Containment
Systems
Hot aisle, cold aisle, and hybrid containment for high-density data centers — engineered to structural standards and designed to work alongside liquid cooling.
Why Containment Matters — Even With Liquid Cooling
It might seem that liquid cooling makes containment redundant. In practice, the opposite is often true. Modern data centers operate in hybrid thermal environments — some racks fully liquid-cooled, others air-cooled or partially cooled — and containment remains essential for managing the residual heat that even liquid-cooled racks exhaust via rear-door heat exchangers and chassis-level air cooling.
Containment also provides the structural framework that supports overhead manifold runs, cable trays, and ceiling-level infrastructure. In a high-density liquid cooling deployment, the containment structure and the cooling structure must be co-designed — which is exactly why DCE Systems offers both.
Our containment systems are designed to AISC 360 Structural Steel standards and use ASTM-certified steel for all structural members, ensuring they can safely carry the overhead loads of manifolds, cables, and equipment over the full design life of the data center.
Three Containment Configurations
Hot Aisle Containment (HAC)
Encloses the hot exhaust aisle between two rows of racks, capturing hot air at the rear of equipment and directing it directly to CRAC/CRAH units or exhaust plenums. Hot aisle containment is particularly effective in high-density deployments where exhaust temperatures are elevated, preventing hot air recirculation and improving CRAC efficiency. Our HAC structures are designed to carry overhead manifold loads and integrate with structural ceiling grids where required.
Cold Aisle Containment (CAC)
Encloses the cold air supply aisle, preventing supply air from mixing with room air before entering server rack intake faces. Cold aisle containment is preferred in facilities with underfloor cooling or precision air conditioning, where maintaining cold aisle temperature setpoints is critical for equipment operation and warranty compliance. CAC structures can also serve as overhead infrastructure support frames for in-row liquid cooling CDU connections.
Hybrid & Mixed Deployments
Many modern data centers contain both liquid-cooled and air-cooled equipment, often in the same row. Hybrid containment solutions are designed for this reality — providing containment where needed while accommodating liquid cooling drop connections, quick-disconnect manifold taps, and varying rack heights. DCE Systems' experience with both containment and liquid cooling systems makes us uniquely positioned to design for these complex hybrid environments.
Structural Standards for Containment
Structural Design
All structural members, connections, and load-bearing elements in containment systems designed to AISC 360 Specification for Structural Steel Buildings. Load calculations and structural analysis documentation provided.
Structural Steel
Structural steel members to ASTM A36 standard. Material test certificates provided for all structural components. Traceability maintained from mill cert to installed element.
Structural Welding
Structural steel welding per AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code. Welder qualification and procedure qualification records maintained and available for audit.
Works With
Liquid Cooling
Containment and liquid cooling are not competing strategies — they are complementary. Containment structures in a liquid cooling deployment serve as the mounting and support framework for overhead manifold runs, CDU installation zones, and cable management. When both systems come from DCE Systems, they are co-designed from the start.
- Containment uprights sized to carry overhead manifold loads
- Pre-planned penetrations for QD connector drops into rows
- Coordinated installation sequence — containment first, then manifolds
- Single design authority for the complete overhead infrastructure
