Vertiv Ranked as Global Leader in Rapidly Evolving Data Center Cooling Market

Research by Omdia reveals that sustainable and innovative technologies such as chilled water and evaporative cooling, as well as forms of liquid cooling, are becoming more widely adopted  

Vertiv (NYSE: VRT), a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions, has been ranked by technology analyst firm Omdia as the largest global supplier in a data center cooling market which continues to undergo change and innovation. The newly released research highlights that established heat rejection technologies such as Direct Expansion (DX), Chilled Water and Evaporative Cooling continue to dominate while also becoming more sustainable. In addition, new technologies, such as forms of liquid cooling, are predicted to grow as data center operators look for ways to further improve efficiency and deal with increasingly power-intensive compute.  

The Omdia paper, Data Center Thermal Management Report 2020, published in late 2020 and based on 2018 and 2019 data, states that Vertiv has a 23.5% share of the global data center cooling market – more than 10% higher than its nearest rival. The market for data center thermal technology is set to increase from $3.3bn in 2020 to more than $4.3bn in 2024, according to Omdia. Vertiv also leads the global market for perimeter thermal technologies with a 37.5% market share which is more than 20% higher than the next largest supplier.  

In addition to analyzing market position, the report provides insight and intelligence on how data center cooling technology is evolving. Established technologies such as chillers and perimeter cooling will remain a large proportion of the market. According to Omdia, split DX is still the primary form of heat rejection in data center thermal management, but chilled water and direct evaporative heat rejection are gaining momentum. In addition, cloud and colocation service provider momentum has accelerated, driving double-digit growth for air handling units (AHU).  

Omdia predicts there will also be strong growth in forms of liquid cooling – immersion and direct-to-chip – that are expected to double between 2020 and 2024. Several factors are contributing to this shift, including increasing chip and server power consumption, edge growth, increasing rack densities, as well as energy efficiency and sustainability requirements.  

Lucas Beran, principal analyst for Omdia’s cloud and data center research practice and the report’s author, said: “The data center thermal management market is on the cusp of an inflection point. Currently, existing air-based thermal products and solutions are driving growth but are limited by their ability to cool 10kW+ rack densities. New technologies, products, and designs are coming to market to help support these high-density deployments and more efficient operations leading to changing market dynamic through 2024.”   

“The Omdia report reaffirms Vertiv’s strong market position and technology leadership in the data center cooling market. In Asia, including Australia and New Zealand, we continue to see strong demand for our cooling solutions from our customers who are either looking to expand their edge locations or ramp up the roll-out of their colocation or cloud facilities. We have the most comprehensive portfolio of our data center cooling solutions in the region and we work closely with our customers and partners to continue to strengthen our product and solution roadmap to address emerging customer demands,” said Chee Hoe Ling, vice president for products and solutions and marketing, Vertiv Asia. 

In Asia, Vertiv has launched several thermal management solutions, including the Liebert® CRV4, a row-based solution designed to provide maximum cooling in a compact design; the  the Liebert PEX4 room cooling solution with integrated intelligent controls and the latest technologies for maximum efficiency.  

In addition to internal innovations, Vertiv is also working with industry thought leadership groups and recently became a Platinum Member of the Open Compute Project (OCP). Vertiv’s role will include supporting initiatives on the adoption of liquid cooling through the Advanced Cooling Solutions (ACS) and Advanced Cooling Facility (ACF) projects. The aim is to bring guidelines and best practices for direct-to-chip and immersion liquid cooling technologies as well as enable practices for data center facilities to adopt liquid cooling. 

Vertiv’s own research into thermal technologies also points to future innovation. According to Vertiv’s Data Center 2025: Closer to the Edge report, the data center industry has seen a large-scale shift to economization driven by hyperscale operators and colocation providers, while simultaneously driving heat removal closer to servers through rear door and liquid cooling systems designed to support the high-density racks common in high performance computing (HPC) facilities. Of the 800+ data center professionals that responded to the survey, 42% expect future cooling requirements to be met by mechanical systems, while 22% say they will be met with liquid cooling and outside air, a result likely driven by the more extreme rack densities being observed today.  

To learn more about how Vertiv can help data center owners and operators to scale with confidence, visit www.Vertiv.com/SWC.