Main DC - Room for 3,000 Racks

The new MAIN DC data center on the premises of the energy provider Offenbach (EVO), close to the world's largest internet node DE-CIX in Frankfurt, has been completed. One of the most modern data centers in Germany is located on an inner-city site area of ​​just around 7,800 square meters and with a building complex built according to best practices for approx. 3,000 racks, each with 42 height units (HU), on a floor space of 4,500 square meters over 5 floors. The last milestone for the overall acceptance and commissioning by a globally active hyperscale end customer from the so-called GAFAM* group was October 31, 2021 and took place after only two years of construction. A good moment to look back on a successful and eventful course of the project.

**GAFAM – Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft

"I am proud of the outstanding team & quality performance - we have managed to hand over BA2 - the first in the building - ready for operation, including EN50600 certification and a PUE less than 1.2. Another successful milestone for the good work of the Data Center Group, with more to come."
Ralf Siefen – CEO of Data Center Group

In a joint venture, DC-Datacenter Group GmbH built a five-story data center on the EVO site in Offenbach within 12 months and handed it over to MAIN DC GmbH smoothly and on schedule.

Due to the very special soil conditions, around 2,500 load-bearing logs were placed here up to five meters deep into the ground. Around 2,000 tons of steel were used for the huge complex. Due to different conditions and different customers moving in here with their IT, the entire concept was divided into 3 construction phases. To ensure the highest flexibility and energy efficiency, the project was built according to DIN EN 50600.

At the heart of the data center are 12 data rooms that deliver 25 megawatts of capacity. 

This is where the customer's server racks are installed, which are supplied with reliable power and the highest quality fiber optic connections.

DC MAG
Find out more in the final report on the project in our issue 15 of DC MAG

Impressions of the successful finalization

After 13 test scenarios and a total of more than 150 test steps, the EN 50600-certified data center was connected to the grid with a real measured PUE value of 1.17* (Power Usage Effectiveness). There are three heat pumps for waste heat recovery in this data center. These provide cooling for the chilled water systems on the one hand and heat for the HVAC (air conditioning) and fan coils for the offices on the other.

A floor area of 7,800 square meters
A floor area of 7,800 square meters - planned gross floor area of 22,000 square meters -8000 square meters for the computer and server landscape that will be installed in around 3,300 racks. You can learn more about this in the following video.