Short Description
Rack density refers to the amount of power consumed — and consequently, the amount of heat generated — per server rack in a data center, typically measured in kilowatts (kW) per rack. It’s a key metric that reflects how much compute is concentrated within a physical footprint.
While traditional enterprise data centers typically operate in the 5–10 kW per rack range, modern AI/HPC deployments regularly exceed 30–60 kW, with some liquid-cooled racks reaching 200 kW or more. These extreme densities require advanced cooling, power delivery, and physical layout strategies, fundamentally changing how high-performance data centers are designed and operated.