IBM Patent Highlights Need for Data Center Upkeep

Data centers are only getting more complex. IBM is seeking ways to make upkeep easier. 

The tech firm filed a patent application for “data center guide creation and cost estimation” using augmented reality headsets to display a “guidance script” and monitor the user during data-center maintenance, watching for mistakes, deviations and total time spent on the task. Before the task starts, the system would develop an estimated maintenance cost based on things like labor and resources, then adjust those costs based on user activity data collected from the headset. 

IBM’s patent application adds to several inventive solutions for data center maintenance and architecture that we’ve seen in filings. For instance, Nvidia previously sought to patent a system for self-driving, robotic server rack components, and Google filed a patent application for drones that monitor these facilities with aerial imaging and environmental sensing. 

Amid the pressure to build bigger and better AI, data center demand and growth has taken center stage. And costs for these facilities are skyrocketing

• Gartner predicts data center costs to grow more than 23% in 2025, largely as a result of AI upgrades. 
• Google and Microsoft have pledged $75 billion and $80 billion, respectively, to AI data centers, and data-center expansion is part of Apple’s $500 billion AI push. 

With so much pressure and money going into the data center ecosystem right now, the tech in these patent filings could limit human error in individual facilities as much as possible. They give the applicants a leg up in designing the future of the data center, no matter how outlandish.