Expedient Shrinks Cages to Make Data Center Space Cheaper update from July 2016

Expedient has come up with a new design for colocation cages which it claims will lower the costs of data center space for its customers.

The design, called SlimLine, essentially shrinks the cage to more closely match the shape of equipment racks. Typical colocation cages have a lot of space inside them that isn’t used by equipment, usually enough for technicians to move around, even when all the actual rack space is utilized.

Expedient’s new cage design, which it hopes to patent, is a way to utilize data center space more efficiently. Instead of leaving extra space inside the cage, techs have full access to front and back of the equipment via roll-up doors, which can be either solid or perforated, depending presumably on the equipment’s cooling needs.

The data center provider said it will tailor the cages to customer needs. The smallest cage available will closely match the physical profile of a row of four cabinets.

Multiple-row configurations include enclosed hot aisles that contain hot server exhaust air.

Customers save because they end up using less data center space to house the same amount of equipment than they would in traditional colocation cages. Those savings can reach as much as 40 percent, Expedient CTO, Ken Hill, said in a statement.

Here’s a photo of a two-row SlimLine configuration in one of Expedient’s data centers, featuring a perforated access wall and a solid door in the hot aisle (photo by Expedient):