CloudFest '25 recap

Liquids in the Data Centre?

The revamped Immersion Cooling solution from IXORA was a crowd-puller at CloudFest. The innovative cassette system for 19″-racks demonstrated that energy-efficient cooling in data centres is now a reality. However, for many companies, liquids in the data centre are still a no-go.

With the increasing power density of modern GPUs and CPUs, air cooling is reaching its limits, while demands for CO₂ reduction and efficiency are growing. Our Dutch technology partner IXORA B.V. is thinking outside the box: instead of large pods, each server is safely immersed in a portable, dielectric 19″-cassette.

This solution operates without an external CDU and offers up to 4 kW of cooling power per cassette. The heat generated can be reused. The enthusiasm of the visitors made it clear: Immersion Cooling is the future!

Chatting with Einstein

The Fireside Chat with “Albert Einstein” was a true highlight at CloudFest! In a unique live discussion, the Deepfake genius provided fascinating insights into his scientific work and exchanged thoughts with the moderator on digital transformation and the impact of modern technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing on our future. We mentally travelled back to the 1950s and met Einstein in his office at Princeton University. But this wasn’t your typical interview – it was an impressive demonstration of the current advancements in AI-powered avatars.

It quickly became clear: While Artificial Intelligence is still in its infancy, its development is progressing rapidly.

Especially bold from the CloudFest team: The chat was live and not pre-recorded! This posed an exciting technical challenge – particularly in a packed ballroom with countless smartphones logged in. When the Wi-Fi briefly faltered, the moderator kept his cool, and the professionals behind the scenes reacted swiftly, ensuring the conversation continued without major interruptions.

This talk not only showcased the impressive progress of AI but also highlighted its clear limitations compared to human thinking. For us, it was definitely one of the absolute highlights of CloudFest!

Long lives tape!

The demand for scalable and secure storage solutions has never been higher – and it’s no surprise to us: Tape is back! More modern, powerful, and relevant than many expected.

The data explosion shows no signs of slowing down. On the contrary, new disruptive technologies like AI are accelerating data growth even further. To keep storage costs manageable, intelligent data tiering is essential to relieve expensive primary and secondary storage systems.

At the same time, we’ve all become digital hunters and gatherers – the need for scalable, cost-effective, and secure archival storage solutions is growing rapidly. This is where a technology that has been consistently developed for over 60 years comes into play and remains unbeatable: Tape! Often declared dead, but never gone – and today, more relevant than ever.

More than just tin

Pure hardware is increasingly taking a backseat, but a crucial difference lies in the innovative mindset, the design process, and hardware development – three essential factors that are needed to meet the specific requirements of businesses. This is where the future will continue to unfold!

Ten years ago, we were much more fascinated by bare metal. Today, at first glance, it often looks the same on the exhibitor’s tables. Yet, hardware remains the foundation of our digital world. Applications and software demand ever more performance, and to keep this affordable, hardware manufacturers must remain constantly innovative and optimize the tin to meet growing demands.

For us, it’s not just about offering the optimal server or storage solution, but also about sharing our expertise with our customers and partners. At CloudFest, many enticing marketing promises were made, only to be debunked when looking closely at the hardware.

We know that hardware may not be as exciting as the software running on it, but the cloud is, after all, just a computer that belongs to someone else and resides in a data centre.

Record number of first-time visitors

We were especially delighted by the large number of first-time visitors who had never attended CloudFest before – a clear sign that the community is growing, and growing, and growing. However, there’s still room for improvement when it comes to the average age of attendees.