Access Networks Face Capacity Limits

"Most data center strategies look clean in Q1. By Q2, they look more practical. That's not a failure of design." Every deployment cycle follows the same arc: bold architecture in Q1: the plant, the thermal envelope, and the schedule compress it into something real by Q2. Original optic selections get swapped for what's in stock. Reach gets pulled back to manage heat. Fabrics planned as all-optical end up with more DAC and AOC than anyone anticipated. The engineers moving fastest aren't the ones with the boldest roadmap. They're the ones who know which compromises still ship cleanly. Axiom's Director of Network Engineering just published a no-fluff breakdown of what's actually getting approved in Q2 2026 — 400G, 800G, LPO, and why 1.6T isn't the answer yet. https://lnkd.in/ggBFU8ZE #NetworkEngineering #Optics #Deployment #AIInfrastructure #DataCenter #InsideTheStack

Live from Open Compute Project Foundation in Barcelona. The data is on the table.  Right now at the summit, the conversation around HM-SMR adoption is shifting from "can it work?" to "how do we deploy it?" That's the conversation we have been engineering toward.  Tomorrow at 16:10, our CTO David Gerstein takes the stage in Room P1-113 to present performance benchmarks, reference architectures, and a practical roadmap for 30TB+ Host-Managed SMR in enterprise server and JBOD environments.  In the meantime, do connect with David Gerstein and Werner Paulus today and tomorrow to explore data storage in practice - from real-world deployment strategies to shared opportunities ahead. #OCPBarcelona26 #OCP #Leil #SMR #DataStorage #OpenCompute #DataCenterInfrastructure #Sustainability

🚀 Retrofitting for Density: The New Imperative for Data Centers As AI and high-performance computing continue to redefine infrastructure requirements, the reality is clear: most existing data centers weren’t designed for today’s power densities. So the question becomes — how do you upgrade without starting over? DDC Solutions just released a strong perspective on how operators can retrofit existing facilities to support higher density loads—without the cost, time, and disruption of greenfield builds. 💡 Key takeaways: - Density is rising faster than infrastructure refresh cycles - Traditional cooling strategies are reaching their limits - Retrofitting requires holistic thinking across power, cooling, and controls - The right approach can extend asset life while enabling next-gen workloads What stands out is the focus on practical pathways—not just theory. This is about enabling data center operators to stay competitive today, not waiting years for new capacity. If you're navigating AI-driven demand growth, this is worth a read: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gedNfNwc #DataCenters #AIInfrastructure #LiquidCooling #DigitalInfrastructure #EdgeComputing #Sustainability #HPC #DDC Garrett Colburn Karim Shalash, Ph.D. Maxwell Palmquist, MBA Mary Ann Gazich

Progress does not always look flashy. Sometimes it looks like steel going up. Earth moving at scale. Infrastructure taking shape, one layer at a time. That is exactly what is happening at our Culpeper campus. IAD5 and IAD6 are moving forward with major structural progress now visible across the site. What started as groundwork is quickly becoming something much more tangible. This campus is being built to support the next generation of high-density workloads. → IAD5: 229,932 sq. ft. and 72MW of capacity → IAD6: 383,220 sq. ft. and 120MW of capacity Both facilities are designed for HPC and AI environments, with the ability to support increasing cabinet densities and evolving performance demands. Behind every beam placed and every yard of earth moved is a coordinated effort across teams, partners, and planning disciplines. Because infrastructure at this scale is not just built. It is engineered to perform from day one. The demand for AI and High-Performance Computing is accelerating. The infrastructure to support it is rising to meet it. What part of data center construction do you think is most critical at this stage of development? Follow DataBank for more updates on data center development, AI infrastructure, and digital growth. #datacenters #digitalinfrastructure #construction #ai #cloudcomputing

The Governance Gap - Why Orbital Data Centers Need Certification Standards Before They Scale. With this third article in the series, we’re closing a loop that’s been forming across the space economy for the past year. Our first piece looked at the commercial and cost‑based realities shaping orbital compute. The second examined the supply‑chain implications as the architecture mature. This third article tackles the layer that ultimately determines whether any of it scales: GOVERNANCE. Across every sector I’ve worked in - terrestrial data centers, telecom, dual‑use infrastructure - the pattern is consistent. Technology accelerates quickly. Supply chains follow. But true scale only arrives when the ecosystem aligns around a shared definition of what qualified, certified, and interoperable technology looks like. Orbital compute is now sitting at that same inflection point. The hardware is advancing. The demand signals are real. The industrial base is forming. What’s missing is the neutral, technically credible governance anchor that turns prototypes and testbeds into infrastructure. This new piece explores why that gap matters - and why the next phase of growth won’t be unlocked by another breakthrough in hardware, but by the emergence of a standards and certification model the entire ecosystem can trust. Thanks to my partner in crime Joseph Minafra And thank you Philip Metzger for your comments. For those tracking the maturation of orbital infrastructure, the article on SpaceNews is below. https://lnkd.in/eUWXjNvH #SpaceNews #SpaceEconomy #Governance #Standards #SupplyChain #OrbitalCompute

Bandwidth demands aren't slowing down. Distributed Access Architecture is how cable operators stay ahead. Learn how DAA moves critical functions closer to subscribers, boosting performance and enabling 10G-era upgrades: https://aoinc.co/4ttS2AS

Every operator’s worst week. The NorthC team handled it with discipline. The harder question for the industry: how do we shrink the window between “something is wrong” and “we know exactly what.” That window is where the next decade of resilience gets decided.

𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 from Almere outside Amsterdam. A fire at NorthC's data center last week forced a full evacuation — universities closed, doctors lost access to patient records, public transport emergency systems went dark. No servers were lost, but a single site took down critical infrastructure for days. (Full breakdown - https://shorturl.at/853eU) Hats off to the NorthC Datacenters team — mobilising external gensets under real pressure is no small feat. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 - When critical infrastructure fails, the clock starts immediately — and every minute without diagnosis compounds the risk. Power loss cascades into access control failures, communication blackouts, and safety system degradation. The longer the root cause goes unidentified, the wider the blast radius. In environments running at this scale, manual triage across multiple systems simply isn't fast enough. (Cross-sector fallout - https://shorturl.at/qwL1S) 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - Data centers already run rigorous maintenance on alarms, suppression systems, and sensors. But what if an additional intelligence layer overlaid your existing DCIM, BMS, and EPMS platforms — diagnosing faults in under a minute using physics-based reasoning and digital twins, and spotting fire precursors before they escalate. That's exactly what we built PodIQ™ for. Faster, evidence-backed root cause analysis on priority alarms is what separates a contained incident from a cascading one. PodIQ™ reinforces 99.999% availability. At scale. If this resonates, let's talk — https://lnkd.in/g2MZvHfR or visit us at https://www.necora.io/ to learn more. #DataCenterSafety #AIinDataCenters #NecoraPodIQ #MissionCritical #CriticalInfrastructure #Resilience #DataCenterOperations

What started as a production challenge turned into something bigger. We just launched the first mission-critical 1200A Remote Power Panel (RPP) on the market. It started on the floor, building RPPs every day. Across the industry, panels are typically tied to specific breakers, which can limit how they’re designed based on availability, preference, or site standards. Instead of working around it, our team solved it. They built a universal panel that allows multiple breaker brands in the same system. More flexibility to design around customer needs, fewer constraints, faster builds and the ability to deliver more power in the same footprint. That matters right now, because AI is changing how data centers are built. As compute density increases, every part of the infrastructure has to keep up, including how power is delivered inside the building. That’s where our work lives. Proud of the team behind this one. 👉 Learn more about the HD-RPP: https://lnkd.in/eGRBB4aW #Accelevation #Manufacturing #Engineering #PowerInfrastructure

Airsys opens global HQ campus in South Carolina AIRSYS USA, a provider of data centre cooling systems, has today opened a new global headquarters campus in Woodruff, South Carolina, USA, to expand manufacturing and engineering capacity for AI and data centre cooling technologies. The 60-acre (24.28-hectare) site will act as the company’s global hub for high-efficiency cooling systems supporting AI, edge computing, and digital infrastructure applications. To read the full story, click here: https://ow.ly/yHEj50YYZjb