Data Centres in the Era of AI with Jay Park

Oct 29, 2024

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Fresh out of the studio, Jay Park, Chief Development Officer of Digital Edge, explores the rapidly transforming landscape of data centres in the Asia-Pacific region. Kicking off with the story of Jay’s remarkable career in building cutting-edge data centres, we dive into the explosive growth fueled by AI and the innovative cooling and energy solutions Digital Edge is pioneering to address environmental challenges. Jay also examines the impact of advanced AI chips on next-generation data centre engineering and shares his vision of what great would look like to design efficient and sustainable infrastructure in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.

"So if you look at this, according to this recent structural research report, the data centre industry will spend 100 billion dollars, and about 50 per cent of that growth will be happening in APAC. So, this is massive growth. If you look at the data centres, they have to be built where people are to better support them. But we have a new kid on the block. It's called AI servers, and it's something I have never experienced before in any industry, and this is massive. It'll do a lot of things, but it has to do data processing. So you cannot have all these data centres in, let's say, North America, have people in the APAC area grab that data, send it back to the U.S. or North America, do all the processing, and then send it out to APAC. I just don't see that happening. So, they're building the data centres closer to the users, where people are. And then you do all the processing there. The growth is going to be gigantic, and that's what we are seeing today."

You can find Jay Park on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-park-b5b579335/ and on Digital Edge: https://www.digitaledgedc.com/about

Episode Highlights:
[00:00] - Quote of the Day by Jay Park #QOTD
[01:07] - Jay Park’s Background
[02:38] - Becoming Chief Development Officer at Digital Edge
[03:22] - Data Center Evolution and Power Density Growth
[05:24] - Digital Edge’s Mission and Approach
[07:30] - Supply Chain Challenges and Skid-Mount Equipment
[09:25] - Scaling Data Centers for Increased Power Needs
[12:19] - Cooling Systems and AI Server Requirements
[15:39] - Modular Data Center Design: Pros and Cons
[18:57] - Balancing Efficiency, Scalability, and Cost
[22:08] - Challenges in Data Center Engineering in APAC
[27:25] - AI Chips and Their Impact on Data Centers
[31:29] - Principles for Designing Efficient Data Centers
[34:04] - Water Usage and Environmental Impact
[37:39] - Exciting Advancements in Data Center Technology
[42:54] - Advice on Innovation in Data Center Engineering
[43:36] - Digital Edge’s Vision for the Future
[44:42] - Personal Inspirations and Emerging Technologies
[46:26] - Closing

Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. Proper credits for the intro and end music: "Energetic Sports Drive" and the episode is mixed & edited in both video and audio format by G. Thomas Craig

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