Europe Data Center Rack Market

The solutions segment leads the Europe data center rack market as operators prioritize integrated rack infrastructure to address compliance requirements, rising power density, and tighter coordination of power and cooling. To meet these needs, data centers throughout Western and Northern Europe have been investing in closed, open-frame, and containment systems to enable refurbishment-based builds, multi-tenant colocation environments, and the enforcement of safety-related requirements through local laws and regulations. The continued movement toward standardized, modular rack ecosystems that enable repeatable deployments is in line with current regulations and provides a uniform experience across multiple countries where data center operators operate. This trend continues to drive spending on solution-based purchases and further reinforces comprehensive rack platforms as the primary area of investment among data center operators across all of Europe.

The European data center rack market is seeing accelerated adoption of open-frame racks as an efficient option for operators at edge sites, in network rooms, or in technical facilities within commercial or colocation applications. Adoption is driven by growth in edge connectivity, expansion of regional internet exchanges, and the completion of digitalization of industrial businesses in smaller cities across Europe. The simplicity, unobstructed airflow, and flexibility to add capacity make open-frame racks a good option for deploying facilities while considering space and budget constraints.

Installation and deployment services are increasingly important in Europe's data center rack market as operators manage complex build programs across brownfield sites and distributed colocation campuses. Many data centers require precise placement of racks within existing floor layouts, with individual containment systems and electrical distribution paths. Deployment partners often coordinate multiple phases of installation, validate rack stability and accessibility, and ensure successful transitions to new owners/run within tight operating timeframes. As operators in Europe continue to place significant emphasis on service continuity and compliance with country-specific installation standards, deployment services will be required to facilitate fast turnaround times for new data centers while maintaining service continuity in live environments.

Server racks are expanding at the fastest pace in the European data center rack market as hyperscalers, colocation operators, and regulated enterprises scale compute-intensive environments. The growth of cloud computing platforms, sovereign workloads, and enterprise applications that are heavily reliant on data in the largest European cities is creating a need for racks that can support higher loads, provide controlled airflow, and feature robust power distribution. This is leading to an increasing number of these racks being adopted across Europe for multi-tenant and compliance-driven facilities.

Because they comply with the relevant floor-loading limitations, ceiling heights, and fire-safety regulations for colocation, enterprise, and hyperscale facilities, 42U and smaller racks dominate European data center rack sales. They are ideal for refurbishment projects or mixed-density deployments because they support safe equipment access, structured cabling, and predictable airflow. In addition, operators prefer this format because it helps them keep their multi-country portfolios standardized and makes it easier to certify, maintain, and run them over the long term.

The 23-inch rack-width segment is growing fastest in the European data center market as telecom and network-based data centers expand their 5G core infrastructure, internet exchanges, and cross-border networks. Wider racks enable higher port density, better cable management, and improved airflow for carrier-grade telecommunications equipment. The growth of edge aggregation sites, cloud interconnection, and cross-European network backbones is also driving increased use of 23-inch formats in Europe.

By data center size, small and mid-sized facilities are expected to grow the fastest in the Europe data center rack market as capacity expansion increasingly shifts beyond large hyperscale campuses into localized and regional deployments. Growth will be driven by the need for a sovereign cloud, edge computing, and low-latency in-country enterprise processing. As more of these facilities come online quickly, operators are adopting modular designs and standardized rack infrastructure to facilitate quicker rollouts, easier regulatory compliance, and ongoing capacity expansion without extensive redesigns.

By data center type, on-premises/enterprise facilities are expected to capture the largest share of the Europe data center rack market. This predominance is driven by strict data security laws, distinct sector-specific compliance regulations, and the widespread use of hybrid IT solutions, which are prompting companies to invest in owned data centers. In addition to enterprises upgrading their existing buildings to host sensitive, mission-critical applications, these factors continue to drive demand for standardized, compliant, and long-lifecycle rack infrastructure.

The healthcare sector is one of the fastest-growing verticals in the data center rack market across Europe, as the digital transformation of health continues to expand, affecting hospitals, research organizations, and national health systems alike. As electronic health records, medical imaging, and connected-care systems expand, so do the needs for both in-house and regional data centers, with standard racks supporting high-density computing, secure storage, and resilient power and cooling. The stringent requirements for protecting, maintaining the availability of, and complying with regulations for patient data contribute to the ongoing capital investment needed to support dedicated rack infrastructure in the European healthcare sector.