real time temp in colo
top: top shelf of Minis surface Temp of mini
bottom: temp of power brick compartment.

The picture on our web site showing minis in a standard 19 inch rack enclosure is simply a marketing picture. It was chosen as it conveys the concept of what we are doing at a glance.

A standard 19 inch rack, like the one shown on the home page, will not fit 3 minis abreast. At a width of 6.5 inches it can't be done. There is a 1/2 inch problem. A rack is 36 inches deep. The mini is 6.5 inches deep . Thus the per square inch requirements of the mini, with space to keep it cool are achievable within our cost structure.

In a mockup (as the units didn't start arriving until Janaury 23rd) we were able to position units in enough density to meet our price point and still have enough space.

The modern data center itself was design to be able to cool every single U of space crammed with pentium or dual pentium units. The g4 runs quite a bit cooler than a pentium. The AC units are designed to be well over capacity. They have the ability to have failures and still meet the original cooling specifications.

Also please note that the facility was built in the height of the .com era. It is a rare thing to find a data center these days that is full to capacity. However the AC units have not been pulled to to the current vacancy levels in these centers.

The shelves themselves are wire frame to allow the greatest airflow possible. There are also a number of fans. We do not have to worry about the noise from these fans.

We do not expect to, but, if we find that we are even close the top end of the allowable ranges, we will adjust the densities. There is enough flexibility in the price points to give us some space and still keep the operation the black.