At the 2026 OCP Global Summit, held October 12–15, Rittal presented an AI infrastructure concept that brings racks, direct liquid cooling and DC power distribution into a compact system. Its announcement describes a power sidecar using 800 V technology developed with Bosch.
Rittal said the concept is designed for high-density computing and can be scaled toward power supply solutions of up to 2 MW. The power sidecar shown at the summit was a development demonstrator. The announcement does not establish that a complete 2 MW system is in customer operation.
The architecture illustrates a broader change in AI data center design. When more computing power is concentrated in each rack, operators must consider power conversion, distribution, cooling and service access together. An electrical design that works for a conventional server room cannot simply be assumed to fit a megawatt-scale AI installation.
For buyers planning new facilities, 800 VDC also raises questions about how power moves from the building’s incoming supply to the IT equipment. They need to define where conversion occurs, which equipment supports the load during an outage, and how maintenance can be performed without disrupting operations. Backup time and redundancy should be calculated for the complete facility design.
Existing AC-based UPS systems remain a separate equipment category that buyers may evaluate for suitable parts of a facility. For example, a modular data center UPS cabinet can be assessed against the required AC load, redundancy plan and maintenance needs. Its published specifications should not be interpreted as support for Rittal’s 800 VDC sidecar architecture.
Rittal’s demonstration is a useful signal for power planning: as rack density increases, the UPS decision belongs within the wider electrical and cooling design, not at the end of the equipment list.
