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OVH’s “Container Cube” was a data center in Strasbourg, France, built from 12 shipping containers stacked three high in two rows. Data Center Knowledge reported that the facility opened in early 2012 and used outside air drawn through server racks, with fans exhausting heated air into an open central space.
What was OVH’s Container Cube?
It was OVH’s container-based data center in Strasbourg, designed to make a modular facility that could be assembled more quickly than a conventional building. The June 13, 2012 report from Data Center Knowledge described 12 containers arranged in two rows, with three containers stacked vertically in each row. The containers housed server racks.
The project drew on elements of OVH’s earlier “Cube” design and technological work at its Roubaix 4 facility. The report says OVH was inspired by container-based student housing in Amsterdam, adapting the idea to data center infrastructure.
How did the Strasbourg facility cool its servers?
Data Center Knowledge described a direct airflow route: outside air entered through louvers in the exterior wall, passed through the server racks, and was pulled out of the IT corridor by large fans positioned behind the racks. The fans discharged the heated air into the facility’s open center.
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This is a description of the reported airflow arrangement, not a measured comparison of cooling efficiency. The article gives no energy-use, performance, or cost figures for the Strasbourg site.
Why did OVH choose Strasbourg and containers?
OVH’s stated reasons combined location and construction flexibility. The report attributed the explanation to Lionel Deny, then the company’s data centre operations manager: Strasbourg would put the company closer to customers in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly Germany, while keeping the facility in France and near its fiber routes.
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- Save valuable floor space: 12U wall mount server cabinet Dimensions: 24.25" H x21.65" W x17.72" D. MAXIMUM MOUNTING DEPTH is 14.2".
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- Easy equipment configuration: Fully adjustable mounting rails and numbered U positions, with square holes for easy equipment mounting with top and bottom punchout panels for easy cable access
- Durability: Made of high quality cold rolled steel holds up to 110lb (50kg) (Easy Assembly Required)
- PCI & HIPPA and EIA/ECA-310-E compliant
Deny also described the site as a practical place for a modular build, noting that the selected land had been a parking lot. Data Center Knowledge quoted him saying the goal was “to obtain a modular building and have it be especially quick to implement.” He characterized the result as simpler and ready to use: “we take boxes that we put together, and voilà!”
How long did the project take?
According to the 2012 report, OVH spent two years perfecting the design and built the Strasbourg facility in six months. The company hoped that later deployments might take four or five months. That shorter schedule was a forecast reported at the time, not a verified result for a subsequent data center.
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What the report does—and does not—establish
The available account documents the project’s reported container count, arrangement, airflow concept, location rationale, and schedule. It does not establish whether this design was cheaper, more energy-efficient, or higher-performing than other data center approaches, nor does it provide measurements that would support those comparisons.
The facility details and Deny quotation here are attributed to Data Center Knowledge’s June 13, 2012 article; they have not been independently confirmed against an accessible primary OVH project page.
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