Northern Virginia deployment crews
We have taken 100 empty racks to powered on in Ashburn.
Deployment crews for Ashburn, Sterling and the surrounding Northern Virginia facilities. Full room builds, GPU and high density compute, network, power and structured cabling we design as well as install. A local technician handles smaller tasks between builds.
100 racks in about a week GPU deployments References on request
Northern Virginia projects
Two builds, with the crew sizes attached.
Both are under NDA, so the customers and the buildings are not named. The scope, the crew and the timeline are exactly as they happened, and we can put you in touch with references.
100 racks, empty to powered on, about a week
The room started as 100 empty cabinets. Four technicians racked hundreds of servers and 200 switches and routers, cabled the room, and brought it up. Roughly 25 racks per technician week.
25 racks of GPU infrastructure, under a week, two technicians
GPU compute, network gear, PDUs and servers, with the structured cabling designed by us and then installed by us. Around half the throughput per technician of the Ashburn build, which is what dense hardware and a cable plant of your own design costs you.
The two figures are different on purpose. GPU and high density hardware is heavier, deeper and less forgiving than standard 1U compute, and designing the cable plant as well as installing it is work that happens before anyone touches a rack. A vendor quoting identical throughput for both has probably only done the first kind.
Scope
What a Virginia engagement covers.
Cabinets and room builds
Cabinets levelled, bonded and populated, up to complete rooms handed over powered and labelled.
Servers and GPU systems
Volume compute, and GPU and high density hardware where weight, depth and rail work decide whether it goes in cleanly.
Switches, routers and fabric
Racked, cabled and brought up, configured as well when that is what you need.
PDUs and distribution
PDU installation and whip dressing, circuits balanced across feeds rather than filled in arrival order.
Structured cabling, designed and installed
We have designed cable plant for a Sterling deployment and then installed it ourselves. We will work from your drawing instead if you have one.
Smaller tasks between builds
A technician in Northern Virginia for straightforward work, four hour minimum. Heavy installation is deployment crew work.
Why bring a crew in from Boston.
It is a fair question, and the honest answer is that for a two hour task you should not. The two day minimum exists because travel only makes sense above a certain size.
- We run this infrastructure for a living. Axcelx has operated datacenter infrastructure since 1997 and runs its own network under AS33083. Our technicians work in datacenters as their job, not as a dispatch assignment.
- We design as well as install. Most deployment crews execute a drawing someone else produced and discover the problems in the cabinet.
- Crew sizes are quoted against the scope, not padded. The Sterling build needed two people, so it got two people.
- Rate and travel in writing first. No emergency surcharge, no same day dispatch fee, no discovering the number afterwards.
Before we can start
Facility access is granted per customer rather than per building, so this has to be in place before the first day.
- Our technicians added to your access list
- Hardware list and rack elevations if you have them
- An on site contact we can call
- Delivery and dock arrangements confirmed
Straight answers
Northern Virginia deployment questions.
Have you actually deployed in Ashburn and Sterling?
Yes, on more than one occasion. The customers and the buildings are under NDA so we do not name them, but we can introduce you to references on request. One Ashburn build took 100 empty racks to powered on in about a week with four technicians. One Sterling build was 25 racks of GPU infrastructure in under a week with two.
Can you deploy GPU and AI hardware?
Yes. On the Sterling deployment we racked GPU compute along with the network gear, PDUs and servers around it, and designed and installed the structured cabling. This hardware is heavier and denser than standard compute and it punishes rushed rail work, so it is worth asking any vendor what they have physically handled before you hand them a room.
Do you have anyone local, or does a crew travel in?
Both. Deployment crews travel in for builds, which is where the bulk of our Virginia work sits. We also have a technician in Northern Virginia for smaller tasks between deployments, with a four hour minimum. That technician handles straightforward work rather than heavy lifting, which is what the deployment crew is for.
What is the minimum engagement?
Deployments carry a two day minimum, 16 hours of crew time, because a crew travels to site. Smaller tasks handled by our local Northern Virginia technician have a four hour minimum and are limited to straightforward work rather than heavy installation.
How is this priced?
The hourly rate depends on the facility, because access rules, escort procedures and dock arrangements change how long the same work takes in different buildings. Travel is quoted case by case, since the figure depends on how many technicians the scope needs. Both numbers are in writing before anyone is dispatched, and there is no emergency surcharge or same day dispatch fee.
How quickly can you be on site?
That depends on the scope, the crew size it needs and your facility access process. Tell us the date you are working towards and we will tell you honestly whether we can meet it rather than quoting you a number we cannot hold.
What do you need from us before you arrive?
Our technicians added to your access list at the facility. Access is granted per customer rather than per building, so it has to be in place before we can get in. Beyond that, the hardware list, the rack elevations if you have them, and whoever we should call on site.
Do you work anywhere else?
Massachusetts and New Hampshire are our home region, where we have run multiple 100 rack deployments and hold our own colocation space. We are in Charlotte regularly for our own infrastructure at Segra CLT2.
Planning a build in Ashburn or Sterling?
Send the hardware list, the facility and the date you are working towards. We will tell you the crew size, the timeline and the travel cost before anyone commits to anything.