Data center
Server rooms, data center infrastructure and backup
Server room design and buildouts, data center cabling, virtualization and backup and disaster recovery from WCC, for organizations that keep systems on-site or in colocation.
The short answer
WCC designs and builds server rooms, cables data centers, sets up virtualization and makes backups recoverable. A small 4 to 8 rack server room typically runs $50,000 to $150,000 built out, with larger redundant rooms priced by design.
What we deliver
Data center services, room to recovery
Most data center work today is refreshing aging rooms, consolidating sites, or deciding what stays on-site as more moves to the cloud. We start with the workloads and requirements, not a predetermined answer.
Server room design and buildout. Space, power, UPS and generator integration, cooling and containment, fire suppression, access control and monitoring.
Cabling. High-density copper and fiber with organized cable management.
Virtualization. VMware, Hyper-V and Nutanix, including planning around VMware licensing changes.
Backup and recovery. Immutable backups, recovery targets per system and tested runbooks.
Refresh and decommission. Server, storage and network refresh, with NIST 800-88 data destruction for retired gear.
Reliability
Data center tiers at a glance
| Tier | Design | Availability | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier I | Single path, no redundancy | About 99.67% | Small closets and branch rooms |
| Tier II | Redundant power and cooling components | About 99.74% | Small business server rooms |
| Tier III | Concurrently maintainable | About 99.98% | Mid-size enterprise rooms |
| Tier IV | Fault tolerant | About 99.995% | Financial, healthcare and federal systems |
Tiers as defined by the Uptime Institute.
Cost
What a server room costs
$50K–$150K
small server room, 4 to 8 racks
A 10 to 20 rack room with N+1 power and cooling commonly runs $150,000 to $500,000, and larger fault-tolerant rooms $500,000 to $2 million or more. Renovations usually take 2 to 6 months; new builds 4 to 9.
- Redundancy
- N+1 or 2N power and cooling multiplies equipment.
- Power density
- Higher kilowatts per rack need more cooling and electrical capacity.
- Fire suppression
- Clean-agent systems cost more than sprinklers but protect equipment.
- Existing building
- Electrical service, structure and roof access affect the scope.
- Monitoring and security
- Environmental sensors, access control and cameras add to the room.
Where workloads live
On-site, colocation or cloud?
On-site
Your own server room for regulated data, specialty hardware or latency-sensitive systems.
Fits manufacturing, labs and steady workloads
Colocation
Your hardware in a provider's facility, without running power, cooling and security yourself.
Fits teams leaving an aging server room
Cloud
Workloads in Azure or AWS, paid monthly, with no hardware to refresh.
Fits variable and new workloads
Why WCC
Why organizations choose WCC for data center work
A server room touches electrical, cabling, cooling, security and IT. We hold the licenses and skills to coordinate all of it.
Electrical and low voltage under one license. CSLB #819788 with C-10 electrical and C-7 low voltage classifications.
Cabling designed by an RCDD. Cable plants designed under a BICSI Registered Communications Distribution Designer.
Physical security included. We also install the access control and cameras that protect the room.
No predetermined answer. On-site, colocation or cloud, based on your workloads and costs.
Services
Data center services in detail
Server rooms by region and related services
Regional pages and related services from the team that builds these rooms.
FAQ
Data center questions
What does a server room buildout cost?
A small server room of 4 to 8 racks with a single UPS and cooling unit typically runs $50,000 to $150,000 including racks, cabling, power, cooling and monitoring. A 10 to 20 rack room with N+1 power and cooling commonly runs $150,000 to $500,000. Larger, fault-tolerant rooms run $500,000 to $2 million or more.
Should we keep servers on-site, use colocation or move to the cloud?
Most mid-size organizations end up hybrid. On-site or colocation fits regulated data, specialty hardware, latency-sensitive systems and steady workloads where cloud costs more. Cloud fits variable workloads and new applications. Colocation fits when you want your own hardware without running a server room.
What should we do about VMware licensing changes?
Since Broadcom acquired VMware in late 2023, perpetual licenses have ended and VMware is sold as subscription bundles, which raised costs for many customers. The options are to stay on VMware, move to another hypervisor such as Hyper-V or Nutanix AHV, move workloads to the cloud, or combine those. The right answer depends on your environment and renewal date. See virtualization.
What are data center tiers?
The Uptime Institute defines four tiers. Tier I has no redundancy. Tier II adds redundant power and cooling components. Tier III is concurrently maintainable, so equipment can be serviced without downtime, and is the usual target for mid-size enterprise rooms. Tier IV is fault tolerant and typical for financial, healthcare and federal workloads.
Why do backups matter so much for ransomware?
Ransomware attacks often succeed or fail on backups. Immutable or offline copies that are tested regularly make an attack recoverable; backups that attackers can reach or that were never tested can make it a disaster. See backup and disaster recovery.
How do you handle retired equipment?
Drives are wiped to NIST 800-88 standards or physically destroyed, assets are tracked, certificates of destruction are issued, and e-waste is handled under California rules.
Can you build a server room inside an existing building?
Yes. Most projects are renovations: a closet or office converted with dedicated cooling, power, fire suppression, access control and cabling, typically in 2 to 6 months.
Related
Related guides and services
Get a recommendation
Get a data center assessment
Tell us what you run today and what's driving the conversation, whether that's a refresh, a new room, VMware renewal or backup. We'll scope it under NDA.