Mouser - White Papers

Mouser Electronics White Paper The Scale of Demand Data centers' power consumption has far more significant local effects. For example, Ireland's location as a bridge between the US and European markets has made it an attractive hub for data services, supported by government incentives. Investment in this technology has directly impacted the energy sector, with data centers consuming 18 percent of Ireland's national energy production in 2022. 5 The activities of large cloud and internet service providers in the country could increase this figure to 32 percent in the next few years, almost one-third of the country's total energy production. 6 Not only does this place an enormous burden on energy production, but it also challenges the infrastructure required to distribute it. This trend is mirrored on a smaller scale. High-performance AI accelerators, such as the NVIDIA H100, consume 700W, while some configurations exceed 1000W. As a result, the infrastructure within the data center must deliver high power densities efficiently and reliably. Data Center Infrastructure The path that power takes through the data center is complex. Unlike most consumer power needs, the scale of a data center's needs demand a far larger supply. As a result, power will arrive at much higher voltages directly from the national grid, increasingly supplemented by on- site supplies generated by wind or solar technologies. Energy is routed to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), which acts as both a voltage conditioning layer and a backup to cater for momentary fluctuations in supply. The power then flows to power distribution units (PDUs), which divide it into manageable segments, before reaching remote power panels (RPPs) that distribute it further to rows of server racks. This hierarchy distributes the power from transformers and UPS systems to individual racks and devices, delivering power at safe, usable voltages while providing redundancy and scalability. At each leg of this journey, the power passes through connectors. With their ability to help provide flexibility to any power distribution system, connectors continue to play a vital role in the power infrastructure of data centers. They provide a stable and safe link from one infrastructure element to the next, while retaining the ability to reconfigure the system as required. This flexibility allows operators to upgrade or reconfigure systems as workloads and hardware requirements change. The Impact of Connectors on Efficiency Connectors have a significant and measurable impact on the overall efficiency of data centers. Every connector interface has the potential to introduce resistance, which in turn can reduce efficiency, create heat, and even cause equipment failure. In applications that transfer high currents, such as those found in data centers, even a slight increase in electrical resistance has significant effects. Therefore, connector design is critical for energy efficiency. Perhaps the greatest challenge for data center infrastructure is power density. In conventional applications, the simplest way to transmit more power through a connector is to make it larger. However, as the demand for data increases, so does the number of AI accelerators and GPUs in server racks. Combined with the energy demands of the latest chipsets, these increases require a higher power density. To meet these requirements, connector manufacturers must find new methods to increase the power density. This is achieved by making each terminal within the connector more efficient. Using high- conductivity materials and designs that maximize the contact area between connectors will ensure that resistance is as low as possible. For example, Amphenol Positronic ORV3 power connectors, which conform to Open Compute Project (OCP) standards, are designed to provide solutions for power shelf and server applications within data centers. The connectors' single-row, slimline housing design makes them ideal for 1U rack-mounted power supplies or distribution systems. The contacts of the ORV3 series are machined from high-conductivity copper alloy to ensure the lowest possible electrical resistance. Additionally, their closed-entry design ensures maximum contact area between male and female contacts. The ORV3 contacts are recessed within the connector insulator for improved safety, addressing a critical concern for high-power applications. The insulator is manufactured from high-performance thermoplastic with a maximum operating temperature of 125°C to ensure it can withstand high ambient temperatures without damage. While choosing the right connector directly affects data center efficiency and operating costs, it also impacts heat. As power demands rise, so do temperatures inside server racks. Low-resistance connectors help reduce heat generation, improving both efficiency and reliability.

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