{"id":42312,"date":"2026-06-11T10:43:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flex.com\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=42312"},"modified":"2026-06-11T10:43:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:43:50","slug":"the-hidden-risks-jeopardizing-rapid-ai-data-center-expansion","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/resources\/the-hidden-risks-jeopardizing-rapid-ai-data-center-expansion","title":{"rendered":"\u9690\u85cf\u7684\u98ce\u9669\u5371\u53ca\u4eba\u5de5\u667a\u80fd\u6570\u636e\u4e2d\u5fc3\u7684\u5feb\u901f\u6269\u5f20"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"overscroll-top\" style=\"background-color: #eaeef4;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"resource-header block\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a title=\"Homepage\" href=\"\/\">Flex<\/a>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 384 512\"><path d=\"M365.3 256l-22.6 22.6-192 192L128 493.3 82.7 448l22.6-22.6L274.7 256 105.4 86.6 82.7 64 128 18.7l22.6 22.6 192 192L365.3 256z\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t<a title=\"Resources\" href=\"\/resources\">Resources<\/a>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 384 512\"><path d=\"M365.3 256l-22.6 22.6-192 192L128 493.3 82.7 448l22.6-22.6L274.7 256 105.4 86.6 82.7 64 128 18.7l22.6 22.6 192 192L365.3 256z\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t<a title=\"The hidden risks jeopardizing rapid AI data center expansion\">The hidden risks jeopardizing rapid AI data center expansion<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<h1>The hidden risks jeopardizing rapid AI data center expansion<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"separator\"><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"details\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"date detail\">\n\t\t\t\tPosted on<br>\n\t\t\t\t11 6 \u6708, 2026\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"categories\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"categories-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"cat-tag\">Blog<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"cat-tag\" data-cat-level=\"2\" data-destination=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/industries\/data-center#resources\" href=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/industries\/data-center#resources\">Data Center<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"sidebar block normal-sidebar\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-small-font-size\"><em>The \u2018race to scale\u2019 series: 1 of 3<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"spacer block\" style=\"height: 24px;\">\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n<p>If you could use just one word to encapsulate the challenges data center operators must solve as the AI era takes off, what would it be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no shortage to choose from: power, cooling, land, labor, capacity, returns, components, perception. And that\u2019s the short list. While access to power tops operators\u2019 concerns, we\u2019d argue that ramping capacity to meet current and future demand is not an \u2018or\u2019 problem \u2014 it\u2019s an \u2018and\u2019 problem. So, we\u2019re going to choose two words: scale <em>and<\/em> complexity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not a simple dichotomy, as there are hundreds of other nested \u2018ands\u2019 that must be assessed, balanced, and addressed on an ever-shifting basis. This market is moving faster than anything we\u2019ve seen in decades. Moore\u2019s Law has met its match in CPUs. Hyperscalers are inking funding, capacity, and infrastructure deals in a frenzy of coopetition. Companies in historically slower-growth industries are seeing valuations skyrocket as the demand for AI drives both innovation and growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That leads us to the <a href=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/industries\/data-center\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"19229\">data center infrastructure<\/a> itself. On the scale side of the \u2018and\u2019 equation there are three axes happening at once, all with thorny, interconnected engineering problems to solve:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Scaling up within the rack<\/strong> \u2014 How do you deliver power efficiently and remove heat effectively when power density has increased dramatically, from 10\u201320 kW a few years ago to 1+ megawatt racks on the near horizon?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scaling out between racks<\/strong> \u2014 How do you design for coherent, low-latency compute clusters at scale when power conversion architecture, busbar design, <a href=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/resources\/networking-for-ai-transformation-beyond-the-chip\">high-performance networking<\/a>, and cooling loops all have to be rearchitected around the compute topology?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scaling across facilities<\/strong> \u2014 How do you replicate infrastructure across dozens or hundreds of sites globally at a build rate that compresses timelines from years to months?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"sidebar normal-column\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a title=\"Beyond PUE: Multidimensional framework for data center efficiency in the AI era\" class=\"image\" href=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/downloads\/beyond-pue-infographic-data-center-efficiency-in-the-ai-era\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Beyond PUE Infographic: Data center efficiency in the AI era\" src=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Featured-Image_Infographic-540x304.jpg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"label\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInfographic\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<a title=\"Beyond PUE: Multidimensional framework for data center efficiency in the AI era\" class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/downloads\/beyond-pue-infographic-data-center-efficiency-in-the-ai-era\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\tBeyond PUE: Multidimensional framework for data center efficiency in the AI era\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a title=\"The race to rethink data centers for AI\u2019s power surge\" class=\"image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/graphics\/2026-ai-data-center-redesign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Bloomberg feature: The next AI bottleneck isn&#039;t compute, it&#039;s power.\" src=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Bloomberg-News-coverage-The-Race-to-Rethink-Data-Centers-for-AIs-Power-Surge_flex.com-Featured-Story-540x304.png\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"label\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNews\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<a title=\"The race to rethink data centers for AI\u2019s power surge\" class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/graphics\/2026-ai-data-center-redesign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\tThe race to rethink data centers for AI\u2019s power surge\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a title=\"Rethinking water use in data center cooling systems for the AI era\" class=\"image\" href=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/resources\/rethinking-water-use-in-data-center-cooling-systems-for-the-ai-era\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Data center Water Use Effectiveness (WUE)\" src=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WUE-QA-w-Rick-Payne-PUE-ebook-\u2013-derivative-540x304.jpg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"label\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBlog\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<a title=\"Rethinking water use in data center cooling systems for the AI era\" class=\"title\" href=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/resources\/rethinking-water-use-in-data-center-cooling-systems-for-the-ai-era\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\tRethinking water use in data center cooling systems for the AI era\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"id-6a2b360d3c6f3\" class=\"box block full-width dark-content zh \" style=\"background-color: transparent; background-image: none;\">\n\t<style>\n\t\t#id-6a2b360d3c6f3 > .container > .content {\n\t\t\tbackground-color: transparent;\n\t\t\tposition: relative;\n\t\t\tpadding-top: 24px;\n\t\t\tpadding-right: 0px;\n\t\t\tpadding-bottom: 84px;\n\t\t\tpadding-left: 0px;\n\t\t\tmargin-left: 0px;\n\t\t\tmargin-right: 0px;\n\t\t}\n\t\t@media (max-width: 1272px) {\n\t\t\t#id-6a2b360d3c6f3.box.block.full-width > .container > .content {\n\t\t\t\tpadding-left: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-right: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t\tmargin: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t\t@media (max-width: 960px) {\n\t\t\t#id-6a2b360d3c6f3 > .container > .content {\n\t\t\t\t\/\/padding-top: 12px;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-right: 0px;\n\t\t\t\t\/\/padding-bottom: 42px;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-left: 0px;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t<\/style>\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t\n<div id=\"id_6a2b360d2a393\" class=\"media block\">\n\t<div class=\"container media-right content-top\">\n\t\t<div class=\"media\" style=\"left: 0px; min-width: 660px; max-width: 660px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"image none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The multi-layered challenges of ramping data centers\" src=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/multi-layered-challenges-of-ramping-data-centers.jpg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content\" style=\"margin-right: 36px; margin-left: 0px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p>On the complexity side of the \u2018and\u2019 equation, scaling up, out, and across is happening at a rapid clip while compute power per rack, site energy use, unique component counts, and supply chain SKUs are increasing exponentially, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s the core of the challenge \u2014 it\u2019s not one hard thing; it\u2019s many hard things happening all at once, all of them interconnected.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<script>\n\t(function () {\n\t\tlet hasRun_id_6a2b360d2a393 = false;\n\t\tfunction updateVideoDisplay_id_6a2b360d2a393() {\n\t\t\tconst youtubeVideoId = \"\";\n\t\t\tconst bynderID = \"\";\n\t\t\tconst mediaType = \"image\";\n\t\t\tconst mediaVideoElement = document.getElementById('media-video-id_6a2b360d2a393');\n\t\t\tconst bodyClass = document.body?.className || '';\n\t\t\tlet currentLanguage = 'en';\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif (bodyClass.includes('translatepress-')) {\n\t\t\t\tconst match = bodyClass.match(\/translatepress-([a-z]{2})(?:_[A-Z]{2})?\/i);\n\t\t\t\tif (match) currentLanguage = match[1].toLowerCase();\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tconst isChineseLang = currentLanguage === 'zh';\n\t\t\tconsole.log('isChineseLang:', isChineseLang);\n\t\t\tconsole.log('Language detected:', currentLanguage);\n\t\t\tconst isValidYouTube = youtubeVideoId && \/^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{11}$\/.test(youtubeVideoId);\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tif (!mediaVideoElement || mediaType !== \"video\") return;\n\t\t\tmediaVideoElement.innerHTML = ''; 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We appreciate your patience and look forward to sharing it with you soon.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t`;\n\t\t\t\tmediaVideoElement.appendChild(errorDiv);\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t\t\n\t\tfunction runVideoInjection() {\n\t\t\tif (hasRun_id_6a2b360d2a393) return;\n\t\t\thasRun_id_6a2b360d2a393 = true;\n\t\t\tupdateVideoDisplay_id_6a2b360d2a393();\n\t\t}\n\t\t\n\t\t\/\/ Always run on front-end\n\t\tif (document.readyState === 'loading') {\n\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', runVideoInjection);\n\t\t} else {\n\t\t\trunVideoInjection();\n\t\t}\n\t\t\n\t\t\/\/ Also run in editor if available\n\t\tif (typeof wp !== 'undefined' && wp.domReady) {\n\t\t\twp.domReady(runVideoInjection);\n\t\t}\n\t})();\n\t<\/script>\n\t\n\t<script>\n\t\tdocument.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\/\/ Get the block element by ID\n\t\t\tvar blockElement = document.getElementById(\"id_6a2b360d2a393\");\n\t\t\tif (!blockElement) return;\n\t\n\t\t\t\/\/ Reveal the block\n\t\t\t(function ($) {\n\t\t\t\tScrollReveal().reveal(blockElement.querySelector(\".container .media\"), {origin: \"bottom\", distance: \"20px\", opacity: 1, duration: 1000});\n\t\t\t\tScrollReveal().reveal(blockElement.querySelector(\".container .content\"), {origin: \"bottom\", distance: \"20px\", opacity: 1, duration: 1000});\n\t\t\t}(jQuery));\n\t\t});\n\t<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"spacer block\" style=\"height: 24px;\">\n\t<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"id-6a2b360d372c5\" class=\"box block content-width light-content zh \" style=\"background-color: transparent; background-image: none;\">\n\t<style>\n\t\t#id-6a2b360d372c5 > .container > .content {\n\t\t\tbackground-color: #005486ff;\n\t\t\tposition: relative;\n\t\t\tpadding-top: 36px;\n\t\t\tpadding-right: 48px;\n\t\t\tpadding-bottom: 36px;\n\t\t\tpadding-left: 48px;\n\t\t\tmargin-left: 0px;\n\t\t\tmargin-right: 0px;\n\t\t}\n\t\t@media (max-width: 1272px) {\n\t\t\t#id-6a2b360d372c5.box.block.full-width > .container > .content {\n\t\t\t\tpadding-left: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-right: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t\tmargin: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t\t@media (max-width: 960px) {\n\t\t\t#id-6a2b360d372c5 > .container > .content {\n\t\t\t\t\/\/padding-top: 18px;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-right: 24px;\n\t\t\t\t\/\/padding-bottom: 18px;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-left: 24px;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t<\/style>\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-small-font-size\">This series of blogs takes a look at the hidden risks that lie beneath the obvious in the race to scale AI data centers:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Changing topologies<\/strong> \u2014 Engineers are retrenching on next-generation data center power acquisition, infrastructure, and deployment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Market chaos<\/strong> \u2014 Everyone is scaling aggressively, but not in the same way or at the same speed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Disconnected standards<\/strong> \u2014 Safety and technology standards overlap, have redundancies, or cannot adapt at the speed of change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Changing topologies: A fast and fundamental shift<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first hidden risk is topological change. The physical architecture of a data center is undergoing a fundamental redesign, not an incremental evolution. And the pace of that redesign is faster than most organizations&#8217; design cycles.\u200b Topology is changing most rapidly across three dimensions: power, cooling, and facility layout.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"id-6a2b360d38794\" class=\"box block content-width dark-content zh \" style=\"background-color: transparent; background-image: none;\">\n\t<style>\n\t\t#id-6a2b360d38794 > .container > .content {\n\t\t\tbackground-color: #eaeef4ff;\n\t\t\tposition: relative;\n\t\t\tpadding-top: 36px;\n\t\t\tpadding-right: 48px;\n\t\t\tpadding-bottom: 36px;\n\t\t\tpadding-left: 48px;\n\t\t\tmargin-left: 0px;\n\t\t\tmargin-right: 0px;\n\t\t}\n\t\t@media (max-width: 1272px) {\n\t\t\t#id-6a2b360d38794.box.block.full-width > .container > .content {\n\t\t\t\tpadding-left: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-right: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t\tmargin: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t\t@media (max-width: 960px) {\n\t\t\t#id-6a2b360d38794 > .container > .content {\n\t\t\t\t\/\/padding-top: 18px;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-right: 24px;\n\t\t\t\t\/\/padding-bottom: 18px;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-left: 24px;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t<\/style>\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-small-font-size\">Power architecture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The industry is transitioning from 48 V rack power to 400 VDC and 800 VDC distribution. This isn&#8217;t a preference \u2014 it&#8217;s driven by physics. Higher voltage reduces the current required to deliver power to the rack (power = voltage x current), which translates into smaller copper conductors that significantly lower resistive losses. It also enables power conversion to be moved out of the IT rack and into external power shelves or sidecars. By relocating power conversion, the full volume within the rack can be dedicated to computing. At power densities approaching 1 megawatt per rack, this architecture isn&#8217;t optional.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The shift to higher voltages also drives a <a href=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/resources\/power-and-compute-rearchitecting-the-data-center-for-the-ai-era\">redesign of vertical power delivery architecture<\/a> to minimize power delivery network (PDN) losses. Since those losses are concentrated near the load (the chips doing the computing), moving power conversion closer to the GPU instead of relying on long step-down paths can reduce energy drain.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Flex, we&#8217;re shipping 400 VDC systems today and have 800 VDC systems entering deployment soon, with broad adoption expected by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"spacer block\" style=\"height: 24px;\">\n\t<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"id-6a2b360d38f6f\" class=\"box block content-width dark-content zh \" style=\"background-color: transparent; background-image: none;\">\n\t<style>\n\t\t#id-6a2b360d38f6f > .container > .content {\n\t\t\tbackground-color: #eaeef4ff;\n\t\t\tposition: relative;\n\t\t\tpadding-top: 36px;\n\t\t\tpadding-right: 48px;\n\t\t\tpadding-bottom: 36px;\n\t\t\tpadding-left: 48px;\n\t\t\tmargin-left: 0px;\n\t\t\tmargin-right: 0px;\n\t\t}\n\t\t@media (max-width: 1272px) {\n\t\t\t#id-6a2b360d38f6f.box.block.full-width > .container > .content {\n\t\t\t\tpadding-left: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-right: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t\tmargin: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t\t@media (max-width: 960px) {\n\t\t\t#id-6a2b360d38f6f > .container > .content {\n\t\t\t\t\/\/padding-top: 18px;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-right: 24px;\n\t\t\t\t\/\/padding-bottom: 18px;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-left: 24px;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t<\/style>\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-small-font-size\">Cooling architecture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Traditional air-based cooling systems are effective up to approximately 50 kW per rack. That is well below the power that AI workloads consume. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nvidia.com\/en-us\/data-center\/gb200-nvl72\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">NVIDIA GB200 NVL72<\/a> is designed for approximately 120 kW at the rack level. Roadmaps across the ecosystem indicate that next-generation platforms will exceed 200 kW per rack. At these power densities, the associated heat cannot be removed efficiently with air. This makes liquid cooling, which is far more thermodynamically efficient than air cooling, a priority for every AI infrastructure deployment.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are several technical approaches to <a href=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/industries\/data-center#liquid-cooling\">liquid cooling<\/a>, and they are not equivalent. Each has distinct operational implications. For instance, direct-to-chip cold plates are the most efficient for devices requiring high thermal design power (TDP). We&#8217;re delivering cold plate designs that can handle GPUs and accelerators exceeding 3,000 W TDP and 500 W\/cm\u00b2 thermal loads. Microconvective cold plate technology, which uses arrays of 800\u2013900 localized fluid jets targeting hot spots at the die level, enables higher coolant temperatures \u2014 operating at or above 42\u00b0C inlet \u2014 which reduces or eliminates chiller requirements and dramatically lowers water consumption.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Open Compute Project (OCP) and broader ecosystem have converged on flow rate targets of ~1.5 LPM\/kW for liquid-cooled racks, up from roughly 1.0 LPM\/kW ratings common in earlier generations. Rack-level CDUs are now designed to support 300 kW with flows approaching 400 LPM. At the row level, multi-rack CDU systems are already into the megawatt range, requiring several thousand LPM of coolant flows. These are the engineering parameters that define CDU design today.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"spacer block\" style=\"height: 24px;\">\n\t<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"id-6a2b360d3bea0\" class=\"box block content-width dark-content zh \" style=\"background-color: transparent; background-image: none;\">\n\t<style>\n\t\t#id-6a2b360d3bea0 > .container > .content {\n\t\t\tbackground-color: #eaeef4ff;\n\t\t\tposition: relative;\n\t\t\tpadding-top: 36px;\n\t\t\tpadding-right: 48px;\n\t\t\tpadding-bottom: 36px;\n\t\t\tpadding-left: 48px;\n\t\t\tmargin-left: 0px;\n\t\t\tmargin-right: 0px;\n\t\t}\n\t\t@media (max-width: 1272px) {\n\t\t\t#id-6a2b360d3bea0.box.block.full-width > .container > .content {\n\t\t\t\tpadding-left: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-right: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t\tmargin: 0 !important;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t\t@media (max-width: 960px) {\n\t\t\t#id-6a2b360d3bea0 > .container > .content {\n\t\t\t\t\/\/padding-top: 18px;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-right: 24px;\n\t\t\t\t\/\/padding-bottom: 18px;\n\t\t\t\tpadding-left: 24px;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t<\/style>\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-small-font-size\">Physical topology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The move to higher rack densities also alters how facilities are physically laid out. As rack height, weight, and spatial requirements diverge across deployments, structural considerations such as floor loading, networking pathways, and ceiling clearances must be reassessed. At the same time, the physical organization of the data hall is becoming less rigid, with layouts adapting to accommodate higher-density zones, varied equipment footprints, and new serviceability requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"id_6a2b360d39800\" class=\"media block\">\n\t<div class=\"container media-left content-top\">\n\t\t<div class=\"media\" style=\"left: 0px; min-width: 612px; max-width: 612px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"image none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Changing data center topologies infographic\" src=\"https:\/\/flex.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Changing-topologies-blogs-no-logo-1200x884.jpg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content\" style=\"margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 24px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p>To accommodate these changes and accelerate capacity buildout, the integration between mechanical, electrical, thermal, and firmware systems is starting to happen much earlier in the design cycle. Data center operators are embracing modular designs that bridge the gap between AI-driven demand and traditional construction timelines. 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A factory-first approach that combines power and cooling in turnkey units improves performance predictability, simplifies installation, and allows module production and site work to proceed simultaneously. We\u2019ve found that PMDC solutions can compress project schedules by 30 percent or more while significantly reducing the need for onsite labor. Additionally, onsite testing and cabling are reduced up to 70 percent when PMDC solutions are prewired and pretested at the factory, and changes in the field are minimized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Construction and energization safety are also driving the adoption of PMDC solutions. When complex integration happens in the factory, they arrive on site with validated protections and interlocks. Integrated systems testing under simulated failures is completed before deployment, reducing risk to people, equipment, and facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Urgent demand. Coordinated solutions.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The demand curve for AI compute infrastructure is unlike anything the technology industry has faced before. Globally, demand for data center power <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goldmansachs.com\/insights\/goldman-sachs-research\/data-center-power-demand-the-6-ps-driving-growth-and-constraints\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">has doubled in five years<\/a>, and AI energy use is growing 4.5X. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.delloro.com\/market-research\/data-center-infrastructure\/data-center-capex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">More than $1 trillion dollars<\/a> in capital will be invested in data center expansion in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The race to scale AI data centers is real and urgent. The engineering problems are genuinely hard, not because the individual technologies don&#8217;t exist \u2014 they do \u2014 but because the rate of change across topology, market structure, and standards is faster than the industry&#8217;s ability to design, certify, and deploy in response to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The constraints everyone worries about \u2014 power, supply chains, sustainability \u2014 don\u2019t go away. They compound. The organizations that succeed are the ones that coordinate across them instead of reacting to them one at a time. The answer isn\u2019t a single technology, and it isn\u2019t one company. It\u2019s doing the work.\u200b For changing topologies, that means designing systems, not parts, and treating the rack and the data center as integrated architectures from day one.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Next time, we\u2019ll take a closer look at a second and equally impactful hidden risk to data center build-out: market chaos.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":42320,"template":"","categories":[86],"tags":[],"content-type":[13],"class_list":["post-42312","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data-center","content-type-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/42312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resource"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/42312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42326,"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/42312\/revisions\/42326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42312"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flex.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=42312"}],"curies":[{"name":"\u53ef\u6e7f\u6027\u7c89\u5242","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}