CageLab

Free tool for UK buyers

Build Your Data Centre Requirements

Answer five questions about your workload, power, space, connectivity, and compliance. We calculate the full technical spec and generate a printable Requirements Pack you can hand to any UK data centre operator — same day, no sign-up.

Free — no account neededTakes about 3 minutesPrint or share your pack
Start building
1

Configure

Answer five questions across workload, power, space, connectivity, and compliance.

2

Calculate

We apply industry-standard formulas and generate your full technical specification.

3

Share

Print, download, or send your Requirements Pack directly to UK operators.

Your pack includes

Power spec
📐Floor area
❄️Cooling band
🌐Connectivity
🔒Compliance
Questions to ask

Calculation methodology

Redundancy multipliers

N = 1.0× (single path). N+1 = 1.15× (single path plus 15% design headroom — a planning convention). 2N = 2.0× (two fully independent paths, each carrying the full load — the correct value for a capacity specification).

Power feed sizing

Feeds are sized at 80% of breaker rating, per standard electrical design practice (IET Wiring Regulations / BS 7671 guidance). This is a planning convention, not a statutory requirement.

Floor area

Cabinet footprint uses the EIA-310-D standard for a 600 mm × 1,200 mm cabinet (0.72 m²). Gross area applies a 2× multiplier — one metre of aisle for every metre of cabinet — based on Uptime Institute and BICSI 002 general guidance.

Cooling bands

Below 20 kW/rack: standard air adequate. 20–40 kW: enhanced air or in-row cooling required. Above 40 kW: direct-to-chip liquid cooling essential. Thresholds are indicative — actual facility limits vary. The 20–35 kW zone is contested: some UK operators support 35 kW with enhanced air; most require in-row from 25 kW.