How Can Health Systems Upgrade Their Approach to Power?
From a power standpoint, organizations need to make sure they have extended runtime to support their needs. That could come in the form of a generator, but regulations may require that the organization also have a battery energy storage system in place.
To use a BESS device, the organization would charge it at night for a lower electricity cost, then use it during the day to augment the building’s power.
Whether the organization uses a generator, a BESS, an uninterruptible power supply or a combination of those options, it needs to ensure it has enough extended runtime to support its power load.
If a UPS is being placed in a patient care space, then the organization will need to choose a medical-grade UPS. These devices don’t emit certain electromagnetic waves to ensure extra safety around patients.
In addition to having the right power technology in place, health systems also need to have a strategy that addresses which facilities need power during a natural disaster or crisis impacting the organization’s primary power source.
EXPLORE: Modernizing your data center will prepare you for the next phase of AI.
Upgrading Healthcare’s Cooling Systems To Meet AI Needs
The computing power required for some AI use cases could require healthcare organizations to upgrade their cooling systems. Cooling for a traditional data center is air-based and requires proper air flow and quickly addressing hot spots. For AI, an organization will likely need to add liquid cooling.
Most AI solutions today use a hybrid system. Liquid is used to cool the processor and sometimes memory, while the rest of the components are cooled using a fan-based system. However, the next phase of AI will require 100% liquid cooling.
Infrastructure Considerations for Healthcare Power and Cooling
As liquid cooling becomes the preferred cooling method for AI-intensive organizations, health systems will need a strategy on how to bring it into the data center. Are they going to retrofit their existing data centers or consider prefab data centers or colocation?
Many customers are using CoLo today, but the cost is high. We’ll likely see a transition back to the data center.
Prefabricated data centers might be the right fit for organizations because they can drop them right outside their existing data centers without having to retrofit them.
Another benefit of transitioning a data center into a prefab data center is that it frees up valuable space where hospitals could place more beds — a money generator in healthcare.
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