follow ideals. It follows infrastructure. And today, project velocity is rapidly accelerating in states with existing fiber, redundant grid access, fast permitting, and an experienced labor pool, not just green credentials.

The Power Constraint Reality

Transmission and generation limitations have become the number-one barrier to new development. Utilities that once welcomed projects are now warning developers about decade-long delays. In San Antonio, for example, utility officials are telling data center companies that additional capacity may not be available until 2032.

Five years ago, a typical large data center might have drawn 20 to 50 megawatts. Today, AI-focused facilities are routinely planned at 300 megawatts or more; in theory, that’s enough power to sustain a small city. The U.S. currently has 40 gigawatts of operational data center capacity, up from just 26 gigawatts at the end of 2023, and another 24 gigawatts is under construction. In other words, total capacity is set to double in roughly two years.

At Industrial Info Resources, we’re tracking $3.3 trillion in global data center infrastructure investments, including $1 trillion announced in the U.S. in just the past nine months. Yet much of the transmission system these projects rely on is more than 40 years old, strained, and unable to accommodate this surge without major upgrades.

Every data center project is now, ultimately, a power project.

Why Traditional Hotspots Are Reaching Capacity

States like Texas, Ohio, Georgia, and Illinois rose to prominence because of low-cost electricity, abundant natural gas, deep labor pools, and cooperative regulatory environments. But even these markets are showing signs of saturation. Interconnection queues are backed up, delivery timelines are slipping, and developers who once viewed these areas as infinitely scalable are reassessing their options.

The PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization covering 13 states, recorded an 800% spike in wholesale capacity prices in its latest auction. The surge was driven by tightening reserve margins and insufficient baseload additions.

Still, not all leading markets are losing momentum; the reality is much more nuanced. Let me explain:

1) Virginia Still Dominates, Here’s Why

Roughly 70% of the world’s internet traffic flows through Loudoun County. That alone keeps Northern Virginia at the top of the list. Add unmatched fiber density, low latency access to East Coast population centers, $50 billion in Dominion Energy grid upgrades, and powerful tax incentives, and one could argue that Virginia remains the most competitive and strategically essential data center market in the world.

2) Despite the Circumstances, Texas Remains a Growth Engine

Texas offers massive wind, solar, and battery energy storage growth, abundant natural gas, and a regulatory environment that supports rapid load growth. ERCOT’s structure allows for faster interconnections, and the state is fast-tracking permits for behind-the-meter natural gas plants to bridge developers until zero-carbon grid supply scales. Again, one could argue that this combination keeps Texas squarely in the number-one or number-two position for AI capacity additions.

3) And the Next Tier of High-Velocity Markets

Georgia continues to attract hyperscale interest with low power prices, tax credits, and significant fiber expansion across the Southeast. This draws development into Alabama and Florida as well. Other hot markets remain in Pennsylvania, Utah, Arizona, Illinois, and Ohio due to their mix of low-cost power, fiber proximity, and access to skilled labor.

The Behind-the-Meter Power Trend

With grid availability tightening, more operators are turning to behind-the-meter solutions such as natural gas fuel cells, turbines, and reciprocating engines. These systems provide bridge power while utilities work through multi-year transmission expansions, and states that permit these assets quickly have a clear advantage.

Even operators committed to 100% renewable energy now recognize the need for reliable natural gas backup to maintain uptime and support local grid stability. A Duke University study found that 40 demand-curtailment events could enable 75 gigawatts of additional data center capacity without requiring new transmission.

The study illustrates a clear reality: flexible load management and temporary curtailment will become essential tools for enabling the next wave of AI-driven growth.

What Emerging States Need to Win

For states seeking to break into the market, the fundamentals matter most. This looks like lower-cost electricity, abundant natural gas, rural land with favorable tax structures, and large parcels suitable for multi-hundred-megawatt campuses.

Arizona is a great example. The state is developing a new natural gas pipeline from the Permian Basin, specifically to support its expanding data center ecosystem. But not all announced projects move forward. Constraints in interconnection studies, available power, or realistic timelines cause many proposals to stall. Tracking approved projects versus announced projects is essential to understanding true market momentum, especially in an industry where nondisclosure agreements tend to limit visibility.

The Reliability Crisis and the Path Forward

From roughly 2014 to 2024, U.S. electricity demand was essentially flat. Today, it is growing about 2% annually, driven largely by AI. The challenge is that renewable energy has expanded far faster than the dispatchable baseload required to support it, widening the reliability gap.

Meeting future AI needs will require a multi-pronged strategy that entails new natural gas plants, delayed coal retirements over the next five to six years, expanded battery storage, and eventually next-generation nuclear. Several major technology companies are already investing in small modular reactors as part of their long-term portfolios.

Data centers themselves can help stabilize the grid through battery storage deployments, demand-response participation, and flexible load practices. But long-term success ultimately depends on whether states can modernize transmission infrastructure, streamline interconnection processes, and commit to realistic baseload planning.

The states that move decisively to address these constraints, and align their infrastructure with the power-first reality of AI, will capture an outsized share of the coming investment. AI-driven demand is not slowing, and the next chapter of America’s energy and technology landscape will be written by those preparing for this moment now.

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About the Author

Shane Mullins brings over 30 years of experience in energy market intelligence and database management to his role at Industrial Info Resources. He specializes in product development for energy equipment and service providers, leveraging decades of industry insight to help clients make informed, data-driven decisions in a rapidly evolving energy landscape.

The post The Factors That Are Actually Determining the Whereabouts of Hyperscale Data Center Growth appeared first on Data Center POST.

APR Energy, a global leader in fast-track power generation solutions, has secured a $300 million revolving line of credit from Wingspire Capital to support continued growth. The expanded facility doubles the revolver Wingspire Capital provided earlier this year, and APR will use proceeds for capital expenditures, maintenance, equipment refurbishment, daily operations, and additional liquidity for growth.

“Demand for fast, reliable power continues to accelerate, particularly from data center customers. This expanded revolver from Wingspire Capital supports our ability to expand our fleet, scale quickly, and deliver power on the timelines our data center and infrastructure customers require,” said Chuck Ferry, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of APR Energy.

As data center demand grows and grid buildouts take longer, APR helps customers accelerate timelines by deploying large-scale projects in weeks instead of years, while also supporting longer-term behind-the-meter and utility-scale needs.

Wingspire Capital, the Administrative Agent on the facility, expanded its partnership with APR alongside Great Rock Capital and Siena Lending Group.

“This upsized revolver is a wonderful example of the close relationship Wingspire Capital maintains with borrowers in its portfolio. We learn their business and understand their capital needs so that we can provide the right solutions at the right time to support their business strategy,” John Olsen, Managing Director at Wingspire Capital, said.

APR Energy provides rapidly deployable bridging and permanent power for mission-critical customers, including data center operators and utilities. This upsized revolver supports APR’s ability to respond quickly to customer needs while maintaining the flexibility to execute at scale.

To learn more about APR Energy, visit www.aprenergy.com.

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