Top 5 Takeaways from OCP 2023

Last month marked our 6th year of engagement and partnership with the OCP community through the OCP Global Summit, which took place on Oct. 17 – 19 in San Jose, Calif. Our journey started with the ORv2 12V power shelf, and we’re now transitioning towards the next-generation 48V ORv3 power shelf. Harry Soin, our Sr. Technical Director, and Co-Leader of the OCP Rack and Power Project Group, has been pivotal to our participation and collaboration with the OCP community. Harry’s insights into the next-generation ORv3 are available for replay at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UpNagfzIFU.

Key insights from the summit include:

• Prioritizing Efficiency. The ORv3 specification calls for 97.5% peak power efficiency at 277V, and AE has already demonstrated ORv3 products with even higher peak power efficiency of 97.7%. This is important as power represents the largest expense for data center operations – more than 50% of the operating cost of a data center. Efficiency savings directly support bottom-line and sustainability goal • Increasing Server Power Demands. The exponential growth in AI computing workloads has catalyzed the development of new server architectures and accelerators, with GPU servers now nearing 10 kW each. This evolution is accelerating an increase in rack power density requirements.

• Escalating Rack Power Density. The current ORv3 3 kW PSU standard delivers up to 54 kW of power per rack. This is set to increase to 5.5k W per PSU, thereby enabling up to 99 kW per rack, with even higher power PSUs on the roadmap. (ORV3 PSU | Advanced Energy)

• Cooling is Still Cool. Watts in equals heat out. Thermal management remains a critical component of data center operations. Our partners showcased innovative cooling solutions designed to support 50-100 kW+ rack densities.

• Standard Power Supplies are Still Important. We were pleased to showcase Advanced Energy’s 3200 W Titanium M-CRPS PSU (CSU3200AT-3-3M0) and 1800 W M-CRPS PSU (CST1800AP-3-3M0), along our M-CRPS testing boards. There is healthy industry engagement on the M-CRPS standard. A sample of AE’s 1800 W Titanium M-CRPS CST1800AT-3-3M0, with the ultra-compact 60 mm x 185 mm form factor, took the stage during the M-CRPS discussion. (Link to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8in9VhnLkrw.)    

 

Our customer discussions at the OCP Global Summit help guide our focus on innovation and product roadmap to support the evolution of data center technology. This exchange of ideas at the Summit supports the future of data center deployment by providing insight into cost management, scale, and efficiency targets. Advanced Energy is already looking forward to continuing our discussions with the OCP community at next year’s summit in 2024.

See you there.

Brian