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Data Centers
Pre-tested IT modules: the steel, the envelope and the provisions, engineered around your rack layout.
- 2,000 kg/m² floors
- ISO 12944 C4-H / C5-M
- A1 mineral wool
- factory-tested before dispatch
An edge or modular data centre lives inside a steel shell that has to carry rack loads, keep water out for twenty years, take cable and cooling penetrations exactly where the integrator wants them, and arrive tested. Tanax builds that shell. The IT, the cooling plant and the fire suppression are yours or your integrator's; the enclosure, the structural floor, the coating system and the provisions are ours.
Specification
Shell
- Base
- new one-way ISO 1CCC / 1AAA high cube, CSC re-inspected with new plate
- External
- 6,058 / 12,192 / 13,716 × 2,438 × 2,896 mm
- Structure
- EN 1090-1 EXC2, welded EN ISO 3834-2, ISO 9001
- Corner castings
- ISO 1161 retained, forklift pockets, stackable
Floor
- Distributed load
- 2,000 kg/m² standard
- Point load
- 5,000 kg per pair of rack feet, locally reinforced
- Cross-members
- C 180 × 70 × 5 at ≤ 300 mm pitch (a standard container is ~460 mm)
- Deck
- 6 mm S355 welded tight, no plywood; forms a liquid-tight tray
- Uprated option
- 3,000 kg/m² available
Envelope
- Insulation
- 100 mm mineral wool, Euroclass A1, λ ≈ 0.035 W/m·K
- Internal lining
- 0.8 mm galvanised sheet on a supporting grid
Coating
- Preparation
- blast to Sa 2.5 per EN ISO 8501-1
- System
- Zn-epoxy 80 µm + epoxy MIO 120 µm + PU 60 µm = 260 µm
- Durability
- ISO 12944 C4-H / C5-M, high durability category
Provisions
- HVAC openings
- 2 (20 ft) or 4 (40 / 45 ft), framed and hooded, ready for your units
- Cable transits
- HV/LV transit plate with sealed glands
- Doors
- insulated personnel door with anti-panic hardware
- Other
- earthing points, data plate, CSC plate, inspection protocol
Specification
Shell
- Base
- new one-way ISO 1CCC / 1AAA high cube, CSC re-inspected with new plate
- External
- 6,058 / 12,192 / 13,716 × 2,438 × 2,896 mm
- Structure
- EN 1090-1 EXC2, welded EN ISO 3834-2, ISO 9001
- Corner castings
- ISO 1161 retained, forklift pockets, stackable
Floor
- Distributed load
- 2,000 kg/m² standard
- Point load
- 5,000 kg per pair of rack feet, locally reinforced
- Cross-members
- C 180 × 70 × 5 at ≤ 300 mm pitch (a standard container is ~460 mm)
- Deck
- 6 mm S355 welded tight, no plywood; forms a liquid-tight tray
- Uprated option
- 3,000 kg/m² available
Envelope
- Insulation
- 100 mm mineral wool, Euroclass A1, λ ≈ 0.035 W/m·K
- Internal lining
- 0.8 mm galvanised sheet on a supporting grid
Coating
- Preparation
- blast to Sa 2.5 per EN ISO 8501-1
- System
- Zn-epoxy 80 µm + epoxy MIO 120 µm + PU 60 µm = 260 µm
- Durability
- ISO 12944 C4-H / C5-M, high durability category
Provisions
- HVAC openings
- 2 (20 ft) or 4 (40 / 45 ft), framed and hooded, ready for your units
- Cable transits
- HV/LV transit plate with sealed glands
- Doors
- insulated personnel door with anti-panic hardware
- Other
- earthing points, data plate, CSC plate, inspection protocol
How it is built
The decisions behind the numbers
Tanax has not yet delivered a completed data-centre module. It has delivered the engineering that one is made of: structural floors, C4-H coating systems, cable transit plates, HVAC frames, ISO-compliant modified shells, under other programmes. This page says exactly that. It converts better than a claim that does not survive a site visit.
The floor is the product.
A standard container floor is plywood on cross-members at roughly 460 mm centres. That is fine for cargo and useless under a rack. Tanax replaces it: C 180 × 70 × 5 cross-members at 300 mm or less, decked with 6 mm S355 welded tight. Two consequences. First, 2,000 kg/m² distributed and 5,000 kg per rack-foot pair. Second, the deck is liquid-tight, so a coolant leak or a suppression discharge stays inside the module.
The coating decides the twenty-year cost.
260 µm in three layers over a Sa 2.5 blast. That is ISO 12944 C4-H to C5-M, high durability. It is materially more expensive than a two-coat system and it is why the module is still a module after two decades outdoors.
Mineral wool, not PIR, and that is deliberate.
PIR gives a better lambda per millimetre. It is also combustible. In an enclosure full of energy the reaction-to-fire class matters more than the last few percent of thermal performance, so the default is 100 mm A1 mineral wool. PIR is available on request where the thermal number is the binding constraint.
Provisions, not plant.
Tanax frames and hoods the openings, plates and glands the cable routes, fits earthing points and mounting positions, and tests the shell. The cooling units, the PDUs, the racks and the suppression system come from you or your integrator and drop into positions that already exist. That split keeps responsibility clean and keeps the price defensible.
Passthrough or non-passthrough changes the product.
A passthrough module has a service aisle, internal lighting, escape hardware and a personnel door. A non-passthrough module has doors along its full length and no aisle, so racks fill the entire volume. It is about six percent of the price on a 20 ft, more on longer units, and it is the first question to settle.
Configurations
Variants and where to find them in the catalogue
- No photograph yet
- No photograph yet
Uprated floor variant
- 3,000 kg/m² distributed, for high-density racks
Shell only, integrator fit-out
- delivered blasted, coated, insulated, plated and tested
Build detail
What the detail photography shows
Modified shells staged in the yard
Visualisations
Renders and drawings, labelled as such
Design drawingDesign drawingSide elevation of a modified container 
Design drawingDesign drawingSide elevation with dimensions 
VisualisationVisualisationTechnology container concept
Standards
What we build to and what we issue
- ISO 668:2020 Amd 1
- EN 1090-1 EXC2
- EN ISO 3834-2
- ISO 12944
- EN ISO 8501-1 / ISO 2808
- EN 13501-1
- CSC 1972
| Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|
| ISO 668:2020 Amd 1 | Dimensions and designation |
| EN 1090-1 EXC2 | Steel structure execution |
| EN ISO 3834-2 | Welding quality |
| ISO 12944 | Coating durability categories |
| EN ISO 8501-1 / ISO 2808 | Surface preparation and coating thickness |
| EN 13501-1 | Reaction to fire of the insulation, class A1 |
| CSC 1972 | Safety approval after modification |
Documentation issued
Structural calculation for the floor as built, coating specification and measured thickness report, insulation reaction-to-fire declaration, dimensional inspection, CSC plate and certificate, as-built penetration drawing.
Proof
Deployments with a number in them
- 01
2,000 kg/m² floor with 5,000 kg point loads
Engineered and priced from the bottom up, material at purchase cost plus co-operation plus direct hours at a fully absorbed rate, for a global electronics manufacturer's technology-container programme.
Read the case study - 02
260 µm three-layer coating system
To ISO 12944 C4-H, already in production use on Tanax's modified ISO work.
- 03
200 units per year
Modelled as an achievable ramp from month nine, at roughly 44 % of available production capacity in the 20 ft configuration.
Scope
What the price includes, and what it does not
Included
- Shell
- Structural floor
- Insulation and lining
- Coating system
- Framed and hooded openings
- Cable transit plates
- Doors and hardware
- Earthing
- Data and CSC plates
- Structural calculation
- Inspection protocol
Not included
- Racks and IT equipment
- PDUs and internal electrical distribution
- Cooling and ventilation units
- Fire suppression and its certification
- Delivery to site
- Third-party structural review beyond our own calculation
If we have not built exactly this before, we will say so and tell you what we have built that is closest. Two prototype programmes in this factory were delivered below cost because nobody said that early enough. We do not do that any more, to you or to us.
Lead times
By variant
| Variant | Lead time |
|---|---|
| Prototype / first article | 10-12 weeks from order and drawing approval |
| Months 1-3 of a serial programme | 4-6 units per month |
| Months 4-8 | 8-12 units per month |
| From month 9 | 17 units per month, 200 per year |
Engagement
Four ways to buy
Buy a catalogue unit
Pick from 94 published SKUs with full specifications, get a price, get a delivery date.
Modify a catalogue unit
Start from a standard shell and change what needs changing. Fastest route to a non-standard requirement.
Build to your specification
You bring the specification or the drawings, we review them, we build. Prototype and serial priced separately.
Subcontract fabrication
You are the prime, we are the hall. EN 1090-1 EXC2 capacity with AQAP 2110 assurance behind it.
Process
Specification to delivery in five steps
- 01
Send the specification.
A drawing, a tender annex, or three sentences. Whichever you have.
- 02
Review, in writing.
We tell you what is missing or contradictory before anyone quotes. 3-5 working days.
- 03
Quotation.
Bottom-up: material at purchase cost, co-operation, direct hours at a fully absorbed rate. 2-3 weeks for a complex build.
- 04
Design freeze and build.
Changes after freeze are variations, priced and agreed.
- 05
Test, document, deliver.
Factory acceptance where specified, full document pack, delivery and installation where quoted.
FAQ
Questions procurement asks
Have you built a data-centre container before?
Not a completed one. We have built every part of it, structural floors, C4-H coating systems, transit plates, HVAC frames, modified ISO shells with re-issued CSC, under other programmes. We say so up front.
What floor loading do I need?
Tell us the rack weight, footprint and foot positions and we will calculate it, including transport and, where the site requires it, seismic cases. 2,000 kg/m² is our starting point.
Do you supply cooling?
No. We frame, hood and seal the openings and provide the mounting points. The units are yours.
Why mineral wool?
Reaction to fire class A1. In an energy-dense enclosure that matters more than the last few percent of lambda.
Can you hold the price on a long programme?
On volumes above about 200 units a year we recommend fixing price with an indexation clause tied to steel, because material is around 39 % of the cost.
Send us the specification. A drawing, a tender annex, or three sentences.
You will get a written review of it inside a week, whether or not you buy anything.
Where to go next
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