Modularizing the Datacenter: A Layered Approach From HV to Compute and Cooling

Author: JP Bazelle, Vice President & Data Center Chief Architect, Eaton Collection: 2025 OCP Global Summit - Expo Hall Sessions

Summary

JP Bazelle from Eaton presents a comprehensive argument for modularizing data center infrastructure across four blocks -- grid connection, gray space, white space, and cooling -- unified by software. The central thesis is that the data center exists to support the chip, and every infrastructure decision must trace back to chip performance. The key disruption driver is network packet loss: in GPU training clusters, packet loss forces checkpoint rollbacks that cost $3.4 million per week for IaaS customers (20 MW cluster, 10,000 H100 GPUs at $2/hour) and up to $15 million per week for SaaS customers (3-5x monetization multiplier). This packet loss problem, specifically at the copper-to-optical boundary through pluggable transceivers at the 1-meter copper domain edge, drove the transition to liquid cooling two years ago and is now driving disaggregation of power electronics into DC sidecars.

The convergence timeline shows four infrastructure domains evolving at different speeds: racks reached their disruption point earliest (3 KW in 1990, 17 KW in 2020), cooling hit its inflection at 100 KW around 2022, power is being disrupted now ("soon" on the timeline), and networking will be last to converge ("near future") at the 1000 KW level. A 10-20x industry growth rate combined with a shrinking skilled labor force (all baby boomers at retirement age by 2030, Generation X smaller) makes factory-built modular solutions the only viable path. Eaton's approach covers grid interconnection (partnered with Siemens Energy for on-site generation), energy-aware UPS systems for grid protection, subsynchronous oscillation mitigation, AI load filtering strategies from GPU to BESS, and five power architecture evolutions from traditional AC (Arch1) through 800V DC sidecar (Arch3) to the long-term MVSST solution at 1500 Vdc (Arch5). The fungible DC sidecar supports 2-wire 400V, 3-wire +/-400V, or 2-wire 800V configurations.