On May 24, NTT Communications (NTT Com) held an information session on IOWN APN and data centers at its data center “Nexcenter Lab” in Kawasaki City.

Generative AI is rapidly spreading at present. Because generative AI is used for high heat-generating chips, traditional data centers cannot cool servers. This has led to a rise in demand for new types of data centers. In response, the company is promoting “Green Nexcenter.” This data center offers environmentally friendly, ultra-energy-saving data center services. Specifically, it is zero carbon, using renewable energy, and also uses water cooling (liquid cooling) to handle high heat-generating servers.

Matsubayashi Osamu, head of the Cloud & Network Services department of the company’s Platform Services Division, explained, “It is possible to cool up to 80kW per rack. By combining APN and Green Nexcenter, the value will be further expanded.”

NTT Com is considering distributed data centers. Until now, delays due to distance have been an issue when connecting data centers, making it difficult to distribute data over a wide area. On the other hand, by utilizing APNs, which have extremely low delays, the connection area of ​​data centers can be expanded. This will enable operators to strengthen their technology infrastructure and increase resilience.
On the day, the company unveiled the liquid cooling method that it is promoting and putting into practical use. In liquid cooling, cooling water is circulated inside the server and the cooled plate is brought into contact with the heat source to cool it.

Incidentally, NTT Com is also verifying the liquid immersion method, in which servers are cooled by immersing them in cooling water. Since the liquid immersion method requires relatively large equipment, securing installation space becomes an issue. The company believes that it is not suitable for Japanese data centers.