Research Article热管理与液冷
Ashly Joseph
Published 2026-08-05 · arXiv · Credibility S
Unplanned network hardware malfunctions can interrupt services and result in expensive downtime in data centers. A deep learning-based predictive maintenance strategy is presented that utilizes thermal imaging and power sensor data to detect early indicators of equipment breakdown in routers, switches, and servers. A simulated dataset was generated comprising annotated thermal pictures and power readings indicative …
Abstract, interpretation and reference
Abstract
Unplanned network hardware malfunctions can interrupt services and result in expensive downtime in data centers. A deep learning-based predictive maintenance strategy is presented that utilizes thermal imaging and power sensor data to detect early indicators of equipment breakdown in routers, switches, and servers. A simulated dataset was generated comprising annotated thermal pictures and power readings indicative of three operating states: Normal, Warning, and Critical. Three ImageNet-pretrained convolutional neural network (CNN) models ResNet-50, InceptionV3, and VGG16 were assessed together with a multi-modal CNN-LSTM fusion model that integrates visual and sensor time-series information. Experiments were performed with and without pre-processing procedures, including region-of-interest (ROI) extraction and normalization. In the absence of pre-processing, CNNs attained moderate accuracy (e.g., ResNet-50 at 52%), but ROI-based pre-processing significantly enhanced performance (ResNet-50 accuracy reaching 91%). The CNN-LSTM model attained the greatest accuracy of 94%, with precision and recall approaching 95%, illustrating the effectiveness of multi-modal fusion. The results validate that domain-specific pre-processing and sensor fusion substantially improve early failure prediction, providing a potential foundation for proactive maintenance of network hardware through non-intrusive monitoring.
Research Article算电协同
Honglin Li, Buxin She, Jie Zhang
Published 2026-08-11 · arXiv · Credibility S
Hyperscale data centers are adding firm, high-utilization demand faster than grids can serve it, renewing interest in colocating them with small modular reactors. Such a plant could earn revenue in two ways, selling low-carbon power and diverting steam to absorption chillers that serve a cooling load accounting for 20-40% of facility electricity use, but neither revenue stream has been priced across the conditions t…
Abstract, interpretation and reference
Abstract
Hyperscale data centers are adding firm, high-utilization demand faster than grids can serve it, renewing interest in colocating them with small modular reactors. Such a plant could earn revenue in two ways, selling low-carbon power and diverting steam to absorption chillers that serve a cooling load accounting for 20-40% of facility electricity use, but neither revenue stream has been priced across the conditions that must coincide. Here we co-optimize reactor dispatch, steam extraction, absorption cooling and grid exchange hourly for a 200 MW$_\mathrm{e}$ data center in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region, across 109 runs spanning capital, market, policy, financing and cooling efficiency. At 2023 mid-range reactor capital, the nuclear configurations cost 49-62% more than grid supply even with the Section 45Y production tax credit. The viable region opens near \$5,000 kW$_\mathrm{e}^{-1}$, and nth-of-a-kind capital makes them 77-89% cheaper in 2023, though between parity and 34% more expensive in the low-price 2024 market. A carbon price of \$53-64 tCO$_2^{-1}$ closes the mid-range gap under hourly export crediting. Absorption cooling is dispatched in response to hourly electricity prices and supplies 38% of annual cooling, at an added cost of \$9.2 million yr$^{-1}$ relative to the reactor-only plant; that gap closes at an installed absorption cost of \$60 kW$_\mathrm{c}^{-1}$ at baseline efficiency and \$570 kW$_\mathrm{c}^{-1}$ on a legacy-efficiency campus, against surveyed commercial prices of \$450-1,200 kW$_\mathrm{c}^{-1}$. Together these results delineate the capital, market and policy conditions under which colocated reactor cogeneration is competitive with grid procurement, and the range over which each condition moves the outcome.
Research Article算电协同
Ze Yu, Hongwei Zhen, Chao Shen, Mingyang Sun
Published 2026-08-11 · arXiv · Credibility S
The rapid growth of large language model (LLM) services is accelerating the expansion of AI data centers (AIDCs), intensifying concerns over power system resource adequacy and rising carbon emissions. The integration of renewable energy provides a pathway toward addressing these pressures, but it also introduces new cross-domain stability challenges to low-carbon AIDCs. For example, variability in renewable generati…
Abstract, interpretation and reference
Abstract
The rapid growth of large language model (LLM) services is accelerating the expansion of AI data centers (AIDCs), intensifying concerns over power system resource adequacy and rising carbon emissions. The integration of renewable energy provides a pathway toward addressing these pressures, but it also introduces new cross-domain stability challenges to low-carbon AIDCs. For example, variability in renewable generation affects reliability on the supply side, whereas fluctuations in AIDC workloads affect reliability on the demand side, jointly creating interconnected stability risks in AIDC microgrids. To address this problem, this paper is the first to explore computing-power coordinated attacks against low-carbon AIDCs. First, we propose an uncertainty-aware AIDC microgrid vulnerability assessment framework to capture two interacting attack surfaces: inverter control parameter tampering attacks, and AI-induced demand manipulation attacks. Then, accounting for renewable-side forecast uncertainty and AIDC-side demand response uncertainty, we introduce confidence-weighted realizations and construct a long-term attack reachable domain analysis. Furthermore, an impedance-based screening method is utilised to map generation and load variations to erosion of stability margin, thereby identifying vulnerable attack time windows and attack vectors. In addition, case studies show that computing-power coordinated attacks induce sustained inverter frequency excursions exceeding 20% of the nominal value and reach instability conditions unattainable by single attacks. The results also demonstrate that the proposed framework can extract sparse, high-confidence vulnerable periods from long-term operating trajectories.
Research Article算电协同
Johanna Bolaños-Zuñiga, Alberto J. Lamadrid
Published 2026-08-10 · arXiv · Credibility S
In this study, we use electricity demand growth, cooling requirements, and backup system operation to evaluate the environmental and economic implications of artificial intelligence data centers in the United States. Our results indicate that impacts are not determined solely by facility design, but by the broader electricity, water, and land-use systems in which these facilities operate. Emissions are primarily dri…
Abstract, interpretation and reference
Abstract
In this study, we use electricity demand growth, cooling requirements, and backup system operation to evaluate the environmental and economic implications of artificial intelligence data centers in the United States. Our results indicate that impacts are not determined solely by facility design, but by the broader electricity, water, and land-use systems in which these facilities operate. Emissions are primarily driven by electricity consumption and therefore depend on marginal generation mixes, transmission constraints, and the spatial and temporal distribution of demand. Analysis further shows that local effects include pressures on water resources, increased noise exposure, and land-use changes, with outcomes varying across regions and infrastructure conditions. The assessment of technological and operational measures shows that improvements in energy efficiency, cooling configurations, and operational strategies can reduce these impacts, although their effectiveness depends on system-level conditions. Evaluation of regulatory and market structures suggests that existing frameworks may not fully account for location- and time-specific externalities. These findings support the need for integrated policy approaches that align data center deployment and operation with electricity system characteristics, water availability, and land-use planning to improve overall environmental and economic performance.
Research Article算电协同
Eliseo Curcio
Published 2026-08-08 · arXiv · Credibility S
Interconnection queues, not electricity prices, now govern where data centers can be built, and the standard levelized-cost comparison answers a question no developer faces: it assumes a load profile, freezes the grid price while modeling the demand that moves it, and quotes busbar costs a facility cannot buy. This paper evaluates nine on-site supply technologies against a delivered grid whose price is endogenous to…
Abstract, interpretation and reference
Abstract
Interconnection queues, not electricity prices, now govern where data centers can be built, and the standard levelized-cost comparison answers a question no developer faces: it assumes a load profile, freezes the grid price while modeling the demand that moves it, and quotes busbar costs a facility cannot buy. This paper evaluates nine on-site supply technologies against a delivered grid whose price is endogenous to projected data-center demand, on a complete-site basis that retains standby charges, with measured GPU training load, delivered fuel prices, production-pathway carbon, and statutory 45V and 48E incentive mechanics. Nothing beats the wire: gas combined cycle produces at 47 USD/MWh but costs about 114 USD per megawatt-hour of complete site energy against a 92 USD grid; four-hour storage is physically capped near 18 percent of annual energy and, charged at the margin, dirtier than the grid; hydrogen from grid-priced power fails on cost and carbon together. An investment inversion converts these findings into capital terms: conversion-hardware learning buys nothing, because free hardware still exceeds the grid for every low-carbon arm, while global electrolyser deployment on sited sub-20 USD/MWh power brings PEM hydrogen power to about 2.2 times the grid at 300 billion USD and 1.9 times at 1 trillion USD (2.7 and 2.3 for the hydrogen engine), with a carbon reduction of roughly 85 percent (6.8-fold) against grid-power production. Grid parity is not purchasable at any budget. On-site supply is an access and depth product; most current investment targets the wrong term.
Research Article芯片与算力
Aditya Ujeniya, Jan Eitzinger, Thomas Gruber, Georg Hager, Gerhard Wellein
Published 2026-08-11 · arXiv · Credibility S
Data centers need tooling that validates an entire installation rather than individual nodes, at acceptance and at regular intervals thereafter. This requires dispatching identical benchmarks to every node in a single submission, and therefore cluster-aware scheduling. This paper presents ClusterBench, a framework for cluster-wide continuous benchmarking. It ships with a benchmark collection targeting each component…
Abstract, interpretation and reference
Abstract
Data centers need tooling that validates an entire installation rather than individual nodes, at acceptance and at regular intervals thereafter. This requires dispatching identical benchmarks to every node in a single submission, and therefore cluster-aware scheduling. This paper presents ClusterBench, a framework for cluster-wide continuous benchmarking. It ships with a benchmark collection targeting each component: CPU, GPU, memory, interconnect, and I/O. Because measurements are repeated throughout the cluster's lifetime, ClusterBench collects data across space and time. Comparison against earlier runs detects performance regressions introduced by software changes, such as kernel updates or new library versions. The measurements also form a dataset for research on hardware variability. On the NHR@FAU clusters Helma, Alex, and Fritz, variation within a single component stays within 1%. Variation across specimens reaches 5%, despite nodes identical by specification. Correlating performance with power draw, frequency, and temperature shows that this relationship differs between air- and liquid-cooled nodes.
Research Article热管理与液冷
Kees van Berkel
Published 2026-07-15 · arXiv · Credibility S
This paper evaluates whether large-scale AI data centers deployed in low-Earth orbit (LEO) could become a cost-effective alternative to terrestrial facilities. The analysis compares orbital and ground-based systems across launch cost, power generation, cooling, radiation exposure, and atmospheric reentry, as well as compute-network performance. A key distinction is the shift from terrestrial Clos networks to space-b…
Abstract, interpretation and reference
Abstract
This paper evaluates whether large-scale AI data centers deployed in low-Earth orbit (LEO) could become a cost-effective alternative to terrestrial facilities. The analysis compares orbital and ground-based systems across launch cost, power generation, cooling, radiation exposure, and atmospheric reentry, as well as compute-network performance. A key distinction is the shift from terrestrial Clos networks to space-based mesh networks using laser inter-satellite links. Using bisection bandwidth, bisection intensity, and roofline-style models, we show that while LEO-based inference may be feasible, training frontier-scale LLMs in orbit is unlikely to be competitive with terrestrial data centers.
Research Article算电协同
Soham Ghosh, Nabil Mohammed, Mohammad Ashraf Hossain Sadi
Published 2026-07-19 · arXiv · Credibility S
As hyperscale and colocation AI data centers continue to expand, the electric grid is increasingly required to support large, concentrated loads, with individual facilities ranging from 500 MW to 2 GW. Current projections estimate that approximately 50 GW of AI data center capacity will require grid connectivity in the United States by 2030. While prior research has extensively examined the environmental and operati…
Abstract, interpretation and reference
Abstract
As hyperscale and colocation AI data centers continue to expand, the electric grid is increasingly required to support large, concentrated loads, with individual facilities ranging from 500 MW to 2 GW. Current projections estimate that approximately 50 GW of AI data center capacity will require grid connectivity in the United States by 2030. While prior research has extensively examined the environmental and operational impacts of AI data centers, as well as their potential role as grid-interactive assets, limited attention has been given to the challenges associated with their scalable deployment through engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) processes. This manuscript addresses this gap by proposing a phased development framework for AI data center expansion. The approach is designed to enable developers to meet aggressive time-to-market objectives while navigating multi-year constraints associated with interconnection approvals and lead times associated with the procurement of component equipment. A modular construction architecture is presented, along with a detailed analysis of integrated energy systems and the role of hybrid on-site generation in supporting incremental capacity growth. Electromagnetic transient simulations (EMT) are used to evaluate system performance, demonstrating that a combination of on-site natural gas generation and grid-forming energy storage can reliably support data center operations during early and intermediate deployment phases. The study further examines the transition to full grid interconnection, including the capability of the data center to operate in islanded mode during grid disturbances. Finally, the manuscript compares grid-forming control strategies for system reconnection and restoration under varying conditions.
