Both air and liquid cooling are being used by data centers to cool servers. Cooling optimizes server performance and prevents servers from overheating. But changes in server cooling are needed considering how AI servers have much higher thermal density. Moreover, these AI servers have higher power density, uneven heat distribution and substantial load variations. Air cooling methods are not adequate anymore and a shift to liquid cooling is underway. As AI computing usage increases, the demand for liquid cooling has surged substantially. Technology consultancy firm Omdia forecasts that worldwide data center cooling sales will double from USD 8 billion in 2024 to USD 16 billion in 2028. The share of liquid cooling is forecast to increase from 17% in 2024 to 33% in 2028.
Source: Omdia, October 2024.