MHI Concludes MOU with FNT of Germany to Provide Integrated Management Software for Data Centers

Jul 13, 2023 16:40 JST

Source: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

- MHI's technologies in analysis and energy management will be integrated with FNT's DCIM software solution for data centers
- The collaboration targets development of new solutions for achieving operation of IT and infrastructure facilities and optimization of power consumption

TOKYO, Jul 13, 2023 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has concluded a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with FNT Software GmbH (FNT), a German provider of software solutions for the integrated management of IT, data center and telecommunication infrastructures worldwide, aimed at building sustainable data centers that will contribute to decarbonization. As digitalization has accelerated, power consumed by data centers is increasing rapidly, making energy conservation in this area a major challenge. Under the newly agreed MOU, MHI will integrate its energy management technologies with FNT's infrastructure management technologies in a quest to develop new solutions.

Example of DCIM integrated with MHI's analytical technologies

Under the collaborative arrangement, MHI will provide its technologies and experience in energy management and its analytical technologies incorporating the Company's expertise in the development of power generation and air conditioning systems. These will be combined with FNT's "Data Center Infrastructure Management Software" (DCIM) solution, with plans calling for implementation of demonstration tests in combination with the immersion cooling system currently under development by MHI for data centers.

FNT has already supplied its DCIM solution integrating data center IT and infrastructure management, monitoring and planning functions to more than 500 customers worldwide, contributing to the realization of sustainable data centers through operational optimization. The reliability of FNT's services and systems is highly evaluated throughout the IT industry.

As information volumes have increased dramatically in tandem with advances in digital transformation (DX) globally, the roles of and demand for data centers are expanding rapidly. Furthermore, the generative AI(Note1) garnering attention in recent years requires graphics processing units (GPU)(Note2) with high computational capabilities. For these and other reasons, power consumption by data centers is expected to increase further in the years ahead, making the operation of data centers with even more efficient waste heat discharge a challenge of great urgency.

MHI is working to decarbonize and reduce the energy consumption of data centers through provision of a full complement of solutions in decarbonized power generation, integrated management and high-efficiency cooling systems. As part of this initiative, the Company is developing server chip cooling and immersion cooling technologies. Demonstration tests of immersion cooling units have been conducted in which cool servers and components have been cooled by immersion in a nonconductive liquid, resulting in a significant reduction in power consumption compared with conventional data centers. Now, by combining MHI's products and technologies with FNT's technologies for achieving infrastructure efficiency through application of its data center software solutions, further advances will accelerate toward realizing more energy-efficient and decarbonized data centers as well as green transformation (GX) in the IT field.

(1) Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can independently create images, text and other new contents through learning of large volumes of pre-existing data.
(2) A GPU is a semiconductor chip (processor) for computational processing of visual images. Until now, GPUs have been dedicated exclusively to graphics applications, but with ongoing advances in AI, the latest models are increasingly equipped with functions for AI.

About MHI Group

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world's leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on spectra.mhi.com.

Source: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Sectors: Enterprise IT