Renegade Racking has recently completed a unique project for Applied Blockchain Inc. This project offered Renegade Racking a set of challenges— and opportunities to leverage our superb manufacturer relations, our efficiency, and our highly skilled implementation team. Our task was to outfit multiple warehouses—under active construction—with a unique, custom racking solution to house tens of thousands of HPC nodes. Renegade Racking was able to meet the needs of this project creatively and effectively, providing a successful and timely build for the customer.
Applied Blockchain Inc is a publicly traded company specializing in digital infrastructure. They coordinate with local utilities to ensure reliable access to power and avoid grid congestion. This allows them to provide their clients with access to high-performance data centers across the country. They also help build, maintain and service these next-generation digital infrastructure solutions for clients.
The customer had a unique requirement for this build. They needed a very tall and very narrow racking setup to accommodate a massive number of mining computers. Typically, racking of these specifications would need to be connected to both the floor and the ceiling. Installing the racking this way, however, would require additional support from the buildings’ structural engineer and may have obstructed other utilities in the space. Renegade Racking worked with engineers at Interlake Mecalux to design and approve a custom solution to eliminate the need for the racking to be connected to the ceiling. Instead of using traditional footplates, the racks would be held in place by a number of oversized footplates, which allowed us to meet the RMI (Rack Manufacturer Institution guidelines).
Once this design was approved by the customer, Renegade Racking coordinated with Interlake Mecalux and J&L Wiring and Cloth; to get this custom racking solution manufactured and ready to be implemented. The timing of this was crucial, as the customer had a number of electricians on standby, unable to begin work until the racking was in place. Fortunately, Renegade Racking has a strong relationship with its manufacturing partners and was able to arrange an exceptional outcome for the customer.
This implementation was another opportunity for Renegade Racking to showcase its flexibility and efficiency. By bringing our own team of installers, we were able to ensure their expertise on the materials and tasks and confidently set a timeline. Because the installation took place out of state, we had initially broken up the installation into 3 phases. We structured the installations so that one full building’s racking was completed at a time, massively reducing downtime for the customer’s team of electricians—each phase accounted for a certain number of completed buildings. Unlike a traditional racking installation, we were required to set up our racking in an active, unfinished construction site. To do this, we utilized a Telehandler, instead of the traditional forklift. Fortunately, with our team’s expertise in the materials and processes, this was an easy adaptation. So much so that when we returned for the second phase, we saw an opportunity to extend our stay by a short time and eliminate the need for a third phase. Ultimately, we were able to complete the project weeks ahead of the customer-provided schedule.
