Founded in 2019, The GRID Factory is a leading provider of immersive technology and generative artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, high-performance virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and cloud infrastructure services. The company has delivered virtual and augmented reality experiences for partners and clients including NVIDIA, Autodesk, Cavrnus, BT, EE, Vodafone, Coventry University, Ericsson, Hyperbat and DivisionX. Its platform combines high-performance, low-latency edge networking from its partner BT with NVIDIA RTX 8000 and NVIDIA A40 data centre GPUs to deliver real-time 3D and immersive experiences.

In July 2021, The GRID Factory approached nLighten to provide the critical UK data centre infrastructure it required on behalf of a 3D mapping client. The client wanted a new approach to delivering highly accurate city models to architects, planning consultants, urban planners and construction engineers.

Delivering highly performant, real-time 3D and immersive experiences places significant demands on data centre infrastructure. The GRID Factory platform connects customers over low-latency edge networking from BT to NVIDIA RTX 8000 and NVIDIA A40 GPUs, and its 25 kW high-density racks use a three-stage cooling system, supported by highly efficient climate control, to keep the IT equipment performing efficiently. That requires 25 kW of power in a single rack together with matching cooling in a secure environment. Power densities of this level are still very rare in the data centre market and are challenging to deliver cost-effectively.

The company therefore needed a secure, resilient environment with significant power-to-rack availability of up to 50 kW, diverse low-latency fibre connectivity, and on-site engineering excellence.

nLighten and The GRID Factory worked closely together to develop the 3D mapping solution at nLighten's edge data centre in Swindon. Successfully implemented in May 2022, the platform allows users to work from a variety of remote locations, so that a building can be conceived, co-designed, engineered and deployed as a 3D model, both off and on site, saving time and money.

The Swindon facility's modular and flexible blade room design supports the platform's future expansion, continuity of power and the high levels of cooling that 25 kW racks demand, while aligning with both companies' ongoing commitment to sustainability. Because of the modern design of the data centre, nLighten was able to put together a comprehensive package that supports not only The GRID Factory's 3D and immersive workloads but also resource-intensive computational workloads such as blockchain, AI and machine learning (ML) on The GRID Factory platform.

The partnership has continued to grow, underscored by The GRID Factory's recent signing of a multi-year data centre services contract with nLighten UK. The renewal comes at a time when demand for large amounts of power and cooling is already at an all-time high and set to increase further, driven by the fast-paced evolution of CPU and GPU hardware designed for AI, digital twins, rendering and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. Justin Nesbitt, UK Sales Director at nLighten, said the company was delighted to continue supporting The GRID Factory with the high-power and high-cooling infrastructure needed to drive the future of AI and immersive technology.

• 25 kW high-density GPU racks supported with power-to-rack availability of up to 50 kW
• 3D mapping platform successfully implemented in Swindon in May 2022, delivering accurate city models to remote users
• Buildings can be conceived, co-designed, engineered and deployed as 3D models both off and on site, saving time and money
• Same infrastructure package also supports blockchain, AI and machine learning workloads on The GRID Factory platform
• Multi-year data centre services contract signed with nLighten UK as power and cooling demand keeps rising
• Renewably sourced, scalable power and energy-efficient cooling for low-latency, edge-based immersive VR and AR experiences