Connect with us

Explainers

A Short History of Data Center Cooling, From Mainframes to AI Clusters

Data center cooling has swung from water to air and back toward liquid. A brief history of how the industry got here.

Published

on

AI Data-Center Power: Why Compute Is Becoming an Energy Problem

The move toward liquid cooling in AI data centers is often described as something new. In fact, it is closer to a return. Computer cooling has swung between liquid and air several times over the decades, driven each time by how hot the chips were and how much computing people needed. Here is a brief history.

The mainframe era

Early electronic computers used vacuum tubes, which ran hot and consumed a great deal of power. Machine rooms needed serious air conditioning, and computer installations were among the early large users of precision cooling. Rooms were often built with raised floors to deliver chilled air and hide thick bundles of cables.

As transistors and then integrated circuits replaced tubes, computers became more powerful, and some high-end mainframes adopted water cooling to handle densely packed circuitry. Large mainframe systems from the 1960s through the 1980s sometimes used chilled water circulating close to their logic modules, with heat exchangers inside the machine.

Supercomputers and immersion

Supercomputers pushed thermal limits hardest. Some of the most famous designs used liquid cooling of various kinds, and the Cray-2, introduced in the mid-1980s, became well known for immersing its circuit boards in an electrically inert fluorinated liquid. Images of its glowing, bubbling tanks remain a landmark in the history of computing hardware.

The air-cooled decades

Then came a long period when air won. The shift to CMOS chip technology lowered power consumption per transistor for a time, and computing spread from a few large machines to many smaller servers. By the 1990s and 2000s, data centers were filled with racks of commodity servers, each with its own fans. Air cooling was cheaper, simpler and good enough.

This era produced many of the practices still used today. Hot aisle and cold aisle layouts became standard, containment systems followed, and efficiency metrics like PUE emerged in the 2000s. Engineers learned to run rooms warmer, use outdoor air and water for free cooling and design ever larger, more efficient facilities.

The hyperscale shift

As cloud computing grew, the largest operators began designing their own servers, buildings and cooling systems. They pushed efficiency hard: using economizers, raising temperatures, removing unnecessary components and building in cool climates. Many of these innovations spread across the industry.

AI and the return of liquid

The rise of GPUs and dedicated AI accelerators changed the equation again. These chips consume much more power than typical server processors, and AI systems pack them tightly together. Rack densities climbed far beyond what air could reasonably handle. Liquid cooling, which had remained in high-performance computing niches, moved into the mainstream. Direct-to-chip cold plates spread rapidly, and immersion cooling found new interest.

Today’s systems differ from their predecessors in important ways. They use standardized racks, modular coolant distribution units, quick-disconnect fittings and sophisticated monitoring. But the underlying principle is the same one engineers relied on decades ago: when heat gets too concentrated for air, bring liquid closer to the source.

History suggests cooling will keep evolving as chips change. The constant is physics. Every generation of computing must find a way to move its heat out of the room, and the solutions reflect how much heat there is to move.

BOSSTOX’s research desk, part of the Boston Made Ecosystem Intelligence Desk, covering AI infrastructure: power, compute, cooling, networking and capital.

Explainers

NVIDIA’s Modular AI Factories Put the Clock on Infrastructure

AP reports that NVIDIA is urging Europe to accelerate AI infrastructure. BOSSTOX examines what modular AI factories could change—and what constraints remain.

Published

on

Data-center service aisle with server cabinets and liquid-cooling distribution equipment.

The AI infrastructure race is shifting from “who has the chips?” to “who can get a working factory online?” The Associated Press reports that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang used the company’s Berlin developer conference to urge Europe’s AI sector to move faster, while presenting tools intended to help accelerate data-center construction.

The most consequential piece is infrastructure, not marketing language. NVIDIA says its new DSX POD reference design packages computing, networking, rack-level power and liquid cooling into modular units that can be integrated and tested before arriving at a prepared site. The company says deployment at a ready location could fall from roughly six months to as little as 14 days.

Why the schedule matters

AI capacity is constrained by more than GPU supply. Operators still need power, interconnection, cooling, fiber, permitting, specialized labor and a site that can accept a dense load. A modular approach does not remove those constraints, but it changes where the work happens: more integration moves into a factory, while the site becomes a connection and commissioning problem.

That distinction matters for developers, utilities and investors. A project that reaches “first tokens” weeks earlier can begin serving customers sooner, but only if the supporting infrastructure is actually ready. A container full of compute does not create capacity without electricity, thermal management, network access and a reliable operating model.

What NVIDIA is claiming

NVIDIA says DSX POD is designed for Vera Rubin AI factories and is being developed with partners including Bull, Dell Technologies, HPE, Lenovo, Schneider Electric and Vertiv. The company also says partners are working toward global deliveries in early 2027. Those are vendor announcements, not independent measurements, and the real test will be how quickly a prepared site can move from delivery to production under local grid, permitting and operating conditions.

What to watch next

  • Power access: whether sites have firm capacity and a realistic interconnection path.
  • Cooling: whether closed-loop liquid systems reduce water use without creating new maintenance bottlenecks.
  • Deployment evidence: whether the promised weeks-long schedule holds outside demonstration environments.
  • Revenue timing: whether faster installation translates into paid inference and training workloads.

BOSSTOX tracks the physical and financial systems behind AI: power and grid access, cooling, custom silicon, optical networking, data-center capacity, and capital. The NVIDIA announcement is a useful signal because it connects several of those lanes at once. The strategic question is no longer simply how many accelerators a region can buy. It is how quickly that region can turn electricity, equipment and sites into dependable compute that customers can use.

Sources

Read the Associated Press report and review NVIDIA’s DSX POD announcement. For related infrastructure context, visit BOSSTOX.

This BOSSTOX analysis is original and distinguishes reported facts from company claims and editorial interpretation.

Continue Reading

Explainers

October and Earnings Season: How the Quarterly Reporting Calendar Works

Mid-October typically kicks off reporting for the July through September quarter. Here is how earnings season works and how to follow infrastructure themes through it.

Published

on

Dense server racks beside a smaller inference test rack and engineer.

For anyone following public companies, October brings a familiar rhythm. Many companies with calendar fiscal years begin reporting results for the third quarter, covering July through September, in the middle of the month. Over the following weeks, a steady stream of earnings releases, calls and filings arrives. Knowing how the calendar works makes the flood of information easier to manage.

Why reporting clusters

Most large U.S. companies close their books at the end of each calendar quarter, then take a few weeks to finalize results. SEC rules set deadlines for quarterly 10-Q filings, generally within 40 days after quarter end for larger filers and 45 days for smaller ones. Annual 10-K deadlines are longer.

Because so many companies share the same quarter-end, their reports bunch together. Large banks often report early in the season, followed by many technology, industrial and consumer companies in the following weeks. Companies with different fiscal years report on their own schedules, so not everyone fits the pattern.

How companies announce dates

Most companies announce their earnings date in advance through a press release and on their investor relations website. The announcement usually includes the time of the release and a link to the conference call webcast. Many people find it helpful to note the dates of companies they want to follow and to check the investor relations page directly, rather than relying on third-party calendars that may be out of date.

Following infrastructure themes through the season

Because the AI build-out touches many industries, related information appears across many reports. A reader might track:

  • Capital expenditure figures and commentary from large cloud and technology companies
  • Order backlogs and lead-time comments from electrical and power equipment makers
  • Leasing and development updates from data center REITs
  • Demand commentary from chip and server suppliers
  • Large-load discussions from utilities

Seeing the same theme from several angles, buyer, supplier, landlord and utility, gives a more balanced picture than any single report.

Keeping calm during the season

Earnings season can feel noisy. Headlines often summarize complex results in a word or two, and share prices can move sharply on small differences from expectations. A few habits help:

  • Read the original release or filing before forming a view
  • Focus on the same handful of measures each quarter
  • Note what management says changed since the last report
  • Give yourself time; filings and transcripts remain available long after the day of release

Where to find primary sources

Earnings releases are posted on company investor relations websites, and formal filings appear on the SEC’s EDGAR system at sec.gov. The SEC’s investor.gov site has plain-language explanations of quarterly and annual reports. These primary sources are the best foundation for understanding what companies actually reported, as opposed to what was said about them.

This article is general education about how the industry and financial reporting work. It is not investment advice and does not recommend buying or selling any security. For decisions about your own money, talk to a licensed financial advisor.

Continue Reading

Explainers

AI Costs for Small Businesses: A Practical Model Before You Buy GPUs

The model call is the smallest line on the bill. Here is a simple way to price an AI feature before it becomes a permanent expense.

Published

on

Small-business owner comparing computing costs with a laptop, paperwork and calculator.
AI-generated editorial illustration. Conceptual scene, not a photograph of a named facility.

Key points

  • Size the workload first: requests, input and output size, peak load and response-time target.
  • Price every layer — tokens, storage, retrieval, logging, review — and add a peak allowance.
  • Self-hosting only wins at high, steady utilization; otherwise managed services are usually cheaper.

Small businesses usually do not need to build an AI data center. They do need a way to estimate what an AI feature will cost before it becomes a permanent bill. The mistake is to price only the model call. Real cost includes data preparation, software, storage, networking, monitoring, security, people, and the cost of being wrong.

Step one: define the workload

Start with the workload. Count requests, average input size, average output size, peak requests per minute, and the response-time target. A document summarizer, a customer-service assistant, and an image inspection system have different requirements. A monthly request count is not enough if most requests arrive in one short daily peak.

Next decide whether the work needs a large model. Many business tasks are narrow. Routing, extraction, classification, drafting, and search may work with a smaller model or a hosted service. A larger model may be appropriate for difficult reasoning, but it should be selected because tests show a business benefit, not because it is the most famous option.

Step two: price every layer

Cloud pricing normally has several parts. There may be a charge for input and output tokens, a minimum service fee, storage, data transfer, logging, and a database for retrieval. If the company runs its own model, it pays for a machine or accelerator while it is reserved, even when the machine is idle. Some providers offer on-demand, committed, or spot capacity. Each shifts the balance between flexibility, discount, and availability.

A simple monthly model is useful. Estimate monthly requests, multiply by average input and output size, apply the provider’s rates, then add non-model services. Add a peak-capacity allowance rather than assuming the average is the same as the maximum. Finally, add a human-review budget for cases the model should not handle alone.

Self-hosting and the break-even point

Self-hosting can be economical at high and predictable volume, but the break-even point depends on utilization. A local or dedicated accelerator has a fixed cost. If it is used for only a few hours a week, a managed API may be cheaper. If it serves a steady workload every day, owning or reserving capacity may become attractive. The calculation should include electricity, cooling, maintenance, software updates, and replacement hardware.

Privacy and quality have costs too

Privacy can change the answer. A company may pay more for a private deployment because customer records, contracts, health information, or proprietary designs cannot be sent to a general service. This is a business and legal requirement, not just a technical preference. The cost model should include data classification, access controls, retention, and audit work.

Quality has a cost too. If an assistant produces a wrong answer, an employee may have to correct it. If an extraction pipeline mislabels invoices, accounting staff may repair the results. A small accuracy improvement may be worth more than a lower compute bill when the output is used in a high-value process.

Use caching and retrieval carefully. Reusing a stable answer can reduce repeated model calls. Retrieval can keep a model grounded in a smaller set of relevant documents, but the search index and documents still require maintenance. Poor retrieval creates confident answers from the wrong source, so evaluation must test both the model and the retrieval layer.

Start with one measurable project

The best first project is measurable. Choose one workflow with a known baseline, such as the time employees spend answering common questions. Run the AI system alongside the current process. Track response quality, employee editing time, escalations, and total cost. Do not count a demo as savings until people actually use it.

Cloud providers publish pricing and consumption choices, but prices change and performance varies by model and region. A small business should keep a simple spreadsheet of assumptions and revisit it when volume, model, or service terms change. The spreadsheet is more valuable than a single headline price.

AI is affordable when it is attached to a specific job. It becomes expensive when a company buys capacity before defining the workload. Start with the task, measure the demand, test a small model, and include the human and operational costs. The goal is not the cheapest model call. The goal is a reliable business result at a cost the company can defend.

What BOSSTOX is watching

  • Price changes across providers for the same model class.
  • Reserved versus on-demand capacity terms for small buyers.
  • Tools that measure employee editing time on AI output.
Continue Reading

Trending