Toward sustainable data center operation: A review on existing infrastructures, integrated smart energy management frameworks, and future perspectives

The digital transformation across technical and commercial sectors, alongside advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), is pivotal in driving the exponentially rising demand for data storage, cloud computing, and IT workloads. Therefore, data centers (DCs) have emerged as critical infrastructures with diverse architectural configurations to address these ever-growing requirements. However, DCs impose significant challenges related to high electrical power consumption, which in turn intensifies stress on the grid. Integrating onsite clean energy sources, such as solar PV and energy storage systems (ESS) at DCs, enables power utilities to reduce strain on the electrical grid while enhancing overall power stability and operational resilience. However, this integration necessitates that data center operators (DCOs) to efficiently manage IT workloads and cooling demand while co-optimizing onsite clean energy resources through smart energy management systems. The strategies developed in the system include digital modeling of the DC, AI-based forecasting modules, energy schedulers for IT workloads, and cooling load demands. This article provides a comprehensive review of various state-of-the-art DC architectures, operating challenges, and energy management frameworks that co-optimize the onsite energy assets for efficient DC operations. Further, this review paper highlights critical research gaps, articulates multi-domain interactions within DC operations, and outlines potential avenues for future research that are necessary for advancing sustainable and grid-responsive DCs.