In 2025, fiber innovation, scalability, and density will be key to ensuring AI data center success
Michael Crook
Published: October 31, 2024
This past year, data centers have proven to play an essential role in our day-to-day lives. From IT infrastructure, web content, to banking and beyond— the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in civilian and enterprise use has skyrocketed, proving data centers’ importance to life-changing use cases.
As AI and other data-intensive applications continue to grow at a rapid pace, we will see the demand for dense, efficient, scalable, and savvy data center practices surge. Here are three predictions we expect to see in 2025:
1. Design to deployment: Space optimization will remain critical for hyperscalers
If 2024 was the year of preparing for the AI revolution, the coming year will be all about action. In 2025, we’ll see hyperscalers move from planning and design phases to implementation phases as they activate and build upon the back-end network infrastructure needed to support AI.
Currently, generative AI enabled data centers require over 10x more optical fiber than traditional data center networks. The back-end network that enables generative AI will continue to evolve and will require more graphical processing unit (GPUs) clusters and fiber rich interconnects to accommodate more complex and data intense computations.
To support that volume, data centers will need to leverage fibers with low attenuation and exceptional bend performance helping to manage cable congestion, particularly where they’re retrofitting an existing facility rather than building net new. As networks evolve, operators will need to leverage smaller, bendable fiber like Corning® SMF-28® Contour optical fiber, to optimize the optical footprint within the server rack space.
2. Deployment speed and scalability: The race to adapt
Two of the biggest challenges data center operators will continue to face are speed of deployment and network scalability. My customers are constantly asking how to adapt their networks for long-term growth and have multi-year plans to meet computing needs. Technology is evolving at a rapid pace, and organizations will need to quickly adapt network componentry to keep up. Preconnectorized cabling solutions like Corning’s distribution system and cables terminated with MMC connectors allows operators to “plug and play” fiber-dense solutions, drastically accelerating deployment speed compared to traditional cabling methods.
Another challenge posed by a rapid buildout is that data center operators all have their own unique plans for how they’ll scale over time. For those that plan to increase data processing capabilities within their data center, having a structured cabling system that can support multiple generations of optical transceivers is essential.
Fiber strand and cabling flexibility is also essential to space optimization and processing large amounts of data. It provides better attenuation control and the ability to connect buildings over large networks.
As organizations race to build the infrastructure to support today’s computing needs, high fiber count cables with exceptional bend performance, along with plug-and-play solutions, will continue to emerge as top choices.
3. Interconnected data centers and long-haul connectivity will fuel the future of AI
In 2025, we expect network operators will continue to expand AI data centers and interconnect more data center networks to meet AI’s growing demands. Long-haul connectivity will play a key role to enable interconnected networks and help operators overcome power and land constraints.
Interconnected data centers, as referenced in the Corning Incorporated and Lumen Technologies supply agreement announcement, provides operators with the capacity to transmit vast amounts of data over extended distances, effectively mitigating the limitations imposed by geographical constraints. By using long-haul fiber solutions, data center operators can build campuses in unconventional locations and access the valuable resources they need while increasing network density.
In the coming year, we expect to see new fiber products, practices, and network providers to accommodate the increasing demands of artificial intelligence.
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