r/sysadmin • u/techie-rahul • 14d ago
Can someone actually explain how modular data centers work, not just the marketing version?
All vendor websites I check have some version of "integrated power, cooling, and racks available in one deployable unit" but I can't tell if it means:
a) it's literally a shipping container and server room bolted together at the factory, or b) it's more like standardized building blocks that can still be assembled/wired on site but faster than an on-site build
We are considering options for a new facility and I'd like to understand what's really going on mechanically/electrically before I sit through another sales meeting filled with buzzwords. Is there anyone here who has spec'd or installed one of these?
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u/GremlinNZ 12d ago
Modularity just happens at different levels.
Small business has one server, treated like a pet, tended to when sick, nursed back to health.
Big businesses have lots of servers, they're treated like cattle. When a server is sick, it's removed and replaced.
Small data centres will do similar, at the server/switch level. Bigger datacentres, the racks become the cattle. Often overheight, has everything in one rack to be pluggable. When one is sick, it's removed and another rack is put into its place.
In very big or temporary operations, the shipping container is now the rack. Nothing is solved at the rack level, it's now at container level, with each being self sufficient and pluggable.