Hi ,

It used to be that data centers were simply built with raised flooring. This was for several reasons: to allow for airflow, power and other cable routing, and flexibility during moves and changes. However, for most modern data centers, concrete floors, or slabs, have become a more common choice, with cables and even cooling running above rather than below.

First, let’s look at why some data centers might choose concrete floors or a slab rather than a raised floor during construction, including power density, cooling, and more.

First, today’s high power density data centers need a lot of cooling, and a raised floor may not be up to the task. New fresh air systems and “hot aisle” containment systems do a better job than air routing under the floor.

Second, data centers are getting larger and denser at the same time. Components are actually getting larger, and cables are getting thicker. As the need for storage capacity rises, so does the demand on a particular data center. These larger data centers need more sophisticated cooling, not to mention the ability to hold more weight than a raised floor.

Contrariwise, even smaller data centers often lack the space to add ramps on raised floors, making their application impractical. In compact spaces, it’s difficult to achieve the proper power density with a raised floor.

These are all good arguments for concrete floors in data centers, but does that mean raised floors don’t really have a place? Not really.