The Data Center Frontier Show

For this episode of the DCF Show podcast, DCF Editor in Chief Matt Vincent spoke with Callum Morrison, Account Director of Cologix; and Wayne Lloyd, CEO of Consensus Core. A new collaboration announced in August 20024 between Consensus Core and Cologix launches the first NVIDIA-powered GPU as a Service (GPUaaS) in the Montreal market, making Cologix’s MTL10 data center the inaugural hub for high-performance AI workloads in Montreal. 

During the interview, we discuss:

Cologix is the largest data center provider in Montréal with 12 facilities and has a Canadian interconnection ecosystem of 350 networks, 200+ cloud providers, 15 public cloud onramps and three internet exchanges.

Cologix, who bills itself as one of the "leading network-neutral interconnection and hyperscale edge data center" companies in North America, announced the collaboration with Consensus Core, an AI cloud service provider, to support the needs of AI technologies at its MTL10 ScalelogixSM data center in Montréal, Canada. 

The collaboration enables Consensus Core to launch a new, NVIDIA-powered GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) in the Canadian market and transforms MTL10 into a hub for its high-performance AI workloads.

“As a registered member of the NVIDIA Partner Network, Consensus Core will supercharge AI in Canada,” said Consensus Core CEO Lloyd, who is also a company co-founder. 

“Implementing AI in data centers with the powerful NVIDIA accelerated computing platform requires a specialized approach. We have selected Cologix to address this need. As a Canadian company, we sought a partner offering colocation services for GPUs for both Canadian and international clients. Cologix’s hyperscale and highly interconnected data centers enable us to densify and scale our services to meet customer demands efficiently.”

Unlike general cloud services that use general-purpose platforms for a wide range of applications, GPUaaS provides specialized, high-performance computing for specific AI tasks. 

This benefits companies that want to start doing AI workloads because instead of buying and maintaining their own physical servers and hardware, they can get access to NVIDIA accelerated computing on a per-hour basis from companies like Consensus Core. This means less downtime waiting for delivery and easy-to-use tools to deliver business results faster.

In October 2024, Cologix announced capital raises of $1.5 billion USD to fuel its next stage of strategic growth by accelerating expansion of AI-ready data centers across key North American markets.

Cologix plans to use the capital to support the ongoing build out of large-scale campuses in its core markets, including Ashburn, Columbus and Montréal, as well as to begin new builds on recently acquired land in Columbus, Des Moines and Vancouver.

Upon full build out, all of the operator's planned data center construction can support over 650 critical megawatts (MW) of sellable capacity.  

The infusion of capital received strong investor demand, underscoring investor confidence in Cologix’s proven business model, growth potential and ability to execute on its strategic initiatives. 

The capital raises include a $1.0 billion USD revolving multi-asset development debt facility and an additional $500 million USD in equity from both new and existing investors. 

The debt facility is structured to provide Cologix with the flexibility to add new sites over time, offering quick access to capital to fund development projects as needed. 

Both the debt and equity raises received strong investor demand and were oversubscribed, underscoring their confidence in Cologix’s proven business model, growth potential and ability to execute on its strategic initiatives.

"This is a significant milestone for Cologix and demonstrates the continued trust of our investors, both new and existing," said Scott Schneider, CFO of Cologix. "The combination of debt and equity financing provides us with the flexibility and capital to keep pace with the growing demand for digital infrastructure, particularly as AI, hybrid cloud and interconnection requirements expand. This financing ensures we can continue to scale and deliver on our customers’ needs in a dynamic market."

The $1.5 billion USD in financing announced in October followed the company’s successful $1.13 billion USD and $1.07 billion CAD asset-backed securitizations since 2021, as well as a $3.0 billion USD equity recapitalization in 2022, all of which added to positioning Cologix for sustained growth.

NVIDIA's H100 Tensor Core GPU-accelerated clusters will power Consensus Core’s GPUaaS operated in Cologix’s Montréal data center. NVIDIA H100 extends the NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPU’s global-to-shared asynchronous transfer capabilities across all address spaces and adds support for tensor memory access patterns. It enables applications to build end-to-end asynchronous pipelines that move data into and off the chip, completely overlapping and hiding data movement with computation.

MTL10 is among Cologix’s largest network-neutral data centers, offering connectivity via high-count, diverse and scalable fiber with direct access to the Meet-Me-Room (MMR) in Montréal at Cologix’s MTL3 facility. The data center also offers strong interconnection capabilities to build and scale businesses with more than 100 unique network providers and low-latency connections to hyperscale cloud providers. MTL10 is a 180,000-square-foot, purpose-built facility that is ISO 27001 certified by Schellman and HIPAA, SOC1, SOC2 and PCI compliant.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Consensus Core to bring its GPUaaS offering to Canada,” said Sean Maskell, President and General Manager of Cologix Canada, in a press relesae. “Consensus Core’s innovative solution fills a critical gap in the market, empowering businesses of all sizes to leverage the immense power of AI and machine learning. At Cologix, we are deeply committed to supporting the growth of the Canadian technology sector, and this collaboration demonstrates our dedication to providing the essential infrastructure and services that businesses need to thrive in today’s world.”

The companies contend that their new collaboration between Cologix and Consensus Core positions MTL10 as the premier hub for high-performance AI in Canada, providing businesses with the infrastructure and tools required to take advantage of the full potential of AI technologies.

During the podcast, Morrison and Lloyd discuss their companies' collaboration on the new AI service and the transition of Consensus Core from specializing in crypto infrastructure to AI, with a focus on GPU as a Service. Wayne explains how this service allows companies to access AI capabilities by overcoming challenges related to chips, power, and data center capacity. Callum highlights Cologix's partnership with Nvidia to enhance efficiency and scalability. 

The conversation emphasizes the growing demand for power in AI deployment stakes and the importance of scaling deployments to achieve successful business outcomes.

Specific questions for Callum and Wayne regarding the announced collaboration to empower businesses in Canada to leverage the power of AI and machine learning with NVIDIA-Powered GPU-as-a-Service included: What is GPUaaS and how does it fit into the infrastructure ecosystem? How does the collaboration between Cologix and Consensus Core deliver GPUaaS? What are the benefits for businesses? Do Cologix and Consensus Core have plans to expand their collaboration in Canada and/or other markets?

As Infrastructure Masons (iMasons) CEO Santiago Suinaga noted, the sold-out DCD Connect Virginia event in Leesburg on Nov. 6-7 was a standing-room only affair, reflecting the region's huge interest in the data center industry, in a conference which year-over-year "does not disappoint," in the words of International Data Center Authority Chief Certification Officer Mark Gusakov. Both men are key advisors to the Nomad Futurist Foundation. 

Nomad Futurist is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established, per its mission statement, "to demystify the world of digital infrastructure and the related technologies that impact every aspect of our daily lives."  Committed to educating youth in underprivileged communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and opening up opportunities for growth and new career paths, the group says its "primary focus is to empower and inspire younger generations through exposure to the underlying technologies that power our digital world." 

Nomad Futurist is known for appointing individuals throughout the data center industry to its ranks of Ambassadors and Advisors, who work to promote the organization's ethos and goals in their professional spheres. The group's members are a pervasive presence in the data center sector, to be found in attendance and presenting at most industry events in the U.S. and abroad. The purpose of the Data Center Frontier/Nomad Futurist: Field Report series -- aka "Nomads at the Frontier" -- is therefore to gather recurring industry insight, expertise and commentary from Nomad Futurist leaders and ambassadors, firsthand and in the field, as they participate in these events. 

During this impromptu podcast discussion, as recorded on-site at Leesburg's Landsdowne Resort Convention Center, Santiago discusses key topics from the event's iMasons Member Summit, including education programs and community concerns. He highlights challenges as cited from the iMasons State of the Industry report, such as power, talent access, and sustainability planning. 

For his part, drawing on perspective gained from his ongoing travels around the industry, Mark emphasizes the need for standardization and correcting misconceptions about the data center industry, while urging professionals to act as ambassadors to improve public understanding as the industry grows its vital workforce and sustainability stakes. 

Santiago concurs with the pivotal need to increase data center awareness and bring more people into the industry. Mark concludes  with some vibe check remarks, taking the temperature of Datacenter Dynamics' annual confab in the world's largest data center market.

Demand for data centers has never been higher. In our latest episode, we dive deep into the exploding world of data centers together with JLL's head of Data Center Research and Strategy for the Americas, Andrew Batson. According to JLL’s U.S. Data Center Report, the first half of 2024 shattered all records, but, what does this mean for you?

We explore how these facilities have become the foundation of modern society and why securing land, power, and talent is more crucial than ever. How is the industry coping with limited supply in the face of insatiable demand?

We'll reveal shocking statistics about the U.S. colocation market's growth and the unbelievably low vacancy rates. Plus, we'll uncover the massive impact of AI on the data center landscape, with investments skyrocketing into the hundreds of billions. We'll discuss the ongoing struggle to find and keep skilled workers in this rapidly expanding field. And while the U.S. power grid seems stable for now, what issues could threaten the industry's future?

Join us as we unpack the complexities of the data center boom and explore what it means for the future of our digital economy.

Today our guest is Bill Tierney, Chief Sales Officer for BluePrint Supply Chain.  Join us as we highlight some new research published by Data Center Frontier and BluePrint Supply Chain that addresses data center construction supply chains.  This first-of-its-kind study addresses everything from purchasing and logistics to storage and site setting.  Listeners will get a sneak peak at some of the compelling data the research has gathered and what it means for the current state of the industries construction supply chains.

For this episode of the DCF Show podcast, Data Center Frontier Editor in Chief Matt Vincent and Senior Editor David Chernicoff speak with Tom Dakich, CEO of Quantum Corridor, about compute possibilities for his company's super-fast, super-secure fiber-optic network operating in the area of Chicagoland and Northern Indiana.

Almost exactly a year ago, Quantum Corridor launched what the company bills as "one of the fastest, most secure fiber-optic networks in the Western Hemisphere" with its first transmissions from the Chicago ORD 10 Data Center at 350 E. Cermak Rd. to a data center in Hammond, Indiana. 

Formed in 2021 as a public-private partnership with the state of Indiana, Quantum Corridor was established to enable advanced Illinois and Indiana tech innovators to exchange data nearly instantaneously, the better to achieve frontline technology breakthroughs. 

Funded through a $4.0 million grant from the state of Indiana’s READI grant program and with the cooperation of the Indiana Department of Transportation and Northwest Indiana Forum, Quantum Corridor's network is utilizing 263 miles of new and existing fiber-optic cable beneath the Indiana Toll Road to link data centers, quantum research facilities, life sciences and genome scientists and hyperscalers with industry-shattering speeds and throughput.

Transmitting at data speeds reportedly 1,000x faster than traditional networks, on its launch in 2023, Quantum Corridor said the new network aims to enable regional businesses and institutions to achieve breakthroughs in the segments for defense, financial modeling, biotech, cybersecurity, machine learning, research and more. This optimism came on the heels of the Biden-Harris administration’s designation last October of of the Chicago MSA as a U.S. Regional Technology and Innovation Hub.

With its first transmissions, Quantum Corridor achieved a latency of 0.266 milliseconds of information exchange over its current 12-mile network—a transmission speed 500 times faster than the blink of an eye and far exceeding the average network’s existing 12-times-longer latency. 

The combination of near-instantaneous transmissions paired with massive throughput is expected to enable exponential breakthroughs in modeling and problem solving across myriad industries. Quantum Corridor continues to expand its mileage and connect research facilities. According to the company, the network already has the capacity to transmit nearly the entire current content load of the internet in a single transmission.

The purpose of the Data Center Frontier/Nomad Futurist: Field Report podcast series -- aka "Nomads at the Frontier" -- is to gather recurring industry insight, expertise and commentary from Nomad Futurist Foundation leaders and ambassadors, firsthand and in the field, as they participate in various industry events.

Nomad Futurist is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established, per its mission statement, "to demystify the world of digital infrastructure and the related technologies that impact every aspect of our daily lives."  Committed to educating youth in underprivileged communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and opening up opportunities for growth and new career paths, the group says its "primary focus is to empower and inspire younger generations through exposure to the underlying technologies that power our digital world." Nomad Futurist is known for appointing individuals throughout the data center industry to its ranks of Ambassadors and Advisors, who work to promote the organization's ethos and goals in their professional spheres. Nomad Futurist's members are a pervasive presence in the data center sector, to be found in attendance and presenting at most industry events in the U.S. and abroad. 

For episode two of the Nomads at the Frontier series, DCF Editor In Chief Matt Vincent moderated a tight yet pithy discussion with Nabeel Mahmood, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Nomad Futurist, and Rob Coyle, Director of Technical Program for the Open Compute Project Foundation, about the newly announced strategic alliance between the two organizations as reflected at the 2024 OCP Global Summit (Oct. 15-17), each taking a shared role in addressing workforce and education challenges in the data center industry.

In the podcast, Mahmood and Coyle highlight how the significance of the new alliance between their organizations was reflected at OCP 2024, which was attended by an amazing 7,000 people, and discuss future initiatives to foster collaboration. The discussion covers how this year's event answered the need for standardization in liquid cooling solutions, and how presentation reflected the growing importance of automation and robotics in response to issues ranging from increasing rack density to labor shortages, especially in hyperscale and AI-oriented data centers.

The talk also addresses the alliance's joint roadmap to formalize strategic directions for the partnership, with OCP-Nomad Futurists announcements planned over the next three to six months to possibly include events such as hackathons, designathons, and other disruptive initiatives and happenings to engage both industry insiders and newcomers.

In this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show, Matt Vincent, Editor in Chief of Data Center Frontier, is joined by Waleed Zafar, Mission Critical Director at XYZ Reality to discuss using augmented reality to improve Data Center project delivery. XYZ Reality is a leading developer of augmented reality (AR) solutions for construction that give contractors and owners an accurate and objective way to manage and deliver quality projects.

With server densities on the rise, the expansion of cloud services, the rapid adoption of high-performance computing and the explosive growth of AI, data centers need more effective cooling solutions that can handle higher heat loads. Liquid cooling systems are uniquely positioned to fill that need – while also providing a significant reduction in cooling-related energy consumption.

In this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show podcast, Matt Vincent, Editor-in-Chief of Data Center Frontier, talks to Pat McGinn, Chief Operations Officer of CoolIT Systems, about how the liquid cooling market has changed in the past 12 years. They also discuss the benefits of single-phase direct-to-chip liquid cooling and McGinn predictions for the market in 2025 and beyond. 

Listen to this 18-minute podcast to learn more about:

• The benefits of liquid cooling for data centers.

In this episode, we delve into the complex interplay between performance and sustainability in data centers. As technology continues to advance, so too does the demand for powerful, efficient data centers. However, this growing demand also raises concerns about energy consumption and environmental impact.

For this installment of the Data Center Frontier Show podcast, we bring you the first episode in a new series with our friends from the Nomad Futurist Foundation.

Nomad Futurist is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established, per the group's mission statement, "to demystify the world of digital infrastructure and the related technologies that impact every aspect of our daily lives."  Committed to educating youth in underprivileged communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and opening up opportunities for growth and new career paths, the group says its "primary focus is to empower and inspire younger generations through exposure to the underlying technologies that power our digital world." 

Nomad Futurist is known for appointing individuals throughout the data center industry to its ranks of Ambassadors and Advisors, who work to promote the organization's ethos and goals in their professional spheres. The organization's members are a pervasive presence in the data center sector, to be found in attendance and presenting at most industry events in the U.S. and abroad. 

The purpose of the Data Center Frontier/Nomad Futurist: Field Report series -- aka "Nomads at the Frontier" -- is therefore to gather recurring industry insight, expertise and commentary from Nomad Futurist leaders and ambassadors, firsthand and in the field, as they participate in these events. 

For the first installment of Nomads at the Frontier, Data Center Frontier's Editor in Chief Matt Vincent called into Las Vegas during the debut of Yotta, an event conceived and brought forth by Data Center Dynamics aimed at unifying leaders and stakeholders in digital infrastructure industry at large.

For this interview, DCF spoke with Nomad Futurist Advisors Jodie Lin, Customer Advocate and CSR with data center infrastructure company Mirapath, Inc., and Illissa Miller, CEO of iMiller Public Relations, a firm focused on the digital infrastructure industry, for their reflections and impressions from the environs of Yotta 2024. To begin, we asked Lin and Miller for their top takeaways from the show regarding the confluence between the larger world of digital infrastructure and data centers.

Next, given how attuned data centers are to the AI technology shift, we asked Nomads Lin and Miller for their perceptions of the level of preparation within rest of the digital infrastructure space, as heard from at Yotta, for facing up to AI's demands and opportunities. DCF also wondered whether, based on impressions received from Yotta, the data center industry’s obsessions with power, cooling, sustainability, and managing exponential growth in wake of AI seem to be shared equally by the larger world of digital infrastructure.

Finally, owing to certain breakthroughs in the areas of regulation, funding, and planned deployment, this year has felt like a tipping point in terms of optimism for advanced nuclear energy, especially in the US data center industry. As such, we asked our Nomads to gauge whether this anticipation for "new nuclear" energy was as palpable in the larger world of digital infrastructure as encountered at Yotta?