Making Room for AI: A Playbook for Brownfield Data Centers
Dell, Tuesday, October 13th, 2026
Dell offers a phased playbook for preparing existing data centers for AI racks that draw over 10x the power.
Dell says AI is following cloud computing's path from public-first to hybrid, but faster, and most brownfield data centers are not ready.
AI racks draw more than 10x the power of traditional servers and increasingly need liquid cooling, so a hybrid cooling strategy matched to workload density is often most practical.
Dell recommends a phased approach of auditing facilities for constraints, optimizing workloads to free power and space, and designing a retrofit or new build when needed.