Owning and colocating tends to fit
- Steady, high use of the same GPUs for years
- Full control of hardware, firmware, and configuration
- Hardware you have already bought or financed
- Security or compliance rules that favor owned equipment
YOUR GPUS. THEIR POWER AND COOLING.
GPU colocation.
A home for the hardware you own.
Buying your own GPU servers? Colocation gives them the power, cooling, and network they need, in someone else’s data center. Compare providers that publish high-density, liquid-cooled specs, and decide whether owning beats renting.
01 / OWN OR RENT
When owning
makes sense.
Colocation is not automatically cheaper than renting. It shifts the risk. You pay for the hardware up front, then for the space, power, and cooling that keep it running.
Renting tends to fit
- Short, uncertain, or bursty demand
- No appetite for up-front hardware spend
- Access to the newest GPUs without a hardware refresh
- No team to manage hardware failures and spares
Comparing against rental? See our GPU cloud pricing comparison, AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud GPU pricing, and bare metal GPU clusters.
03 / PROVIDERS THAT PUBLISH GPU-READY SPECS
Eight providers.
Published high-density specs.
Each of these colocation providers publishes a rack density of 100 kW or more, with liquid cooling, on its own website. Figures are the provider’s published maximums, not a promise for a specific suite.
Published density and coolingReviewed
Scroll the table horizontally to see cooling details and official sources.
| Provider | Published density | Cooling and notes | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aligned | 350 kW or more of heat rejection per rack with liquid cooling, and 600 kW or more with extreme-density liquid plus air. | DeltaFlow liquid cooling works with direct-to-chip cold plates, rack-mounted CDUs, and immersion. Its Delta³ air system supports up to 50 kW per rack. | Cooling |
| CyrusOne | Up to 300 kW per rack with its Intelliscale design. | Liquid-to-chip, rear door heat exchangers, and immersion. Confirm which sites offer Intelliscale capacity. | Intelliscale |
| Vantage | 250 kW or more per rack at its planned Frontier campus in Texas. Existing campuses list more than 50 kW per rack with liquid-to-rack cooling. | Frontier is a planned campus. Confirm its delivery timeline, and the density available at other campuses today. | Frontier Power |
| Digital Realty | From 30 kW up to 150 kW per cabinet. | Air-assisted liquid cooling and direct liquid cooling. The high-density framework spans 170 sites across 33 markets. Confirm the density offered at your target site. | High-density colocation |
| Flexential | Up to 150 kW or more per cabinet at Hillsboro 5, in the Portland market. | Liquid-ready infrastructure at that site. Other Flexential sites may publish different limits. | Hillsboro 5 |
| TierPoint | Rack densities in excess of 130 kW. | Direct-to-chip and liquid-air cooling for customer-owned AI hardware. | AI colocation |
| STACK | Up to 100 kW per rack with direct-to-chip liquid cooling. It also describes 300 kW or more with immersion as a future option. | Also lists up to 30 kW with air and up to 50 kW with rear door heat exchangers. | AI-ready capabilities |
| CoreSite | More than 100 kW per cabinet with liquid cooling, as deployed for a GPU cloud customer at its Chicago CH2 facility. | An NVIDIA DGX-Ready Data Center partner, naming LA3, SV9, CH2, and VA3 as locations for NVIDIA AI deployments. | Chicago CH2 DGX-Ready |
Examples for evaluation, not an exhaustive directory. Listing a provider does not imply a reseller relationship or guaranteed access to capacity. Published maximums describe what a provider can support, not confirmed availability for your project. Ask each provider to confirm usable power, cooling, location, and delivery date in its proposal.
04 / YOUR COLOCATION BRIEF
Bring a clear brief.
Get comparable proposals.
Share these details with an advisor, even if some are still estimates.
Hardware and power
- Server model, count, and loaded rack weight
- Expected and peak kW per rack
- Total IT load at launch and at full build
- Power redundancy you need
- Cooling method, and who owns the CDU and water loop
Network and operations
- Network between servers, carriers, and cloud on-ramps
- Cross-connects and bandwidth
- Delivery, staging, burn-in, and remote hands
- Target market, move-in date, and ramp schedule
- Rights to expand in adjacent space
Provider capabilities and availability change. Request confirmation for your market and dates. Provider sources checked .
LET’S FIND YOUR WAY FORWARD
Your next move
starts with a conversation.
Meet with an advisor to compare colocation for the GPUs you own with renting capacity, and agree on the next step for your project.
Our advisory services are free to you. We’re compensated by whichever provider you choose through us.
YOUR GPU COLOCATION CONSULTATIONBring your questions.
Bring your questions.
We’ll bring perspective.
A few details help us make the most of your time:
- The GPU servers you own or plan to buy
- Expected kW per rack and total load
- Target market and move-in date
- Budget range or an existing proposal
Book securely on Calendly. Times appear in your time zone.
Prefer to call? 844-506-2299
GPU COLOCATION QUESTIONS
Before you
move hardware in.
Bring your hardware plan or an existing quote.
Meet with an advisor
What is GPU colocation?
You own the GPU servers. A colocation provider supplies the space, power, cooling, security, and network connections in its data center. You or your team manage the hardware and software.
How much power does a GPU rack need?
It depends on the servers and how many share a rack. NVIDIA lists the H100 SXM at up to 700 W each, so an eight-GPU server’s GPUs alone can draw up to 5.6 kW. Ask your hardware vendor for sustained and peak figures, then confirm the provider can deliver that per rack.
Do GPU racks need liquid cooling?
Many do, especially at high densities. Every provider above publishes a liquid cooling option. Ask which method your racks will use, and who maintains it.
Is colocation cheaper than renting GPUs?
Not automatically. Owning can cost less when you use the same GPUs heavily for years. Renting avoids up-front hardware spend and suits uncertain demand. Compare the total cost over the hardware’s working life, including power, space, support, and refresh.
What does your advisory service cost?
Our advisory services cost you nothing. We’re compensated by whichever provider you choose through us. You pay the provider for your infrastructure and services, with no obligation to choose a provider.