# Data centres: Equipment and suppliers Inside a rack holding 72 GPUs and drawing 132 kW Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/equipment/ What this tab covers For each method, the main pieces of equipment, who makes them (by region) and what they are made of (bill of materials). The critical equipment falls into power (UPS, power supplies), cooling (chillers, coolant distribution units) and IT (servers and accelerators). #### Power path **UPS and power distribution**^[6](https://www.vertiv.com/en-ca/products-catalog/critical-power/uninterruptible-power-supplies-ups/liebert-exl-s1-)^[15](https://www.delloro.com/news/data-center-physical-infrastructure-grew-17-percent-y-y-in-1q-2025-driven-by-ai-buildout/) Keeps power clean and continuous; batteries bridge the gap until generators start United States Vertiv, Eaton Europe Schneider Electric, Legrand Bill of materials - **Rectifier and inverter**: IGBT power modules, magnetics and capacitors - **Batteries**: VRLA lead-acid or lithium-ion - **Enclosure**: Steel cabinets, copper busbars **Server power supply**^[5](https://belfuse.com/media/documents/whitepapers/80-plus-why-you-need-titanium-power-supplies-in-your-data-center.pdf) Converts AC to the DC used by the server United States Bel Fuse Bill of materials - **Power stage**: Silicon, silicon carbide or gallium nitride transistors - **Magnetics**: Ferrite transformers and inductors, copper #### Cooling **Coolant distribution unit (CDU), cold plates and heat rejection**^[12](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/vertiv-and-nvidia-collab-on-7mw-reference-architecture-for-gb200-nvl72)^[15](https://www.delloro.com/news/data-center-physical-infrastructure-grew-17-percent-y-y-in-1q-2025-driven-by-ai-buildout/) Pump coolant to chips, exchange heat with facility water and reject it outdoors United States Vertiv Europe Schneider Electric Bill of materials - **Cold plates**: Copper with micro-channels - **Pumps and plate heat exchanger**: Stainless steel - **Fluid**: Water, often with propylene glycol #### IT equipment **AI accelerator rack (for example GB200 NVL72)**^[9](https://www.idc.com/resource-center/press-releases/worldwide-server-market-revenue-increased-61-during-the-third-quarter-of-2025-according-to-idc/)^[11](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/gb200-nvl72/)^[13](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-01-12-gartner-says-worldwide-semiconductor-revenue-grew-21-percent-in-2025) Runs AI training and inference; 72 GPUs and 36 CPUs in one liquid-cooled rack United States Nvidia, AMD, Dell Technologies, Supermicro China IEIT Systems, Lenovo Bill of materials - **GPU packages**: Silicon logic dies plus stacked high-bandwidth memory on a silicon interposer - **Interconnect**: Copper cable spine and switches - **Power shelf**: Rack-level AC-DC supplies feeding a DC busbar **General-purpose servers**^[4](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R48646/R48646.3.pdf)^[9](https://www.idc.com/resource-center/press-releases/worldwide-server-market-revenue-increased-61-during-the-third-quarter-of-2025-according-to-idc/) Run cloud, web and enterprise workloads United States Dell Technologies, HPE, Supermicro China Lenovo, IEIT Systems Bill of materials - **Processors**: CPUs with 150-350 W design power - **Memory and storage**: DRAM and flash - **Board and chassis**: Printed circuit board, steel chassis, fans #### Sources 1. [Data Centers and Their Energy Consumption: Frequently Asked Questions (R48646)](https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R48646/R48646.3.pdf) US Congressional Research Service, 2025 2. [80 PLUS: why you need Titanium power supplies in your data center (white paper restating the 80 PLUS thresholds)](https://belfuse.com/media/documents/whitepapers/80-plus-why-you-need-titanium-power-supplies-in-your-data-center.pdf) Bel Fuse, 2023 3. [Liebert EXL S1 UPS (product page)](https://www.vertiv.com/en-ca/products-catalog/critical-power/uninterruptible-power-supplies-ups/liebert-exl-s1-) Vertiv, 2025 4. [Worldwide server market revenue increased 61% during the third quarter of 2025](https://www.idc.com/resource-center/press-releases/worldwide-server-market-revenue-increased-61-during-the-third-quarter-of-2025-according-to-idc/) IDC, 2025 5. [NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 (specifications)](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/gb200-nvl72/) Nvidia, 2025 6. [Vertiv and Nvidia collaborate on 7MW reference architecture for GB200 NVL72](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/vertiv-and-nvidia-collab-on-7mw-reference-architecture-for-gb200-nvl72) DatacenterDynamics, 2024 7. [Gartner says worldwide semiconductor revenue grew 21% in 2025](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-01-12-gartner-says-worldwide-semiconductor-revenue-grew-21-percent-in-2025) Gartner, 2026 8. [Data center physical infrastructure grew 17 percent Y/Y in 1Q 2025](https://www.delloro.com/news/data-center-physical-infrastructure-grew-17-percent-y-y-in-1q-2025-driven-by-ai-buildout/) Dell'Oro Group, 2025 ## Other sections - [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/overview/index.md) - [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/correlation/index.md) - [Science and limits](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/science/index.md) - [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/valuechain/index.md) - [Unit economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/economics/index.md) - [Engineering methods](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/methods/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/links/index.md)