Calculator 06 · Density
How much IT fits in the building?
Set the floor area, white space share, area per rack and rack density. See the racks, the megawatts and the floorplate heat up.
Share of floor area that holds racks; the rest is electrical, mechanical and support.
The rack plus its share of aisles inside the white space.
Critical IT load
62MW
4,166 racks at 15 kW
Facility demand
81MW
At PUE 1.30
Density
500W/sq ft
Of white space
For early planning only. Results follow from the inputs and the stated assumptions; they are not engineering, financial or legal advice.
How the math works
Racks from floor area
IT load = racks × kW per rack
Facility demand and density
Questions
How many racks fit in a data center?
At 50% white space and 30 square feet per rack, a 250,000-square-foot building holds about 4,170 racks. Higher-density racks need more space per rack for cooling, so the area per rack often rises with density.
What is white space?
The raised-floor or slab area where IT racks sit, as opposed to gray space for electrical, mechanical and support functions.
Why does rack density matter for site selection?
It sets how much power a given building needs. The same building at 120 kW per rack can need many times the power of one at 6 kW, which changes the utility request, the substation and the cooling plant.
Is the floorplate drawing my layout?
No. It shows the white space share and rack rows, tinted by density, with each cell standing for a group of racks.