Cloud Carrier, a privately owned Australian company has announced the launch of its Southern Highlands Data Campus (SHDC). As Australia’s first liquid-cooled data campus, the company describes this as “a ground-breaking move that signals a new era for sustainable and energy-efficient data centres” and as a significant development in Australia’s data centre infrastructure. Covering 67 hectares, the campus has the capacity to expand up to 300MW, focusing on high-density and sustainable solutions.
The first facility on the campus, Data Building One (DB1), is a 15MW facility that marks a departure from traditional cooling methods. It natively supports Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) and Immersion Cooling, enabling unprecedented rack densities while significantly enhancing the efficiency and performance of the data centre.. DLC supports over 100kW per rack, which is 12.5 times denser than conventional air-cooled facilities. Meanwhile, immersion cooling allows for over 160kW per tank, pushing the envelope further with a 20-fold increase in density.
It is designed to handle demanding tasks like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and High-Performance Computing (HPC), providing the necessary infrastructure to house the high-density deployments necessary to enable today’s digital needs.
DB1 boasts a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.10, a significant improvement over traditional data centres. This efficiency translates into energy savings and major reductions in carbon emissions. Additionally, DB1 features an onsite water harvesting system that significantly reduces water consumption, achieving zero utility water usage and contributing to its overall sustainability.
The company adds that it looks forward to contributing to the sustainable and efficient data centre infrastructure required for the higher workloads and data-intense applications of Enterprise and Government organisations.