When it comes to AI adoption in Southeast Asia, Singapore has been leading the revolution for some time. As other countries in the region continue to play catch up, Singaporean organizations are way ahead of the game.

But that does not mean that the other countries are being left behind. In fact, Singapore has been innovating AI use cases with the hopes of sharing the knowledge and solutions developed with businesses in the region. Such businesses know that collaboration in technology is the best way forward for them all.

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When the government announced the National AI Strategy 2.0, one of the key shifts from the initial strategy the country hoped to achieve was moving from local to global. Put simply, the strategy states that Singapore must operate from the outset with a global outlook for AI.

“We must connect to global networks, working with the best and pooling resources among the like-minded to overcome the complex challenges that plague AI today.”

As such, Singtel is launching its initiative to advance AI development in Singapore and the region. The telco giant is tying up with global and local ecosystem partners across AI, renewable energy, sustainable technologies and talent development. The initiative comes as the company is scaling its regional data center business, having gained a foothold in new markets beyond Singapore like Indonesia and Thailand where it is building a new generation of green, sustainable and hyper-connected AI-ready data centers.

Singtel’s Digital InfraCo unit and Nvidia will collaborate on opportunities to support Singapore’s updated National AI Strategy 2.0.

Singtel to bring AI to the region

At the launch of Singtel’s new data center brand, Nxera, the telco giant also announced four strategic MOUs for developing technology for the region. Specifically, Singtel will collaborate with Nvidia to make AI adoption more accessible not only in Singapore but in Southeast Asia as well.

Singtel’s Digital InfraCo unit and Nvidia will collaborate on opportunities to support Singapore’s updated National AI Strategy 2.0 to drive innovation and create new value through AI. In becoming an Nvidia cloud partner in the region, Singtel will democratize AI access for enterprises, large and small, to Nvidia GPU clusters hosted in Nxera’s AI DC platform in the region.

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Businesses can use Singtel’s extensive fixed broadband network, submarine cables and 5G high-speed network connectivity together with the patented Paragon cloud platform to orchestrate their AI workloads in a multi-network and multi-cloud environment. Nxera will also provide customers with carrier neutrality to meet all their connectivity resiliency needs.

Apart from the collaboration with Nvidia, Singtel will also tap the renewable energy expertise of Gulf Energy, Medco Power, Sembcorp and TNB Renewables to accelerate Nxera’s journey towards net-zero emissions. This includes establishing a co-innovation platform with technology partners to improve power and water efficiency and operational resiliency.

Bill Chang, CEO of Nxera and Singtel’s Digital InfraCo unit commented that the launch of the Nxera data center brand is a key milestone for Singtel’s data center business as the company looks to expand its footprint in the region beyond 200MW over the next three years.

“As we build out our data center business, we are putting in place a purpose-driven, fully aligned group of ecosystem partners with distinctive capabilities and unique platforms that will help us grow this digital infrastructure in an AI world – sustainably and responsibly. This means democratizing AI access for enterprises, introducing renewable energy and sustainable technologies, and helping produce the talent for our new generation of data centers,” he said.

“Digitalization shouldn’t come at the expense of our decarbonization efforts. In fact, it should accelerate our efforts. Given our aim to achieve operational net-zero emissions for our data center business by 2028, these partnerships are critical to laying the groundwork for turning digitalization into a driver for decarbonization,” he added.

Singtel will also be creating a Regional Sustainable Data Centre Academy with five institutes of higher learning. (Source – Singtel).

A regional sustainable data center academy

Singtel will also be creating a Regional Sustainable Data Centre Academy with five institutes of higher learning to train more than 150 students annually for its data center business, ecosystem partners and the industry. The academy will launch in mid-2024 with Singapore Institute of Technology, Nanyang Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic and Institute of Technical Education as its first partners.

Nxera will jointly develop curriculum and training programs incorporating practical workplace asynchronous learning for existing undergraduate, diploma and ITE DC-related courses and upskilling opportunities for seasoned and mid-career professionals, including competency-based, stackable micro-credentials that align with the latest technologies and practices as well as mentoring from industry experts. This collaboration will be extended to other institutes in its regional markets of Thailand and Indonesia in the next phase.

“As an industry leader, we are developing a sustainable data center talent pipeline to power our growth in the region. It will augment and strengthen our long-standing expertise in designing, developing and operating data centers as we aim to make Nxera a trusted data center brand that is future-proofed – one that provides excellent interconnectivity, efficiency, resiliency with high power density while remaining sustainable,” explained Chang.

Singapore’s service provider joins pioneers in France, India, Italy and Switzerland in deploying AI factories that deliver generative AI services with data sovereignty. (Image generated by AI).

For Southeast Asia and beyond

Singtel also announced that Nxera is currently developing three AI data center projects. The new 58MW DC Tuas in Singapore and data centers with partners Telkom and Medco Power in Indonesia and Gulf Energy and AIS in Thailand will increase its total pipeline capacity to more than 200MW from its current operational capacity of 62MW in Singapore.

According to a report by Nvidia, the energy-efficient data centers across Southeast Asia are accelerated with Nvidia Hopper architecture GPUs and using Nvidia AI reference architectures proven to deliver optimal performance. The data centers will serve as sovereign national resources.

Basically, they would be AI factories that process the private datasets of companies, startups, universities and governments safely onshore to produce valuable insights. Nxera will offer its customers Nvidia AI Enterprise, a software platform for building and deploying AI applications, including generative AI.

Singapore’s service provider joins pioneers in France, India, Italy and Switzerland in deploying AI factories that deliver generative AI services with data sovereignty. Nxera is expected to continue to execute this approach as it expands its footprint in Asia Pacific, including India and Australia.

The post Singtel partners Nvidia for Sovereign AI appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

The Indonesian data center market is a fast-growing sector that is driven by the increasing internet economy, digital transformation, and demand for cloud services in the country. According to various sources, the market size is expected to reach around US$4 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14-17%.

The Indonesian data center market is dominated by Tier 3 data centers, which offer high availability and redundancy, but Tier 4 data centers are also emerging as the fastest-growing segment. Some of the key players in the market include EDGE DC, SpaceDC, Smartfren, G42, NTT, Telkom Sigma, and Biznet.

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Indonesia’s data center market is also attracting investments from global hyperscale cloud providers, such as Google, Amazon, Alibaba, and Microsoft, who are expanding their presence and capacity in Indonesia. The government of Indonesia is also supporting the development of the data center industry by improving the connectivity, data sovereignty, and digital infrastructure in the country.

EDGE DC hoping to make an impact in the Indonesian data center market

Stephanus Oscar, CEO at EDGE DC.

According to Stephanus Oscar, CEO at EDGE DC, the Indonesian data center market has expanded tremendously in the last couple of years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Data centers in Indonesia are located in several clusters around the capital, each catering to the needs of the industry.

“The demand for data centers in Indonesia is certainly driven by the hyperscalers. Currently in Indonesia, we already have all the big cloud providers. This includes AWS and Google. We have Microsoft coming in as well as the Chinese cloud players, Huawei, Alibaba and Tencent. This itself is going to create the demand for data centers.

At the same time, the rise of generative AI is also driving the demand for data centers. Our data centers are designed for high-density and super-high-density workloads. Our new EDGE 2 data center will be well positioned to house that kind of AI workload in Indonesia,” said Oscar.

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Located in downtown Jakarta, EDGE DC operates in close proximity to two major internet exchanges, offering easy availability and low latency connectivity. Since establishing EDGE 1, the data center is now fully sold out, running at 100% capacity. As such, the company announced plans to build another site, called EDGE 2. Both data centers will be interconnected so that customers can rely on both data centers to run their workloads.

“The design of our EDGE 2 data center is built with sustainability in mind. We are partnering with Nortek, a cooling company to bring StatePoint Liquid Cooling (SPLC). An evaporative cooling technology, SPLC will reduce the PUE to below 1.3, which is quite market-changing here in Indonesia. This is the first time the technology is deployed in Indonesia,” commented Oscar.

PUE is the ratio of the total amount of energy used by a computer data center facility to the energy delivered to computing equipment. PUE is the inverse of data center infrastructure efficiency. While an ideal PUE is 1.0, this would still depend on local temperatures. For tropical countries in Southeast Asia, below 1.3 would be just right.

EDGE 2 data center will be well positioned to house that kind of AI workload in Indonesia.

Availability and low latency will be crucial in 2024 for data centers

In 2023, data centers in Singapore experienced issues that led to the disruption of several services in the country. While the problem has been resolved, the damage caused by the disruption led to companies relooking their data center strategies.

“There are a thousand different things that can happen in a data center. And you only need one incident, to trigger everything. You always need to be prepared for the worst that can happen. In EDGE 1, we have almost three years of operation and zero downtime. So let’s keep it that way. To ensure continuous power supply, we are working with PLN, so in the event that either source gets an outage, then there’s 100% backup. And in terms of the design, we design the data centers to make sure that everything is backed up. We also conduct incident drills to ensure that in the event of such incidents, the team knows what to do,” explained Oscar.

In Indonesia, data center outages are not common. However the country is prone to natural disasters that can disrupt power flow and such. Apart from these, data centers need to have 100% availability and be able to provide the lowest latency possible to their customers.

For Oscar, this is an area in which EDGE DC is capable of serving best to its customers. EDGE DC launched EPIX or Edge Peering Interconnect, which is an advanced interconnection solution to power digital acceleration. As EDGE 1 is located near two internet exchanges, it allows customers to have reliable connections every time, and always achieve low latency and high throughput. EPIX allows the interconnection of entities in an IXP, which is to connect with a single port.

“We provide an SLA-based internet exchange and we also provide high capacity base connection. We provide up to 100G, or even some up to 400 G type of connection. Latency has been very important for our customers and it’s very important for us to deliver it. And with the help of Indonet as a network service provider, all this comes into one single picture. We have the data center, we have the connectivity, and we have the internet exchange. Our customers can just select which offerings that are required for them,” added Oscar.

Looking into the future, Oscar believes that Indonesia is poised to be one of the leading data center markets in the region. With the country’s population and demand for more digital services, he believes the correlation will fuel data center growth in the country.

The post EDGE DC hoping to influence Indonesian data center market appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

As the 2023 calendar draws to its end for another year, it’s time for our annual write-up of the technology events and trends on which we’ve been focused this year.

Each of the writers in the Hybrid News stable has their particular specialisms and interests, so our round-up of the big trends in tech in 2023 is best served by giving each a voice here on the pages of Tech Wire Asia.

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Content moderation in 2023

Tony Fyler writes:

You never know what you’ve got, or what you’ve had, until either it’s gone or it’s under threat.

That’s content moderation in 2023.

The rules of decent society, carried over onto social media networks, have always presumed there would be rules of engagement, and responsible humans to police that engagement.

But with the coming of Elon Musk to then-Twitter, just as with the coming of Donald Trump to the White House, those rules began to fray. Musk fired a vast majority of his content moderation team on arriving at Twitter, both in an attempt to cut costs at the legendarily unprofitable platform, and as part of a campaign to extend “free” speech into areas that seek to de-legitimize the ideas of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Meta followed suit in terms of cutting staff from its content management and fact-checking teams across 2023, raising serious fears for the impartiality of social media reporting of key events like the 2024 Presidential election.

As the fundamental role of social media shifts from pure entertainment to including more journalistic functions, the role of content moderation will become ever more important – without it, active disinformation or the equivalence of facts and lies replaces an informed democracy.

Quantum computing goes mainstream in 2023

Aaron Raj writes:

Quantum computing is still a relatively expensive piece of technology for most organizations. While the industry is still being developed, investments have been pouring in for quantum computing research, with more organizations now experimenting with potential use cases.

IBM, in particular, has been at the forefront of quantum computing research and development in 2023. The IBM Quantum Network has seen tremendous progress among its members. The Cleveland Clinic and IBM unveiled the first deployment of an onsite private sector quantum computer in the US, which will be dedicated to healthcare research. IBM also unveiled the Quantum Heron, the first in a new series of utility-scale quantum processors. The 133 Qubit processor offers a five times improvement over the previous best records set by IBM Eagle.

Apart from IBM, several other quantum computing companies have also recorded milestones in 2024. Among them is IonQ, a quantum computing company offering a fully managed quantum computing service with AWS. There’s also Horizon Quantum Computing, a Singaporean-based company building software development tools to unlock the potential of quantum computing hardware. The company raised a significant investment earlier this year and has established an engineering center in Europe.

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Perhaps the biggest take away from quantum computing in 2023 will be the implementation of post-quantum cryptography to unify and drive efforts to address the threats posed by quantum computing. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will publish in 2024 the guidelines required to ensure a fluid migration to the new post-quantum cryptographic standard.

Large language models loom large in 2023

James Tyrrell writes:

Many people would pick AI as the tech of the year, but those in the know would dig a bit deeper and recognize large language models (LLMs) as the real heroes of the story. Throughout 2023, the impact of LLMs has been remarkable.

Enterprise software providers have integrated natural language search into their products so that users can query business data as if they were talking to a knowledgeable colleague. And we have LLMs to thank for that breakthrough.

Whether LLMs can push the cost of intelligence (close) to zero, as OpenAI’s Sam Altman has forecast, remains to be seen. But billion parameter models capable of next-word prediction are certainly clever (and know how to stack a book, nine eggs, a laptop, a bottle, and a nail on top of each other).

One of the most beautiful things about LLMs is that they can be trained on unlabelled data. You just have to mask a word in a sentence and have the algorithm find the most likely candidate – tuning the model weights as you go.

Such unsupervised learning has allowed LLMs to vacuum up virtually all of the text on the internet in every published language. We now have multilingual business avatars which are only too happy to meet and greet customers 24/7, and virtual agents that can handle common contact center voice calls with ease. What’s more, compression techniques such as dynamic sparsity allow models to run at the edge and put LLMs in your pocket.

Smartphone chips and augmented reality processors are being designed with neural engines to help us query the world as we go about our daily lives. It’s great news for remote maintenance, and LLMs have an abundance of productivity plus points – many more of which are sure to play out in 2024.

The statistical magic that LLMs bring to the table shines bright, at least in most directions. Having LLMs fill in the gaps in human thought could turn out to be a double-edged sword. And the jury is out on whether AI is good or bad news for jobs – technology writers included!

2023: the year in data centers

Fiona Jackson writes:

Love it or hate it, AI (or indeed, LLMs – thanks, James!) was the hot topic of the last year – as confirmed by the Collins Dictionary. The visibility that ChatGPT brought the technology resulted in consumers demanding that products and services matched its level of intelligence.

Naturally, this demand has been passed to product and service providers and then the data centers that support them. It’s no longer just research departments and specialized industries that need to have AI workloads hosted, and data center operators have been scrambling to keep up.

Across the world, racks are being densified, new direct-to-chip cooling solutions are being built, and energy-efficient strategies are being implemented to handle the increased computational requirements. TechHQ visited Iceland in October to check out whether the country’s claims of sustainable data solutions were true, and even with the naturally cold temperatures making direct air cooling a viable option, it turns out many are investigating more efficient liquid cooling alternatives to future-proof against further demand. In five years’ time, 2023 will be looked back on as a turning point in data solution visibility.

From the public’s perspective, they will go from faraway, almost mythological facilities that enable ‘the cloud’ to familiar infrastructure, built into skyscrapers, supermarkets, or architecturally impressive buildings that draw the eye. But their new presence in society will not just be physical, as discussions about AI, data handling, and technological infrastructure will permeate everyday conversations. Concerns over sustainability, ethics, and the societal impact of these advancements will become public discourse, fostering a deeper understanding of the pivotal role these data solutions play.

The year of ubiquitous AI

Muhammad Zulhusni writes:

In 2023, AI firmly established itself as a staple in our daily lives, initiating an era where it’s no longer a futuristic concept but a tangible, integral reality. This year marked a shift from AI being a source of curiosity and entertainment to becoming a critical tool across various domains.

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The emergence of “prompt whisperers” exemplified the world’s evolving interaction with AI, guiding users in creating effective prompts and blending AI services for enhanced outputs. AI’s influence was profoundly felt in the workplace, making headlines for winning photography competitions and excelling in academic exams. ChatGPT’s user base reached 100 million by February, a testament to its widespread acceptance.

Other significant developments included the launch of Google’s chatbot Bard, Microsoft incorporating AI into Bing, and Snapchat’s introduction of MyAI. GPT-4’s release in March further advanced AI capabilities, particularly in document analysis.

Major corporations like Coca-Cola and Levi’s leveraged AI for advertising and creating virtual models. The year also saw culturally impactful moments, such as the viral image of the Pope in a Balenciaga jacket and calls for a pause in AI development. Amazon integrated AI into its offerings, while Japan made notable rulings on AI training and copyright. In the US, screenwriters went on strike over AI-generated scripts, highlighting the growing influence and controversy surrounding AI.

Generative AI has changed everything.

AI’s rapid advancement in 2023 has significant implications for the future, particularly in reshaping job markets, education, and policy-making. It’s driving crucial conversations around ethics, privacy, and data security, prompting new regulations and standards. The democratization of AI tools is sparking innovation across industries, fostering an environment of rapid technological progress.

Five years from now, 2023 will be seen as the beginning of the AI revolution, setting the stage for AI to be an integral, ethically integrated part of our lives, revolutionizing our interactions with technology and society.

2023, a year of fading Red Hat

Joe Green writes:

2023 saw Red Hat’s crown slip out from under the brim of the company’s fedora. For years the poster child of how an open source company could make real money, Red Hat suddenly decided to annoy and negatively impact the community of developers, admins, and IT professionals who – let’s be honest – make sure a sizeable chunk of the world’s computers keep doing their thing.

Early in the year, the byte-for-byte copy of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS was canned with little notice, and more recently, the company decided the (previously open source) source code for RHEL was to be placed behind what amounted to a paywall.

Many commentators placed the blame on the perceived ‘bad guy,’ namely IBM, who’s owned the Linux outfit since 2019. But regardless of where the decisions emanated, the imperative behind the moves was commercial – a short-term maximizing of profits at the expense of long-term continuity, goodwill, and the collectivist ethos on which Red Hat (and the internet) were built.

There are significant parallels in the myopic mindset between Red Hat’s courses of action and those of all human activity with regard to the accelerating climate disaster we are living in. Despite the cost of failure being higher in 30 years by a huge factor, both we and Red Hat/IBM choose short-termism, indolence, and profiteering over positive and collective action to assure a future.

“2023 Happy New Year Taiwan Kaohsiung 高流幸福式元旦煙火” by 黃昱峰 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The post The technology of 2023 – in the APAC and around the world appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Southeast Asia stands at the forefront of the global cloud computing sector, marked by intense digital competition. The region is characterized by its political diversity, ranging from democratic governments to authoritarian regimes. Economically, it spans a broad spectrum, with countries like Indonesia and Singapore representing contrasting ends.

The entrepreneurial spirit in sectors like fintech and e-commerce in the region has spurred significant demand for cloud services, attracting the attention of major cloud providers from the US and China. These companies are competing mainly on economic and commercial grounds. In this context, the cloud policies of Southeast Asian nations are shaped by their developmental needs and sovereignty concerns. The US, in its approach to the region, must effectively address these factors, as focusing solely on the security risks linked to China might not appeal to all countries – and in fact, might risk alienating otherwise friendly nations.

The cloud market dynamics

Southeast Asian nations find themselves balancing their historical connections with China against their relationships with the US. Some countries have a strong inclination towards China, while others, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, adopt a more cautious stance due to past tensions and territorial concerns.

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This region also receives substantial investments from international cloud service providers and data center operators. Leading companies such as Japan’s NTT Group and Amazon are investing significantly in Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. For instance, NTT Group is investing US$90 million in a new data center in Bangkok, and Amazon has pledged US$6 billion to Malaysia.

Southeast Asia is expected to become a central hub for data center expansion to support its rapidly growing internet economy, which is projected to reach US$330 billion by 2025. However, sustainable growth in this cost-sensitive market poses its challenges.

The Bangkok 3 Data Center by NTT, scheduled to open in 2024, exemplifies the region’s growth. It will boast state-of-the-art infrastructure to bolster cloud services and tackle power stability issues. NTT focuses on catering to the increasing demand from sectors with mission-critical operations, including banking and cloud services.

Traditionally, Singapore has led the market in data centers, but Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia are swiftly catching up. The pandemic accelerated this growth trend, increasing online data consumption and attracting Chinese and US cloud vendors to the region. Huawei, for instance, has quickly risen to prominence in Thailand’s cloud market.

The Bangkok 3 Data Center by NTT, scheduled to open in 2024. (Source – Shutterstock).

The escalation of cloud computing in Southeast Asia is driven by digital transformation, favorable government policies, and the necessity for modernizing IT infrastructure. The burgeoning digital tech startups in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines further escalate the demand for cloud services.

While US cloud companies currently dominate the market, they face growing competition from Chinese counterparts, highlighting the importance of US advocacy for reliable cloud infrastructure and services in this intricate region.

In the words of Sunny Chua, Singapore general manager at Wasabi Technologies, the cloud market in Southeast Asia is poised for change in 2024. This shift will see AI driving a boom in cloud storage, specialized providers offering more cost-effective solutions gaining traction against the dominance of major players, and data security continuing to be a crucial factor for cloud providers.

The SEA market is already increasingly establishing itself as one of the world’s major cloud spenders, with regional expenditure reaching US$2.18 billion in 2022 – up 25% from the previous year. Attention is expanding from well-established markets, such as Australia and Singapore, to digital newcomers of the region, like Malaysia, as the opportunities those markets present become clear.

As 2023 draws to a close, these developments mark a significant evolution in the market alongside catalysts for cloud adoption like AI, meaning businesses need to rethink their strategies to remain agile, data-secure, and prudent with their cloud spend.

How AI is fueling cloud storage

The data storage industry has burgeoned into a US$77.5 billion sector, and even amid the tech slowdowns witnessed this year, the demand for cloud storage remains unwavering. A report has revealed that 84% of enterprises anticipate a surge in the volume of data stored in the public cloud over the next 12 months. AI, by its nature requiring large data repositories to generate accurate insights, will inevitably add to that volume of data that needs to be generated and stored.

Sunny Chua, Singapore general manager, Wasabi Technologies,

That means businesses must rethink their storage solutions. No longer can price predictability be a good-to-have. The mobility of data will be key to ensuring companies are be able to extract value from the explosion of data they can expect to generate. It is hardly surprising that the cloud remains a critical gateway for AI to truly work for businesses. For example, many AI applications, including ChatGPT, are currently deployed in the cloud.

Quickly considering this new opportunity, major hyperscalers such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are offering AI platforms in the cloud. But the hidden costs of their cloud solutions remain. Businesses that want to adopt AI effectively and sustainably are increasingly looking for economical storage solutions from specialized vendors.

This trend is expected to continue, given the synergistic nature of the cloud and AI. Ultimately, when data is appropriately stored in the cloud, businesses gain the flexibility to tailor AI to their specific technological needs. Enterprises can dynamically adjust their cloud storage capacity based on demand, simplifying the customization and implementation of AI for various facets of the company.

The cloud serves as a repository for insights gleaned by AI, enhancing its utility for organizations that use this transformative technology. These make affordable, cost-predictable storage solutions the baseline for businesses in an AI-driven digital era.

Hyperscalers vs specialized providers

According to IDC, the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) market has seen a surge of 26.1% in market share – with the lion’s share of that growth held by hyperscalers. Certainly, the prevalence of hyperscalers in the cloud market can be attributed to the sheer amount and breadth of cloud services they offer.

It’s convenient for businesses to use hyperscalers for a bundle of cloud services as an all-in-one option for data management and storage – ultimately translating to covering the entire cloud needs of businesses. But global hyperscalers do not typically offer services customized to specific geographic regions’ requirements and unique use cases – expecting local customers to adopt a “one size fits all” approach to cloud computing.

The extensive array of services provided by hyperscalers can be challenging for users to navigate and fully grasp, particularly for those with specific and limited needs – a scenario often observed in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Yet, tools offered by hyperscalers can often be cost-prohibitive.

The cumulative expense of utilizing all development and testing tools from a hyperscaler may surpass the budget constraints of developers operating on a tight budget. Last year, the APAC region demonstrated a higher susceptibility to overspending on cloud services, with 51% of organizations exceeding their cloud storage budgets.

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The truth is that in choosing one exclusive provider for all the businesses’ cloud needs, organizations risk losing out on cost predictability. Hyperscalers, driven by revenue maximization, typically function within a walled garden, making interoperability between cloud services possible but cost-prohibitive. This approach, though, confines customers, limiting their access to diversity to create a resilient multicloud environment.

2024 will see specialized providers offering more cost-effective storage solutions gradually gaining ground, challenging the dominance of hyperscalers – especially as SEA anticipates generating massive volumes of data in its pursuit of a US$1 trillion digital economy. The demand then arises for specialty cloud storage providers capable of delivering predictable, secure, and scalable storage, coupled with seamless and rapid access to data. The solution here is clear: don’t leave all your eggs in one basket. Collaborating with multiple partners in the cloud is crucial to ensure organizations can engage with the appropriate vendor for “best-of-breed” product offerings tailored to their needs.

Data security: the cornerstone of AI in cloud services

It is no surprise that businesses entrusting their data to a public cloud provider consistently harbor concerns regarding data security. While cloud and AI have distinct growth paths, their development is inextricably intertwined and gradually merging into a single entity. As businesses aim to harness AI for more seamless operations, cybercriminals increasingly deploy advanced technologies, including AI-driven methods, making the threats more intricate and challenging to identify. Ransomware remains a substantial threat, both within Singapore and globally, as cybersecurity vendors observe a 13 percent surge in ransomware incidents worldwide in 2022. Businesses are now generating even larger volumes of data, making them sitting ducks for attacks. With that, cybersecurity threats will persist and become increasingly complex in 2024.

Businesses must then confront the reality that preventing all potential methods of malicious actors infiltrating networks, exploiting unknown vulnerabilities, and targeting company data and backups for extortion is nearly impossible. That said, many businesses deploy security strategies encompassing prevention and detection, data protection, backup, and recovery to maximize their efforts to safeguard data from malicious entities effectively.

Data security should be top of mind when moving to the cloud. (Source – X)

After implementing AI or any next-generation technology, securing and maintaining the integrity of the utilized information is crucial. Tampered data poses the risk of companies working with incorrect information, leading to serious consequences and subsequent efforts to rectify mistakes, causing productivity loss. Given the evolving nature of technology, businesses must tread cautiously with it – regularly checking for breaches or threats in the burgeoning realm of AI to mitigate the growing risk of cyberattacks.

Immutable backups are also a crucial tool in businesses’ security arsenal, serving as the last line of defense in data protection – ensuring the backup copy remains secure and immune to breaches or tampering. In this scenario, the cloud holds a distinct advantage over on-premises data storage, as it operates independently of user accounts, a common target for hacks. Crucially, even if malicious actors compromise a system, an immutable copy of AI data in the cloud is impervious to attacks, deletion, or compromise.

Essentially, the SEA market’s robust growth in cloud spending, driven by digital newcomers and catalyzed by AI, signifies a pivotal shift in strategies for businesses. In navigating today’s digital landscape, businesses must tread cautiously – keeping overreliance in check, regularly fortifying their defenses, and viewing the hurdles that potentially lie ahead for them to flourish.

The post Cloud competition and AI drive in Southeast Asia as US and China compete for dominance appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Data centers are growing at an high rate with the ‘global data sphere’ predicted to grow in storage capacity from 33 zettabytes in 2018 to 175 zettabytes by 2025, according to IDC.  Some of the factors driving the growth of the data center industry in Southeast Asia include the rising demand for data storage and cloud services, especially from e-commerce, gaming and social media. The increasing adoption of AI also requires high-performance computing, data analytics capabilities via low latency and high bandwidth connections.

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However, the data center industry in the region is still challenged by high operational costs and the risk of power outages and, therefore, downtime, such as the power outage in Singapore recently. The shortage of skilled talent and expertise in data center operations and management, plus the high staff turnover rate alongside competition for talent from other regions are additional challenges.

New investments in data centers are focused on green and sustainable practices. These can reduce the carbon footprint and operational costs of data centers, and enhance their social and environmental profiles.

The emergence of new technologies and innovations, such as liquid cooling, modular and prefabricated data centers, and software-defined data centers help improve the performance, flexibility, scalability, and security of data centers, and lower their capital and operational expenditures (CAPEX & OPEX).

Singapore introduced one of the world’s first sustainability standards tailored for data centers (Image generated by AI)

Alibaba Cloud data centers

Alibaba Cloud operates 89 data centers worldwide, creating coverage of 30 regions. Regions contain clusters of data centers and offer high availability, robust fault tolerance, and a minimal chance of concurrent failure.

Alibaba claims its Cloud data centers:

• Provide low latency and high bandwidth connectivity in different regions and countries, and access to Alibaba Cloud’s global network of CDN nodes.
• Comply with local standards and regulations for data protection, privacy, security, and taxation, and offer local support and expertise for customers.
• Adopt green and sustainable practices, like using renewable energy sources, energy-efficient equipment, waste heat recovery, and water conservation to reduce the environmental impact and operational costs of data centers.
• Leverage liquid cooling, modular and prefabricated data centers and software-defined data centers to improve the performance, flexibility, scalability, and security of data centers.

Alibaba Cloud picked Singapore for its first international data center and has three availability zones in the country. Alibaba Cloud is also available in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

World’s first tropical climate data center testbed, led by NUS and NTU, will boost Singapore’s competitiveness in sustainable data centers

Data centers in Singapore

Singapore’s ambitious goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 faces a significant obstacle in the rapid expansion of its digital economy, which drives a growing demand for data centers.  In 2020, data centers accounted for 1.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, emitting over 330 million metric tons of CO2. They also consumed nearly 10% of the Singapore’s electricity, according to Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.

“As a leading data hub in Southeast Asia, Singapore grapples with the environmental implications of data centers, particularly in its tropical climate where substantial energy is required for cooling. A recent record-breaking temperature of 37 degrees Celsius in May underlines the urgency of addressing this challenge,” stated Dr Derek Wang, General Manager, Alibaba Cloud Singapore.

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The Singapore Government, through the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), has introduced one of the world’s first sustainability standards for data centers in tropical climates earlier this year. Dr Wang believes the upcoming pilot trials, slated to commence before the end of 2023, signify a step towards aligning digital innovation with climate commitments.

“There will be several considerations for Singaporean businesses, especially the data center operators and stakeholders when looking to progress these goals and adopt green data centers. These encompass optimizing the power efficiency of IT components, embracing advanced cooling technologies, and harnessing the potential of AI and data analysis for improved energy management, including adaptation to extreme weather events and evolving dynamics over time,” said Dr Wang.

Can liquid cooling make data centers sustainable? (Image generated by AI)

Keeping data centers cool

For Dr Wang, there are several approaches to maintain optimal temperatures in data centers. While air conditioning offers relief to domestic indoor settings, data centers present unique challenges and Singapore’s humid tropical climate adds complexity to the issue.

“Some argue that the traditional method of setting a fixed temperature and venting warm air into the environment is wasteful. Singapore’s equatorial conditions and the relatively high cost of cooling compound this issue, placing data center hosting at a competitive disadvantage. Therefore, prioritizing cost-effective and energy-efficient cooling methods becomes crucial,” explained Dr Wang.

Dr Wang said a more sustainable alternative for efficient data center cooling involves moderating room temperatures to a baseline level to minimize the need for excessive cooling.

“Servers generate significant local heat, and by strategically distributing the heat-generating hardware across the data center, or even among multiple rooms, room temperatures can be raised moderately without compromising equipment functionality. This approach substantially reduces overall cooling requirements and lessens the environmental impact.

This is where liquid cooling emerges as a highly efficient alternative to traditional air conditioning. Liquid cooling technology can reduce energy consumption by a remarkable 70%. With innovative cooling solutions, data centers can achieve a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.09, a significant improvement compared to the previous benchmark of 1.2 typically achieved with air conditioning systems,” said Dr Wang.

Liquid cooling technology can reduce energy consumption by a remarkable 70% (Image generated by AI)

Sustainability through data and AI

The data center of the future will not only power AI but also be run with AI. Machine learning-enabled data analytics technologies can forecast, control, and manage the carbon footprint of data centers. Cloud-based technology allows operators to identify anomalies quickly and respond accordingly via automation or human intervention.

Alibaba Cloud has a SaaS tool that does just that. The Energy Expert lets data center operators and enterprises track and process environmental real-time data. It can also map out emission strategies, set targets, and limit environmental impact.

“AI is also helpful in forecasting a data center’s future energy load, as it can fluctuate widely depending on the time of day, weather and special events. Another factor is fluctuating energy output from renewables such as solar panels and wind turbines, which generate power at a different cost than consumers on the public grid. Again, AI-based algorithms can optimize load balancing to maximize the use of renewable energy,” said Dr Wang.

It’s all about creating a sustainable future. (Image generated by AI)

Migrate to negate

Dr Wang stated that intelligent algorithms enable cloud operating systems to achieve more efficiency by integrating thousands of servers around the world into a virtualized supercomputer, a situation that improves server resource utilization by as much as 40%, creating significant cost reductions.

Automatic load balancing and optimization can automatically move AI applications to systems that have appropriate hardware. Dr Wang describes this migration to the cloud as one that leads to scalable and flexible infrastructures via which cost savings can be achieved. It also reduces the mean CO₂ footprint as energy use is optimized and priority given to sustainable energy sources.

“Singapore’s unwavering commitment to green data centers serves as a beacon of inspiration for the global community. It’s crucial to emphasize that adopting green data centers doesn’t entail any trade-offs in terms of performance, reliability, or security. Instead, it represents a dedicated pledge to operate with enhanced efficiency on our journey toward carbon neutrality.

As we tread this path, we strike a harmonious balance between technological innovation and environmental responsibility, forging a sustainable digital future that flourishes while safeguarding our planet for generations to come,” concluded Dr Wang.

The post Creating a recipe for sustainable data centers appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Observations and forecasts this year indicate a global power shortage is hindering the growth of the data center market worldwide. Ensuring sufficient power supply is a primary concern for data center operators in key regions such as North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific. Secondary markets with ample power resources are becoming more appealing to data center operators.

In the Asia-Pacific region, data center inventories are expanding quickly, reaching substantial sizes. Tokyo, Sydney, and Singapore each now boast over half a gigawatt of operational power capacity, with Sydney’s capacity increasing by 30% from last year. However, limited power availability is a significant hurdle in some Asia-Pacific markets, despite the region’s potential and the growing interest in developing markets outside major cities.

2024: the year of AI-driven data center infrastructure

As the industry approaches 2024, it faces the intense demand for AI capabilities, while simultaneously grappling with the need to reduce energy consumption, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. The widespread adoption of AI, predicted by Vertiv two years ago, brings with it both infrastructure and sustainability challenges, which are evident in Vertiv’s forecast of data center trends for 2024.

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Vertiv CEO Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi emphasizes the significant impact of AI on data center densities and power requirements. He notes the critical challenge of supporting AI demand while reducing energy usage and emissions, calling for collaboration between data centers, chip and server manufacturers, and infrastructure providers.

Vertiv experts anticipate trends to dominate the data center sector in 2024, with AI playing a pivotal role in shaping new builds and retrofit strategies. The increasing demand for AI is pushing organizations to significantly modify their operations. Many existing facilities are not equipped to support the high-density computing AI requires, often lacking the infrastructure for liquid cooling.

In response, organizations are opting for new construction projects, increasingly using prefabricated modular solutions to expedite deployment, or undertaking large-scale retrofits to fundamentally transform their power and cooling infrastructure. These changes offer opportunities to implement greener technologies and practices, such as liquid cooling for AI servers and air-cooled thermal management for the entire data center.

Innovations in energy storage and efficiency

The pursuit of alternative energy storage solutions is gaining momentum. Innovations like battery energy storage systems (BESS) demonstrate potential for intelligent grid integration and reducing generator use. By adapting load management, BESS supports longer operational demands and can seamlessly integrate with alternative energy sources like solar or fuel cells. The anticipated rise in BESS installations in 2024 reflects a shift towards “bring your own power” models, aimed at fulfilling the capacity, reliability, and cost-effectiveness requirements of AI-driven demand.

For enterprises managing data centers, flexibility is becoming a key focus. Cloud and colocation providers are aggressively expanding to meet demand, but businesses with their own data centers are diversifying their investment and deployment strategies, particularly considering AI integration and sustainability goals. An emerging trend towards on-premise capacity for proprietary AI and edge application deployments is influenced by AI.

Many organizations are likely to invest incrementally, favoring prefabricated modular solutions and prioritizing service and maintenance to prolong the life of existing equipment. These measures optimize operations in maxed-out computing environments, improve energy efficiency, and reduce Scope 3 carbon emissions by extending the lifespan of current servers.

Vertiv’s role in data center infrastructure evolution

Vertiv, among many companies, is addressing energy efficiency by launching scalable UPS systems in Asia, suitable for edge and mid-sized applications. The company has introduced the Vertiv Liebert APM2, an energy-efficient and scalable power solution, to its UPS portfolio. Compatible with lithium-ion and VRLA batteries, the Liebert APM2 features a compact design ranging from 30kW to 600 kW. It offers considerable energy savings compared to less efficient alternatives and can parallel with up to four units for extra capacity or redundancy.

The Liebert APM2 stands out for delivering higher power output in a smaller footprint, essential for edge computing applications with limited space. Requiring up to 45% less space than its predecessor, the Vertiv Liebert APM, the Liebert APM2 offers diverse installation options, like in-row, in-room, against-the-wall, or back-to-back setups.

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Security and cloud expansion in 2024’s data center landscape

With cloud spending projected to rise by 20.4% in 2024, the race to the cloud is intensifying, coupled with heightened security concerns. The ongoing shift to cloud services increases the demand on providers to expand capacity rapidly, especially for AI and high-performance computing, leading them to rely on colocation partners worldwide.

Security remains a top priority for cloud customers as they move more data offsite. Gartner reports that 80% of CIOs plan to increase cyber/information security spending in 2024, underscoring the importance of addressing the complex security challenges of varying national and regional data security regulations.

Cloud spending rises and security remains a top priority. (Generated with AI).

Paul Churchill, vice president and general manager at Vertiv Asia, has observed a significant uptick in AI investments and strategic alignment in Asia. He cites IDC’s forecast that by 2026, substantial investments will flow into AI/automation technologies. Vertiv is committed to assisting customers with the challenges of integrating AI, offering various solutions from modular systems to predictive maintenance services.

Churchill emphasizes the value AI adds in driving more efficient and sustainable IT systems, a trend that is increasingly shaping the future of the data center industry.

The post What does 2024 hold for the data center landscape and its infrastructure? appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

When it comes to data center investments, Malaysia has enjoyed some of the biggest growth in recent years, with the past two years alone seeing more than a dozen new data centers announced, with billions of dollars worth of investments recorded at the same time.

One of the biggest data center investments in the country was made by Equinix in 2022. The data center giant announced its market entry into Malaysia with plans to build a new International Business Exchange (IBX) data center located in Johor, called JH1. With an initial investment of around US$40 million, JH1 is scheduled to begin operations in Q1 2024, providing 500 cabinets and 1,960 square meters of colocation space.

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Then, in June this year, Equinix announced plans to increase its footprint in Malaysia by opening another data center, this time worth US$100 million, in Kuala Lumpur. Also expected to be operational in Q1 2024, the new facility in Kuala Lumpur, named KL1, together with JH1 in Johor, will provide the digital infrastructure that businesses need to capitalize on the country’s digital economy. Both data centers are built with a key focus on sustainability, to add some future-proofing in the light of advancing compute needs and costs in terms of both economy and ecology.

Given the entry into the Malaysian market and with operations expected to start in 2024, Equinix has also begun the process of sourcing talent to work in these data centers once they are ready.

“Equinix is well-positioned to support Malaysia’s vision of becoming a digital nation. I look forward to working with the team to expand our footprint in Malaysia and helping our customers capitalize on the opportunities presented by the digital economy,” stated Cheam Tat Inn, who was recently appointed as managing director for Equinix Malaysia.

Cheam Tat Inn, Equinix’s managing director in Malaysia; Ts. Mahadhir Aziz, CEO of MDEC; and Cyrus Adaggra, VP of corporate development, Equinix APAC, at the Equinix media roundtable held today in Kuala Lumpur.

Catering to regional customers

At a media briefing, Cyrus Adaggra, vice president, corporate development for Equinix Asia-Pacific also said there are plans to expand the capabilities of the data center in Johor in the future. This includes building another facility to support the growing needs of customers.

While the Johor data center could support the demands of Singaporean customers as well, Adaggra mentioned that the key focus for both data centers will be on Malaysian businesses, with the telco, service providers and enterprises as the key target customers. Having said that, Adaggra also highlighted that the data center is only a fraction of the company’s Singapore facility.

“While the Johor data center can support customers who want to deploy in Singapore and Malaysia, it will be complimentary to the Singapore data center. It may have more compute power in the future, but it won’t replace the Singapore data center and will always be a complimentary,” Adaggra explained.

When asked about the recent outage of Equinix data center in Singapore, Adaggra said the company is learning from the incident in Singapore to ensure it doesn’t happen again. He added that the operations team is industry-leading and is currently working on post-implementation reviews to ensure such an incident doesn’t occur again.

Ts. Mahadhir Aziz, CEO of MDEC, highlighting Malaysia’s determination to accelerate digitalization during the Equinix media roundtable.

Addressing the skills shortage in the data center industry

With more data centers mushrooming in the country, there is now a concern about whether there is a sufficient workforce available to fill up the new roles in these facilities. Globally, there is a big shortage of talent in the tech industry, with data center talent among those most in demand.

According to Ts. Mahadhir Aziz, CEO of MDEC, the development of skills in Malaysia is based on the talent requirement. However, investors will also look at the talent available before making any investments in the country.

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“We believe we have adequate talent to support this. A lot of investors have mentioned that we don’t have sufficient talent. So we ask them how we can work together to deal with this,” said Aziz.

Some of the initiatives taken by MDEC and the government include creating programs directly with universities and corporations so that the right skills can be developed and the talents absorbed into employment.

Aziz also mentioned that knowledge workers do come in and train future operating teams, especially for newly established businesses and infrastructures in the country. For this, MDEC will also facilitate the immediate requirements.

Meanwhile, Adaggra stated the skills and talent shortage are not roadblocks for Equinix. He believes Malaysia will be able to fill the gaps in the future.

At the same time, Aziz also highlighted that with more data centers coming into the country, there is also the need to see how these investments will impact society. This includes focusing on creating more solutions locally as a launchpad to other markets.

The post Skills shortage not an obstacle for Equinix to commence data center operations in Malaysia appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

While organizations can quickly achieve this, it is not a simple process for data center operators. Data centers continue to mushroom worldwide, given the need for more computing power. However, how is sustainability measured as the world builds more data centers?

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True enough, data centers today are built with sustainability at their core. This includes using sustainable materials to make it and ensuring the data centers run sustainability with minimal carbon emissions.

But how are the standards measured? How do data centers prove that what they are doing is sustainable? Who do they compare themselves to? And who sets the bar?

Tech Wire Asia speaks to Robert Davidson, CEO and founder of Qarbon Technologies, to understand more about the importance of having standards for data center sustainability. Davidson also shares how the data from data centers can be used to do more than be a tool for sustainability management.

TWA: Why is there a need to set standards when it comes to measuring data center sustainability?

Robert Davidson, CEO and Founder of Qarbon Technologies.

There will always be a balancing act between increasing demand and the desire to make data centers more sustainable, greener, and ESG-compliant. To make the right decisions about which data centers to use and which technologies to use, we need to have a way to access information about the data centers themselves.

Suppose you were to go to a given city that might have about 60 different data center operators operating in that city. And you were to go to them and say, who is this city’s most energy efficient, ESG compliant data center operator? Sixty hands will go up. Every operator has a little spreadsheet they’ve done in-house that says they are the best. There is no way to measure across evenly.

That’s one of the focuses of my company. The ESG product that we’re focused on is gathering the data from the other data center operators in the market, putting it into a standardized format, and then letting people decide how they view it.

A tweet on data center sustainability

Put simply, if organizations trust every data center operator to be ever better, the incentive is for them to improve their metrics by changing the spreadsheet. There should be a situation where businesses can look at it and measure it atomically.

Regulators can also understand who is green and who is moving the needle. It will allow regulators to open the industry up for things like green insurance green loans, and for customers to make the right buying decisions.

We’re still going to be in a situation where a customer may say, do I go 80% green, 100% green, or 40% green? That will go and impact their bottom line. But at least they get to make that decision correctly. And as we get things moving in the right direction and get things improved, we’ll be able to move to a point where we’re even more green and more sustainable. But until we have an even way of measuring it, we don’t have a solid ground to start from.

There will always be a balancing act between increasing demand and the desire to make data centers more sustainable, greener and more ESG compliant (Image generated by AI)

TWA: Are there current standards in place and how can the data be measured?

Well, there are a number of different standards out there that are used in several industries. And there has yet to be one that’s adopted for data centers. Let’s get the data modifiable so that you can apply all three or four different standards out there.

What we’re also seeing out in the EU, in Germany, for instance. The country has just passed some laws around creating sustainability standards, specifically for data centers. Their exact model will not be adopted globally, but it’s a start. And as soon as Germany does it, then Singapore will look at it; then the US will look at many different companies and start looking at that methodology.

To me, right now, step one, get the data and get it into a standard format. You can do side-by-side comparisons using the staring compare method and then be able to apply different calculations to that data to determine which is the better calculation. We still need to figure that out. But once you have it all in a single data lake, you can apply the different methods, and the correct answer will present itself.

There are a number of different standards that are
out there that are used in a number of industries(Image generated by AI)

TWA: Can data center operators make the data accessible?

Many of them have already made it available for their customers to use. But it’s all in different formats. Imagine a room with 30 different people, the operators, all speaking other languages. They’re all yelling simultaneously, saying the same things, but you can’t understand anything they’re saying.

My goal right now is to take all of those 30 languages, those 30 data feeds, and those 30 formats and get them into something consistent in an auditable fashion so everyone can trust that we’re not doing anything nefarious.

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And then you can start to see, and we can make improvements. For me, the starting point is to gather what’s out there. And you’d be surprised how much is already out there and available.

For the data centers that don’t want to be part of it, there’s no incentive for them to do anything because there are no standards; there’s no natural way for them to show how good they’re doing. Once there’s a model, a method, a metric, or a rubric that they can measure against, then the incentive is there for them to start to comply.

Now, it’s a race to more efficiency. And really, the customers will dictate once you start to see the data become available. Once customers begin to consume it in an even fashion across multiple operators, that will drive the efficiency all on its own.

Every data center has their own metrics for sustainability . (Image generated by AI)

TWA: How many data center operators have signed up?

Our product launches soon. We already have four data center operators that we’re working with now. Without naming names, they are four of the top 10 big ones, and then we’ll be adding one to two every quarter going forward, depending on the demands and the needs of our customer base.

The goal is to keep adding and going until we have a significant amount of the market infrastructure on board. And if you think about it, from a data center operator standpoint, how many times has a data center operator had to throw bodies at just dealing with a customer because there’s a billing mismatch, inventory mismatch, or outage?

Suppose I can remove a lot of that. In that case, the data center operator can focus on running the best infrastructure possible and not have massive service management teams constantly explaining things back and forth and then negotiating with, in many cases, angry customers.

The data center operator can focus on running the best infrastructure possible and not have massive service management teams (Image generated by AI)

TWA: So what’s holding them back?

The major data center operators probably don’t see the need. They will likely look to comply with them at any point. They’re focused on presenting the data as they’re big enough and won’t change.

To me, the standards are more beneficial for the smaller operators. The operators with only five data centers might only be in a region, want to do something, and would love to have a playbook. This will enable them to do things in an organized framework, making it less costly.

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It benefits some of the tier two and tier three players out there more than the big guys. But still, our goal is to make all data center operators easy to use and consume. The fundamental journey of Qarbon Technologies is to take data center infrastructure out of the real estate mindset and move it into the IT mindset.

One of the real detractions to the market is that we’re still viewing data centers the same way we book a hotel, a hospital, or a bus station. It’s a chunk of real estate that we have the infrastructure, and you’re stuck with whatever doors, windows, egress, and ingresses are available on that site. At the same time, these data center operations are a foundational piece of everyone’s global IT infrastructure.

We need to consider it a plugin component to the stack that runs the cloud and our financial environment. That’s what we’re looking to do. AI is driving tolerances in these data centers as we go denser and denser for the AI workloads that are going to these data centers. The denser you go, you’re cutting into those margins. It would help if you kept those tolerances tight to drive ever denser workloads into these data centers you’re now using and consuming. The infrastructure side of AI will require more access to this information.

We are the first to market with this API orchestration platform focused on data center infrastructure. So again, launching soon, bringing to market a way for people to consume better and more holistic way. The infrastructure is really driving the foundational components of their business, whether they like to admit it or not.

The post Qarbon Technologies wants to set standards for data center sustainability management appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

When it comes to data centers in Singapore, there are a few things data center providers need to consider before they build and operate in the city-state. Apart from the lack of land to build new data centers, Singapore also has several requirements to ensure that the newly built data centers are focused on sustainability.

This is why when Singapore lifted its four-year moratorium on data centers, the government issued licenses for 80MW data center capacity, with the hope of attaining sustainable growth. At the same time, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) also issued new standards aimed at allowing a gradual increase in data center operating temperatures. A world first, the increase in temperature could lead to savings of between 2% and 5% in the cooling budget for operators.

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According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, in Singapore, 7% of total electricity consumption goes to data centers, which may grow to more than 12% by 2030. Operators are considering investing in more efficient cooling solutions, such as district cooling, and greener options for powering data centers, such as engaging in Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

The Singapore data center market is moderately consolidated, with the top five companies occupying 46.09%. The major players in this market are 1-Net Singapore Pte Ltd. (Mediacorp), AirTrunk Operating Pty Ltd., Equinix, Inc., Princeton Digital Group and STT GDC Pte Ltd. It is important to note that almost all these companies have also invested or plan to invest in neighboring Malaysia, in order to meet customer demand.

This is the second OVHcloud data center in Singapore.

Building sustainable a data center in Singapore

While the Singaporean data center market has limited growth opportunities, OVHcloud has just launched its second data center there. Simultaneously marking the deployment of its most sustainable data center in the Asia-Pacific region to date, the launch comes as part of OVHcloud’s global strategic plan to establish 15 new sites by 2024.

The European cloud leader opened its first data center in Mumbai in March this year and plans to add an additional site in Sydney next year. The expansion will boost regional availability of open, trusted and sovereign cloud solutions for customers to meet their increasing digital needs.

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Given the focus on sustainability, the new data center by OVHcloud will have the most advanced water cooling technology. This will also set a new standard for eco-friendly data centers in Singapore, with best-in-class sustainability metrics with an even higher server density.

The new data center marks a pivotal development for the Republic after the lifting of the data center moratorium previously set in 2019 and the introduction of stricter criteria for new data centers to support a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.3 or better.

Michel Paulin, chief executive officer at OVHcloud commented that Singapore remains a critical market for the company. Paulin added that there is a clear need for data centers, particularly sustainable ones, that can both lower the overall carbon footprint of digitalization and support the compute needs of emerging technologies, like generative AI, for Singapore to retain its position as a leading digital innovation hub.

“As a pioneer in water cooling technology for more than 20 years, we are confident in our ability to reliably meet customers’ needs for sustainable cloud solutions as their digital needs evolve,” said Paulin.

OVHcloud has a history in optimizing data center water consumption. (Image by Shutterstock)

Water cooling technology

While data centers have generally been using air cooling systems to manage temperatures, liquid cooling is seen as a more sustainable method. Air cooling systems use have cold air, blown across or circulated around the hardware, dissipating the heat by exchanging warmer air with cooler air. However, air cooling simply can’t keep up with the increased densities and heavy processing loads required today – let alone tomorrow.

Meanwhile, liquid cooling uses water and other liquids that are far more efficient at transferring heat than air. In fact, liquid cooling is anywhere between 50 and 1,000 times more efficient than air cooling. Liquid cooling also promises to help address many of the challenges that come with air cooling systems, especially as computing densities increase.

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OVHcloud in particular has continued to refine and deploy its proprietary water-cooling technology at scale. Using two decades of industrial innovation to maximize resource efficiency, OVHcloud can be regarded as a pioneer in optimizing data center water consumption.

As such, OVHcloud’s newest data center will feature an integrated water-cooling system that is built into a vertical rack designed to facilitate cooling at the server level, eliminating the need for air conditioning in server rooms, with significant benefits in costs and environmental impact.

At the same time, the design will also allow precise and efficient cooling, so that it would only require a single glass of water to cool an OVHcloud server over 10 hours when many servers on the market would need seven times more water.

OVHcloud’s global strategic plan is to establish 15 new sites by 2024.(Image by Shutterstock)

These advancements have allowed OVHcloud to achieve exceptional sustainability standards, boasting a PUE as low as 1.29 and a WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness) of 0.30l/kWh, both significantly lower than the industry average. As OVHcloud also manufactures its own racks and servers, it has established an integrated industrial model that delivers a sustainable cloud by design, with a CUE (Carbon Usage Effectiveness) of 0.18.

These innovations represent new strides in OVHcloud’s technological and industrial expertise, with adaptions of its infrastructure to operate sustainably in tropical conditions as well as temperate climates.

Terry Maiolo, vice president and general manager for APAC at OVHcloud, said the company’s latest data centers, coupled with enhanced compute and storage capabilities, will elevate their ability to provide customers in Singapore and the region with high-performance, sustainable cloud solutions that have optimized and predictable performance-price ratios to support their digital ambitions.

“For a truly data-secure ecosystem, this must also mean organizations in this region and beyond have the confidence to harness the cloud while maintaining control over their data, all within the framework of Asia’s dynamic and evolving regulatory landscape,” Maiolo said.

The post OVHcloud expands data center footprint in Singapore appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Malaysia is currently one of the fastest-growing data center markets in the APAC region, with new data centers being announced almost every month in 2023. Some of the big companies already operating in Malaysia include NTT Data Centers, Bridge Data Centers and Equinix. Apart from the more well-known Kuala Lumpur and Cyberjaya, Johor is another popular spot for data centers.

In 2022, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Google, and Telekom Malaysia received conditional approval to establish and operate hyperscale data centers and offer cloud services in Malaysia, with Chinese cloud provider Alibaba already present in the market.

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Now, AWS has reaffirmed its commitment to the Malaysian data center market as the company announced that the new AWS Region in Malaysia will be live in 2024. AWS had previously announced a pledge to invest RM25.5 billion to build a new AWS Region in Malaysia by 2037.

The new AWS Region in Malaysia will play a pivotal role in advancing the country’s digitization ambitions and meeting the high demand for cloud services, while supporting innovation in Malaysia and across Southeast Asia. This new AWS Region will also allow customers with data residency preferences to store data securely in Malaysia, help customers achieve even lower latency, and serve the demand for cloud services across Southeast Asia.

The new AWS Region in Malaysia will be live in 2024.

The AWS Region in Malaysia

Apart from meeting the high demand for cloud services, the AWS Region in Malaysia will also support startups, small and mid-sized businesses, enterprises, and public sector organizations to collaborate, experiment, and thrive, with access to the latest technologies such as generative AI, machine learning, IoT and more.

In Malaysia, AWS currently supports digital services for Al Rajhi Bank, Bank Islam, Cancer Research Malaysia, Pos Malaysia, the Department of Polytechnic and Community College Education (DPCCE), the Department of Statistics Malaysia, Maxis, and Petronas.

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In September this year, Petronas, Gentari Sdn Bhd (Gentari), Amazon, and AWS announced that they would work together to accelerate their sustainability and decarbonization initiatives. Petronas and AWS will design and construct a state-of-the-art plant that incorporates cutting-edge technology, robotics, and automation solutions similar to those used in Amazon warehouses and facilities. Petronas will also continue using AWS’s broad and deep set of technologies to improve and expand existing and new solutions.

To ensure there is a sufficient workforce for the AWS Region in Malaysia, as well as support the need for skills in the country, AWS has trained more than 50,000 people in Malaysia with cloud skills since 2017. AWS is also collaborating with World Education Placement Services to provide free cloud computing skills development and job training through the AWS re/Start program.

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has partnered with Basis Bay to develop, construct and operate data center projects in Kuala Lumpur and Cyberjaya.

From AWS to STT GDC

Another day, another data center was launched in Malaysia. This time, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has partnered with Basis Bay to develop, construct and operate data center projects in Kuala Lumpur and Cyberjaya.

STT GDC, which is also one of the world’s fastest-growing data center providers, plans to build its first data center campus in Cyberjaya. This new data center campus will support the development of two buildings on over three acres of land, delivering close to 20MW of IT load. With Malaysia’s growing demand for digital infrastructure, the joint venture is also actively sourcing new opportunities to expand further within the country.

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Named Cyberjaya DC.2, the data center comprises a Rated-4 facility designed as a highly secure, eco-green premium data center that meets the global standards of security and sustainability. This means the data center takes into account the environmental nuances unique to the surrounding habitat.

Expected to be ready for service in 2024, the data center will focus on serving local and international banks, financial institutions, government agencies and other similar mission-critical industry segments.

Meanwhile, the second data center named ‘STT Kuala Lumpur 1’ is expected to serve the hyperscale segment. Construction of the first phase is expected to begin in the coming months and is anticipated to be completed by 2025.

STT GDC already operates 85 data centers spanning 10 geographies around the world. The company brings global expertise, international standards, best practices, advanced technology, and access to a wider market including hyperscale customers across its global platform.

“STT GDC’s expertise in operating data centers to the highest standards and its commitment to building a global platform based on responsible, dependable, and replicable processes align well with Basis Bay’s established local operating track record. This strategic venture will not only add another crucial market to our global data center platform but also reinforce our expanding foothold within Southeast Asia, deepening our roots in this dynamic high-growth region,” said Lionel Yeo, CEO, Southeast Asia of STT GDC.

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has partnered with Basis Bay to develop, construct and operate data center projects in Kuala Lumpur and Cyberjaya. (Source – STT GDC)

Basis Bay, a leading provider of sustainable cloud and green data centers, will ensure the facilities have a deep understanding of the local landscape and regulatory nuances. Basis Bay presently offers collocation and data center managed services from two data centers in Malaysia, one each in Glenmarie and Cyberjaya, and boasts a long heritage of being one of the first vendors and carrier-neutral data center operators in Malaysia, with a track record of more than 27 years.

“This partnership is strategically positioned to meet the volume and scale requirements of hyperscalers while simultaneously delivering the super high availability needs of financial institutions. This partnership will also emphasize much-needed local participation and control, thus addressing data sovereignty concerns. Basis Bay provides premium cloud services and will continue to be a service provider of data center services tailored for financial institutions,” said Datuk Praba Thiagarajah, Executive Chairman of Basis Bay.

With this partnership, STT GDC will expand its footprint in Southeast Asia and strengthen its position as a leading provider of data center solutions in the region, catering to the growing demand for reliable, resilient, and responsible infrastructure to support digital transformation initiatives.

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