- Lenovo imagines data centers suspended above clouds to save space and energy
- Data Spas Place Their Servers Near Geothermal Pools, Raising Serious Security Concerns
- Underground bunkers provide protection and natural cooling for high-density computing, or maybe not
Lenovo has unveiled a series of highly unconventional concepts that imagine what the data center infrastructure of the future could look like.
The company says traditional data centers must evolve to support businesses, as almost half of IT business buyers admit their infrastructure is failing to meet energy demand and carbon targets.
In response, Lenovo proposed several unconventional designs, including one that places data centers almost literally among the clouds.
Data centers above the clouds
Each design presents a different approach to powering massive CPU and AI workloads while addressing energy efficiency and sustainability concerns.
Lenovo’s most unusual design is the Floating Cloud, a data center suspended 20 to 30 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
At that height, it would run entirely on solar power while using pressurized liquid cooling systems to manage the heat.
The concept removes land-based constraints but poses major security risks, as a structure floating above commercial airspace would be difficult to protect and vulnerable to attack.
Lenovo is also imagining what it calls a “Data Spa,” a data center powered by geothermal energy and integrated into a natural landscape such as a valley or hot spring.
Concept images show people walking through puddles just a few meters from the server racks.
The design suggests a seamless integration between nature and technology, but it raises serious safety and security concerns.
Mixing open water and critical hardware would give any data center manager sleepless nights, regardless of the claimed efficiency of the cooling system.
A more grounded proposal is the “Data Center Bunker,” which uses abandoned tunnels, bunkers, or underground transportation systems as secure data center sites.
Lenovo claims that these underground locations “create a naturally efficient heat management system,” although anyone familiar with underground heat levels might disagree.
Nonetheless, the design offers benefits such as reduced land use and improved physical protection, making it one of the few practical ideas in the collection.
Lenovo says future data centers must support the rapid growth of AI tools and automation while reducing carbon emissions.
Its Neptune liquid cooling system is designed to remove up to 98% of system heat directly from the source, reducing energy consumption compared to traditional air cooling.
The company insists such solutions are necessary as demand for AI increases and data sovereignty rules tighten across all regions.
These designs are just concepts for now, but Lenovo’s message is clear: Unless data centers evolve rapidly, the future of computing will face physical and environmental bottlenecks.
“The data center of the future will be defined by its effectiveness in adapting to AI, meeting its sustainability goals and operating at maximum energy efficiency,” said Simone Larsson, head of enterprise AI for EMEA at Lenovo.
“As demand for compute accelerates, customers will increasingly look to infrastructure partners that can deliver uncompromised performance…Future-ready data centers require a shift in mindset, one in which sustainability is not modernized…”
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