Nitto Kogyo's Direct-Liquid-Cooled OCP ORV3 Rack Adopted at MC Digital Realty's AI Test Facility DRIL
The AMW Read
A Japanese enclosure maker's DLC-capable OCP ORV3 rack being validated at a single data-center operator's AI test facility exemplifies the known shift to liquid cooling for high-density GPU racks, but is one vendor deployment at one site, not a new top-tier entrant or debate-resolving event.
Nitto Kogyo's Direct-Liquid-Cooled OCP ORV3 Rack Adopted at MC Digital Realty's AI Test Facility DRIL
Nitto Kogyo, an electrical enclosure and cabinet manufacturer based in Nagakute, Aichi, Japan, announced that its direct liquid cooling (DLC) compatible OCP ORV3 rack has been adopted and installed at MC Digital Realty's (MCDR) Innovation Lab facility, known as DRIL, inside MCDR's NRT12 data center in Inzai, Chiba. The rack is built to handle up to 150kW per rack and is engineered for connection to a coolant distribution unit (CDU) with integrated manifold and piping paths, produced domestically in Japan. DRIL is positioned by MCDR as a production-like environment where partners and customers validate AI and HPC architectures under realistic operating conditions before committing to full deployment.
The deployment tracks a broader shift in AI data-center design: as GPU-dense training and inference clusters push power draw and heat output well past what air cooling can dissipate, direct liquid cooling paired with the Open Compute Project's ORV3 open rack standard is becoming the practical reference architecture for high-density AI infrastructure. A dedicated test facility choosing a Japan-made DLC/ORV3 rack rated to 150kW signals that this combination is moving from specification to deployable hardware in the Japanese and broader APAC data-center market, where operators are racing to add GPU capacity for enterprise AI workloads.
For data-center operators and hardware buyers specifying next-generation AI rack infrastructure in Japan, Nitto Kogyo becomes a locally sourced DLC/ORV3 vendor with a validated deployment path through a named test facility rather than a paper spec. For MCDR, DRIL functions as a proving ground that can de-risk sourcing decisions for hyperscale and neo-cloud tenants scaling GPU racks beyond air-cooling limits, a supply-chain signal worth tracking as more AI infrastructure buildouts standardize on liquid cooling.