Buyer guide · 5 min read
Is your data centre ready for a GB300 NVL72 rack?
A checklist for power, cooling, space and networking before ordering rack-scale GPU systems.
Illustrative infrastructure imagery
Why rack-scale is different
A GB300 NVL72 rack works as a single system of 72 GPUs. It draws 132–140 kW and requires direct liquid cooling – several times the load of a typical enterprise rack. Most existing rooms need changes before one can be installed.
Power
- Confirm available capacity per rack position, including redundancy.
- Check distribution: busway or PDU ratings, breakers and connectors for the rack's power shelves.
- Plan for future racks, not just the first one.
Cooling
You have three main options:
- In-rack CDU (up to 250 kW) using facility water.
- In-row CDU (up to 1.8 MW, serving up to 8 racks) for larger deployments.
- Liquid-to-air sidecar CDU (up to 200 kW) where facility water is not available.
Space and access
- Rack dimensions: 2236 × 600 × 1068 mm (H × W × D).
- Check floor loading for a fully populated liquid-cooled rack.
- Confirm doors, lifts and corridors along the delivery route.
Networking and operations
- Space and cabling paths for InfiniBand or Ethernet switching.
- Out-of-band management network and remote hands availability.
- Monitoring for coolant temperature, flow and leak detection.
We assess power, cooling and floor space with you before quoting, and can propose a liquid-to-air option if facility water isn't available.
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