Modular Construction & Data Center Design Blog

When it comes to data center design, construction, and operation, the goal is to create a scalable, high-performance data center while expediting time-to-revenue. However, cost considerations will vary depending on where you are in data center deployment. You want to minimize construction costs, only if cutting construction costs will not negatively impact operational costs later. By deploying a modular data center, you can benefit cost savings in both construction and operations, ultimately minimizing total cost of ownership (TCO).

When it comes to data centers, how much capacity is too much? That’s like asking, “how high is up?” Capacity requirements are going to differ for every organization, and even after adding more computing power, it may seem that you still don’t have enough. The challenge for data center architects is designing an infrastructure that has scalable capacity without overprovisioning or breaking the budget. That’s why more enterprise data center designers, especially within the colocation space, are turning to modular data centers to help them scale their operations.

The concept of using prefabricated components in construction certainly is not new, but with new technologies and techniques, it continues to become more cost-effective and efficient. In the realm of electrical power distribution systems, we have seen preconstruction and prefabrication grow in popularity. This is due to the rise of new building information management (BIM) systems that make it easier to plan out wiring in advance, as well as the increasing demand for greener building strategies with a smaller footprint. Those who have not worked with factory-built electrical power distribution systems before, will find that the benefits keep stacking up.

Prefabricated electrical power distribution systems are growing in popularity because they save time and money in construction. However, to get maximum value from any form of modular electrical system, your entire team—from design engineers, to the construction crew, to contractors—needs to understand what to expect during the process and where their responsibilities lie. 

Every data center seems to suffer from the same problem: the need for more capacity. New technologies, such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT), are driving the demand for increased processing power, data storage, and physical space. Demand for additional capacity and faster data access is driving construction of new data centers, but they require land and take time to build. That’s why more organizations are looking to modular data centers as an optimal solution.

As demand for more computing power continues to rise, IT professionals are pressured to look for new data center solutions—especially solutions that give them faster access to more processing power at lower costs. 

“Modular is needed now more than ever.” These are the defining words of PCX’s Sales and Marketing Director Rob Coyle, who’s journey into the modular data sector was fostered by his passion for technology and his family’s generational background in construction. Coyle, a member of the Open Community, represented PCX Corporation at the 2019 Open Compute Project (OCP) Regional Summit, and has championed for the integration of the OCP's pillars of efficiency, scalability, openness and impact, with that of PCX’s drive to continually innovate and streamline protocols in the data center industry. The result? A collaborative, and industry first open solution, built on maximizing efficiency, the ability to scale to client needs, the provision of constructive client and open organizational system feedback, and the consistent evaluation of the center’s impact.

As businesses become more data-driven, demand for ready access to computing power continues to expand. Due to this climate, data centers are in extremely high demand. However, setting up a data center is not a trivial task. In addition to constructing a secure building, you have to install cooling systems, wiring, redundant power, high-speed data connections, and more. And while you are waiting for that new data center, your business may be losing its competitive edge, due to a lack of access to critical data and analytics. The faster you can get your data center up and running, the sooner you can make data-driven business decisions.

Modular construction in commercial, industrial and datacenter projects is rapidly displacing on-site “stick built” construction methods.  Modular systems are factory built “off-site” and then transported by truck to the jobsite for installation.  This construction methodology has always been the wave of the future but most recently it has become mainstream.

 As I wrote in a previous article, modular electrical solutions allow us to improve construction. If you can change the process, you can save more money and time over the conventional approach. In this article, I will give you an overview of how a modular electrical solutions provider like PCX gets involved in the construction process.