In 2023, the data center industry in Southeast Asia will grow rapidly and vigorously, providing enterprises and consumers with data storage, processing, networking and cloud computing services。With the steady growth of the digital economy, the surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, and the green energy shift in data centers, digital infrastructure is becoming an emerging asset class, setting off an investment boom in the region.。

According to IDC, the data center industry is growing at a high rate, with storage capacity in the "global data" segment expected to grow from 33 ZB in 2018 to 175 ZB by 2025, driven by a surge in demand for data storage and cloud services, especially from e-commerce, gaming and social media.。Moreover, the increasing popularity of AI also requires high-performance computing and data analysis capabilities from low-latency and high-bandwidth connections.。

However, the data center industry in Southeast Asia still faces challenges such as high operating costs, high risk of outages, and long downtime, such as the recent outage in Singapore。The shortage of technical talent and expertise in data center operations and management, coupled with high employee turnover and competition for talent from other regions, are additional challenges。

However, investments in data centers are now focused on green and sustainable practices, which can reduce the carbon footprint and operating costs of data centers and improve their social and environmental image.。The emergence of new technologies and innovations such as liquid cooling, modular, prefabricated data centers, and software-defined data centers can help improve the performance, flexibility, scalability, and security of data centers and reduce their capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX)。

Zero carbon pressure, Ali teamed up with Singapore to fulfill climate commitments

Alibaba Cloud operates 89 data centers worldwide, covering 30 regions, covering data center clusters, and provides high availability, strong fault tolerance, and the lowest failure rate。

Allegedly, Alibaba Cloud's data center:

l Provide low-latency, high-bandwidth connections in different regions and countries, and access to Alibaba Cloud's global CDN (content delivery network) nodes。

Comply with local data protection, privacy, security and tax standards and regulations to provide customers with local support and expertise。

Reduce the environmental impact and operating costs of data centers by adopting green and sustainable practices, such as the use of renewable energy and energy-efficient equipment, waste heat recovery and water conservation。

Improve data center performance, flexibility, security and scalability with liquid cooling, modular prefabricated data centers and software-defined data centers。

In Southeast Asia, Alibaba Cloud chose Singapore as its first international data center and set up three availability zones in the country, as well as providing services in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.。

Singapore, which aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, now faces significant barriers to the rapid growth of the digital economy, which in turn is driving the growing demand for data centers。In 2020, the carbon emissions of data centers exceeded 3.300 million tons, accounting for 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.4%。They also consume nearly 10 per cent of Singapore's electricity, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.。

As the leading data center market in Southeast Asia, Singapore has always been committed to addressing the negative impact of data centers on the environment, especially in tropical climates, which require a lot of energy to cool. The record high temperature of 37 degrees Celsius in May highlights the urgency of addressing this challenge。

Earlier this year, the Singapore government launched the world's first sustainability standard for tropical climate data centres through the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), and the pilot, which will begin at the end of this year, marks a new step towards Singapore's commitment to digital innovation and climate.。

Dr Derek Wang, Managing Director of Alibaba Cloud Singapore, said: "Singaporean enterprises, especially data centre operators and stakeholders, need to consider multiple factors in achieving these goals and adopting green data centres, including optimizing the energy efficiency of IT components, adopting advanced cooling technologies, leveraging the potential of AI and data analytics to improve energy management, and adapting to extreme weather.。"

Above the equator, how the data center green "cool"？

According to Dr. Wang, while air conditioning can relieve the pressure on the indoor environment of a home, data centers face unique challenges, and Singapore's humid tropical climate also complicates the problem.。

The traditional method of setting a fixed temperature and discharging warm air into the environment is wasteful, especially the country's equatorial location and relatively high cooling costs, putting data center hosting services at a competitive disadvantage。Therefore, it is essential to prioritize cost-effective and energy-efficient cooling methods。

According to Dr. Wang, a sustainable alternative to efficient cooling in data centers is to control room temperature at baseline levels to minimize the need for excessive cooling。

Moreover, because the server will generate a lot of heat locally, by distributing the heating hardware to the entire data center or even multiple machine rooms in an orderly manner, the temperature of the machine room can be increased moderately without affecting the function of the equipment.。This approach greatly reduces overall cooling requirements and reduces environmental impact。

This is the advantage of liquid cooling as an efficient alternative to traditional air conditioning。Liquid cooling technology can significantly reduce energy consumption by 70%。With this innovative solution, the power efficiency (PUE) of the data center can reach 1.09, with the previous air conditioning system usually 1.2 compared to the benchmark has been significantly improved。

Alibaba Foresight: AI is the key to sustainable data centers

In the future, data centers will not only power AI, but will also be run by AI。Machine learning-enabled data analytics can predict, control, and manage the carbon footprint of data centers; cloud-based technology allows operators to quickly identify anomalies and respond through automation or manual intervention。

Alibaba Cloud's SaaS tool - "Energy Expert" can do this.。Not only can it help data center operators and enterprises track and process real-time environmental data, but it can also plan emission strategies, set goals, and limit environmental impact。

Not only that, but AI also helps predict the future energy load of the data center, which fluctuates greatly based on the time of day, weather and special events.。Moreover, the energy output of renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines will also fluctuate, and their electricity generation costs are different from those of consumers on the public grid。Similarly, AI-based algorithms can optimize load balancing and maximize the use of renewable energy。

Dr. Wang said that intelligent algorithms have made cloud operating systems more efficient by consolidating thousands of servers around the world into a virtualized supercomputer, thereby increasing server resource utilization by 40% and significantly reducing operating costs。

Load balancing optimizations can automatically move AI applications to systems equipped with the right hardware - a scalable, flexible, and cost-saving move to the "cloud"。It also reduces average CO2 emissions by optimizing energy use and prioritizing sustainable energy。

Singapore's strong commitment to green data centres inspires global community。It is important to emphasize that adopting a green data center does not mean making any compromises in terms of performance, reliability or security。On the contrary, it represents our firm commitment to improve operational efficiency in the process of achieving carbon neutrality。

On this path, we have struck the perfect balance between technological innovation and environmental responsibility to build a thriving and sustainable digital future.。