Dell, Digital Twins & Data Centres: Greening the Age of AI
The first industrial revolution was characterised by the advent of the steam engine and factories.
The second was defined by a focus on electricity, oil and machinery designed for mass production.
And the third era of industry has been all about digital technologies, computer processing and the internet.
But that is not necessarily where the story ends. Some historians believe that we may currently be at the beginning of a fourth industrial revolution, one that will be shaped by artificial intelligence.
As with any previous booms in industry, the rise of AI will require a great deal of energy, most of which will go towards powering and maintaining data centres.
This trend, as anticipated by the International Energy Agency (IEA), is expected to continue, with data centre energy consumption projected to double by 2030.
Consequently, this increase places a tremendous burden on already overwhelmed power grids, raising operational costs and emissions.
To address these challenges, tech giant Dell has introduced its Concept Astro system, a cutting-edge AI-powered platform aimed at optimising workload scheduling by considering real-time energy availability, costs and business priorities.
What is Dell’s Concept Astro?
Concept Astro embodies Dell's vision for sustainable data centre management. It employs agentic AI, digital twins and automation to create a cohesive and adaptive AI Factory.
"This capability is exciting but right now just a concept, with our engineers pushing the boundaries of what is possible to deliver at scale," says Dr Alyson Freeman, Dell’s Innovation Lead for Sustainability and ESG.
- Forecast the time and energy required for specific workloads
- Pull in real-time grid data and forecasts to identify optimal moments, locations and resources for running jobs
- Prioritise workloads based on business needs, energy availability and cost
- Offer users a dashboard and custom reports tailored to roles from researchers to CFOs, providing actionable insights and recommendations
“In this iteration, we’re using digital twins to simulate workloads so we can extract insights and identify ways to use available data centre power more effectively with power grid awareness.
“Concept Astro builds on the Dell AIOps monitoring suite and features the capabilities offered today through Dell’s AIOps Assistant — including customers being able to ask context-aware questions about their connected infrastructure and receive tailored recommendations based on their current system configuration.”
Why Concept Astro is changing the game
The launch of Concept Astro is timely, as it addresses AI’s increasing energy demands. AI workloads are inherently energy-intensive, requiring substantial computational power.
As AI-driven applications become more prevalent, data centres are compelled to strike a balance between performance needs and the realities of energy scarcity, fluctuating costs and sustainability imperatives.
Reliable, resilient, and affordable energy has become a priority for operators globally.
"At Dell, we’re helping customers unlock the full potential of enterprise AI while minimising energy consumption and operational costs," Alyson explains.
"We are constantly innovating, refining, and enhancing our offerings to deliver greater business and societal value. Our mission is to help customers overcome their biggest challenges.
"With energy-efficient technologies already transforming operations and forward-thinking concepts like AI-powered workload scheduling, we can assist enterprises in reducing costs, enhancing grid resilience, and achieving meaningful progress."
How Dell is using digital twins to improve data centre sustainability
A notable feature of Concept Astro is its utilisation of digital twins. By creating virtual replicas of data centre operations, Concept Astro simulates workloads and energy flows.
This enables the extraction of insights to maximise the use of available power, allowing the system to dynamically adapt to grid conditions. The technology is already making an impact in real-world scenarios.
In a pilot project, Dell collaborated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.
Scripps processes large volumes of underwater imagery, around 350GB per dive, with 300 to 400 dives annually, necessitating substantial compute and storage resources.
- A digital twin is a virtual representation of a real-world object, system, or process, updated with real-time data to reflect its physical counterpart's behaviour and characteristics. Essentially, it's a digital model that mimics the physical twin, allowing for simulation, testing and monitoring of the real thing.
During the pilot, Concept Astro allowed Scripps to schedule image processing during optimal energy windows, alleviating grid strain, achieving 20% cost savings, reducing emissions by 32% and doubling image processing throughput after upgrading to the Dell AI Factory with Nvidia powered by next-generation servers.
“I am so excited to share the project we've been working on for nearly two years," says Megan Carrasco-Beyer, Senior Consultant Global Portfolio Sustainability Marketing Lead at Dell.
"Concept Astro is Dell Technologies’ vision for the future of efficient data centre operations.
"We worked with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, part of UC San Diego, to pilot this concept and they are already seeing great results.”
"Concept Astro is Dell Technologies’ vision for the future of efficient data centre operations.
"We worked with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, part of UC San Diego, to pilot this concept and they are already seeing great results.”
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