Akash Systems has signed a USD 27 million (Rs 225 crores) contract with NxtGen Datacenter and Cloud Technologies, India's largest sovereign cloud provider, to supply its Diamond Cooled servers for data centers across India. "The collaboration will position NxtGen as the world’s most energy-efficient AI compute solutions provider by using Nvidia and AMD GPUs that are Diamond Cooled by Akash. The new servers will support NxtGen’s mission to provide energy-efficient and cost-effective AI compute services to enterprises of all sizes across India," the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
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Diamond Cooling Technology
"Our Diamond Cooled GPU servers will empower NxtGen to deliver unparalleled performance and reliability to their customers, reinforcing their position as a leader in AI and other compute Solutions," said Felix Ejeckam, CEO and co-founder of Akash Systems.
'Diamond cooling' is a new cooling solution for the semiconductor sector and integrates with existing thermal management technologies. Synthetic diamond is the world's most thermally conductive material, the statement said.
At 2200 W/mK (Watts per meter-Kelvin – a measure of thermal conductivity), a diamond’s thermal conductivity exceeds the next best material, Copper, by 5 times.
"This partnership with NxtGen highlights the scalability of Akash's technology and also showcases its ability to accelerate AI workloads by reducing thermal throttling and maximizing over-compute cycles. In short, the Diamond Cooled servers are the way to go," said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures.
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Akash Systems
US-based Akash Systems specialises in developing and manufacturing diamond-based semiconductors and systems. Besides Khosla Ventures, its other investors include Founders Fund and Kearny Jackson. Operating from California and Texas, Akash serves industries such as AI, data centers, and space with its Diamond Cooling technology.
Akash Systems says its servers are engineered to handle intensive AI workloads, including machine learning and deep learning applications. Akash pioneered Diamond Cooling for satellites in outer space – an environment that has no air.
Diamond Cooled servers reduce GPU hotspot temperature by ten to twenty degrees Celsius, even for Nvidia and AMD servers that use liquid cooling. This results in a 50 percent decrease in GPU fan speed and an incredible 90 percent reduction in GPU fan energy consumption, the statement further noted.
CHIPS Act Funding
Akash's Diamond Cooled servers are complementary to clients' existing thermal solutions (e.g. liquid immersion, etc.) and further boost their thermal management solutions.
This partnership with NxtGen also follows Akash Systems' recent approval for up to USD 68 million in funding under the CHIPS and Science Act by the US Department of Commerce.
"We are collaborating with Akash to set an industry benchmark for sustainable AI. Through a combination of Akash's Diamond Cooling, waterless liquid cooling, and advanced GPUs from Nvidia and AMD, we are able to double the performance per watt. This allows us to reduce the cost to our customers and bring down the cost of AI compute services by more than 50 percent from prevailing market rates and enable us to deliver very high-value AI use-cases to our customers," said A S Rajgopal CEO and MD, NxtGen.
NxtGen
Headquartered in Bengaluru, India, NxtGen operates multiple data centers and offers a wide range of services, including AI compute, disaster recovery, and managed security. The company is currently expanding its infrastructure to meet the demand for data center services in the region.
