GUIDE · BUYING

Colocation vs powered shell vs GPU cloud.

If you own the GPUs, you need colocation or a powered shell. If you don't, GPU cloud rents you both the hardware and the space. The right choice comes down to ownership, control, commitment and how soon you need to run.

LD Advisors · Updated October 24, 2026

SIDE BY SIDE

How the three compare.

ColocationPowered shellGPU cloud

Who owns the GPUsYouYouThe provider

Who builds the hallThe operator: you get racks, power and coolingYou fit out power distribution, cooling and racks in an energized buildingNobody on your side

Time to runDepends on space ready with your density and coolingLongest: fit-out starts after the shell is energizedFastest, when capacity is available

CommitmentA contract term, usually multi-yearA long-term lease, usually largerOn-demand to multi-year reserved

ControlYour hardware and network in the operator's facilityThe most: your design end to endThe least: the provider's hardware and stack

Usually fitsTeams with GPUs on order that want to own themMulti-MW deployments with an in-house infrastructure teamTeams that need compute now or don't want to own hardware

When colocation fits

You've bought or financed GPUs and need somewhere to run them that already has the power and cooling. For GB300-class racks, that means liquid cooling and well over 100 kW per rack, which rules out many existing halls. See what a GB300 rack needs.

When a powered shell fits

You're deploying at a scale where designing your own hall pays off, and you have the team to run construction and operations. You get the most control, but the timeline depends on fit-out after the building is energized.

When GPU cloud fits

You need to start now, your usage isn't steady yet, or you'd rather not own hardware. Some teams start in GPU cloud and move to their own hardware in colocation as their usage becomes predictable.

Where we help

LD Advisors finds and negotiates colocation and powered shell capacity for teams that own their hardware, from a single rack to 20 MW+. Tell us what you're deploying.

REQUEST CAPACITY

Tell us what you need to deploy.

We'll come back the same business day. Details stay under NDA, and we can take your requirement to operators anonymously.

Have capacity to fill? List your capacity

Got it. Your requirement is in.

We'll reply the same business day. If you'd like an NDA in place first, say so in your reply and we'll send ours.

That didn't go through. Email contact@ldadvisors.ai and we'll pick it up from there.