Data Center Storage Solutions in Utah

Colocation and server cages, rack enclosures, staging rack, spares shelving and modular NOC offices for Utah data centers — designed, supplied and installed from Salt Lake City. For the racking side in detail — staging versus spares zoning, crate loads and secure bays — see our data center equipment staging and critical spares racking guide.

Gray wire mesh colocation server cage enclosing racks on a raised floor in a data center

2,600 MW

Utah capacity permitted or under construction

25+ yrs

Serving Utah facilities

1/2″–2″

Mesh opening options

2–4 wks

Typical stock cage lead time

SolutionsColocation CagesSpecificationsAccess ControlUtah MarketProject PhasesDesign & InstallFAQs

Storage, Security and Support Equipment for Utah Data Centers

Row of wire mesh server cages securing equipment inside a data center white space
Wire mesh cages securing tenant equipment in a data hall

A data center is a building full of equipment that has to be received, staged, deployed, separated, secured and maintained — and almost none of that happens in the rack. It happens on the receiving dock, in the staging area, in the spares room, in the NOC, and along the cage lines that divide one tenant’s footprint from the next.

Material Handling USA is based in Salt Lake City and supplies that entire layer: wire mesh colocation and server cages, mesh enclosures on rack and equipment framing, pallet rack for staging hardware deliveries, shelving and drawer storage for critical spares, prefabricated offices for network operations and security desks, and lockers, tool cribs and build benches for the people who run the site.

We are a dealer for the manufacturers that data center operators already specify — SpaceGuard Products (BeastWire welded mesh and FordLogan woven wire) and WireCrafters (Style 840 wire partitions) — and because we are local, we can be on a Wasatch Front site for measurements the same week you call.

  • Salt Lake City based — same-week site visits across the Wasatch Front, no long freight legs
  • Free layout and design work, including CAD drawings from your floor plan and rack elevations
  • One source for cages, rack, shelving, offices, lockers and benches — one drawing set, one schedule
  • Quick-ship programs on stock cage, rack and shelving configurations
  • Installation coordinated with your general contractor, electrical contractor and change-control window
  • Multi-building, multi-phase campuses handled as a scheduled program instead of one-off orders

Data Center Storage Solutions We Supply

Six product families cover the vast majority of what a Utah data center buys, from the first contractor tool crib to the last tenant cage.

Freestanding welded wire mesh cage with a hinged locking door built inside a clean equipment roomColocation & Tenant CagesIndividual locked enclosures that give each colocation tenant a defined, auditable footprint. Welded or woven wire walls keep equipment visible and airflow unobstructed while physically separating one customer’s racks from the next — the physical-separation control that SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS and FISMA audits ask you to demonstrate.
Single-rack wire mesh enclosure surrounding a network cabinet in a communications closetSingle-Rack & Network Closet CagesSmall cages sized to one or two cabinets for MDF/IDF rooms, network closets and edge sites where a full room cannot be locked down. Panels are cut to the rack footprint plus service clearance, so a shared electrical or telecom room can still hold restricted equipment.
Wire mesh rack enclosure panels installed on pallet rack framing to secure stored equipmentRack Enclosures & Mesh GuardingMesh panels applied directly to pallet rack or equipment framing to close off a bay, a run of shelves or a spares aisle. The same panel system also guards switchgear, UPS rooms, generator yards and battery rooms inside the data center envelope.
Selective pallet rack bays used to stage palletized equipment deliveries in a warehouseEquipment Staging Pallet RackData centers receive servers, switches, PDUs and structured cabling in continuous palletized deliveries. Selective pallet rack with adjustable beam levels lets a receiving and burn-in area hold full pallets, half pallets and loose chassis without rebuilding the bay every quarter.
High-density industrial shelving with drawer modules for small spare parts and cablingSpares & Parts Room ShelvingDrives, optics, DIMMs, patch cords, fans and PSUs need a parts room, not a pile. Boltless and high-density shelving with drawer or bin modules keeps critical spares indexed and reachable when a replacement is needed inside an SLA window.
Prefabricated modular office building with windows installed inside an industrial shellModular NOC & Support OfficesPrefabricated in-plant offices build a NOC, a security desk, a shipping office or a break room inside the shell without pouring walls. They come apart and move when the white space expands into the area they occupy — something conventional construction cannot do.

Working from a floor plan already?

Send us the plan, the rack elevations and the tile grid and we will lay out cage lines, door swings and panel breaks, then return a drawing with a bill of material and pricing — at no charge. If you would rather rough it out yourself first, our free Security Cage Configurator builds the configuration and sends it straight to our team.

Request a Data Center Quote Open the Security Cage Configurator Call (800) 326-4403

Colocation Cages: What Tenant Separation Actually Requires

Blue framed wire mesh data center security cage enclosing server racks with a locking door
Framed mesh cage enclosing tenant racks with a locking access door

A colocation cage has one job: prove that a tenant’s equipment is in a defined space that only authorized people can enter. Everything about the way these cages are built follows from that.

The walls are wire mesh rather than solid panel so conditioned air, sprinkler discharge, clean-agent flooding, light and wireless signal pass through and the equipment stays visible for inspection. The fasteners are specified on the inside of the enclosure, so a cage cannot be unbolted from the aisle. Where the wall stops short of the deck, a flat or sloped mesh ceiling panel closes the top, because an open top is the first thing an auditor looks for.

Panels come in one-foot increments, which matters more than it sounds: a cage line can be made to land on the floor tile grid and at the end of a rack row instead of cutting a tile or losing a position. And because the system bolts together, a cage can be extended, subdivided or removed when a tenant grows or leaves — the reconfigurability is the reason operators use mesh instead of building walls.

The five things we check on every colocation cage

A closed top (mesh ceiling or deck-height wall); hardware only reachable from inside; a door with the access method your security team already uses; panel breaks aligned to the tile grid and rack rows; and clearance verified against sprinkler heads, containment doors and the egress path. Cage failures at audit are almost always one of those five.

Mesh and Frame Specifications

Two decisions drive the price and the security level of a cage: the mesh pattern and gauge, and the panel/frame system it is welded into. These are the published specifications from the manufacturers we supply.

Mesh option Product line What it is Where we specify it
2″ × 1″ woven, 10 gauge WireCrafters Style 840 Standard partition and server cage mesh — the highest-volume, most economical option Colocation cages, equipment rooms, general partitions
2″ × 2″ welded square, 10 gauge SpaceGuard BeastWire Fully welded panels up to 5′ × 10′, 1.87″ clear opening across the square Most common data center specification
2″ × 2″ welded square, 6 gauge SpaceGuard BeastWire Heavier wire in the same 2″ square pattern for higher attack resistance High-value equipment, controlled-access rooms
1″ woven / 1/2″ woven SpaceGuard BeastWire, WireCrafters Smaller openings so hands, tools and small items cannot pass through the wall Cages that must resist reach-through, small-parts storage
1-1/2″ diamond (UNI-MESH) SpaceGuard FordLogan Diamond mesh held inside the frame on both faces, so the wall looks finished from either side Tenant-facing and architecturally visible cages
Perforated carbon steel SpaceGuard BeastWire Sheet infill instead of wire where visual privacy is required Cages that should not display what is inside

Panel, Frame and Assembly

Element Specification Why it matters in a data center
Panel frame 1-1/4″ × 1-1/4″ × 1/8″ hot-rolled steel angle Slotted holes punched on 12″ centers so panels bolt to posts on a repeatable module
Standard panel sizes One-foot increments up to 5′ wide × 10′ high Lets a cage line up with rack rows and floor tiles instead of forcing a compromise
Stiffeners Flat bar welded behind the mesh on larger panels Keeps tall panels and wide doors from racking or bowing in service
Heights Post-stacked assemblies reach well above a single panel — BeastWire is published to 40′ Full-height cages in high-bay white space; partial-height where a mesh ceiling is used instead
Ceilings Flat or sloped mesh ceiling panels Closes the top of the cage where the wall stops short of the deck
Finish Three-stage wash plus factory powder coat; gray stocked, other colors available Matches an operator’s color standard across a multi-tenant hall
Hardware placement Fasteners specified on the inside of the enclosure A cage cannot be unbolted from the aisle side
Assembly Bolt-together panels, posts and carriage bolts — no cutting or grinding on site No metal dust or debris introduced into a live room’s air or cooling path

Verify before you order, not after

Panel modules, mesh options and maximum heights differ between product lines and change over time. We confirm the exact panel schedule, door sizes and hardware with the factory on every release, and we will put the specification in writing with your quote so your engineer and your auditor are looking at the same document.

Access Control on Data Center Cages

Technician in a hi-vis vest checking the locked access door of a data center server cage
Technician verifying the locked door of a data center cage

The cage is the perimeter; the door is the control. Wire partition doors are available as hinged single or double leaves and as sliding doors where a swing would block an aisle, and each can be fitted with the access method your security program already runs on.

For most colocation work that means an electric strike or magnetic lock tied to the card reader system, so entry produces the same log entry as any other controlled door. Where staff work inside a cage, we add a push-bar exit so egress never depends on finding a key, and a closer so the door cannot be propped. Keypads and biometric readers are used where credentials are not issued or where a specific person must be tied to an entry.

Access method What it gives you Typical use
Keyed cylinder or padlock Simple, low-cost, no power required Small equipment cages, spares rooms, contractor storage
Keypad / coded lock Access without issuing keys; codes can be rotated Shared network closets, staging cages
Card reader with electric strike or mag lock Credentialed entry with an auditable event log Colocation tenant cages, restricted halls
Biometric reader Ties entry to a person rather than a credential Highest-sensitivity cages and compliance-driven sites
Self-closing door with closer Door cannot be left standing open by accident Any cage a compliance auditor will inspect
Emergency exit push bar Free egress from inside the enclosure Cages large enough for staff to work inside

Tie a cage into your existing access control

Tell us the reader manufacturer and the door type and we will confirm the strike, mag lock and power requirements with the factory before anything is released for production — so your integrator is not improvising on site.

Request a Quote Compare Cage Lock Options Call (800) 326-4403

The Utah Data Center Market

Blue woven wire partition cage with a sliding door built inside a Utah equipment room
Woven wire partition cage with a sliding door in a Utah equipment room

Utah has become one of the busiest data center markets in the Mountain West, and the growth is concentrated in a handful of places: Salt Lake City, West Jordan, Bluffdale, Eagle Mountain and Delta. Reporting in 2026 put roughly 2,600 MW of capacity permitted or under construction — a pipeline several times the size of the state’s operating footprint, which is itself top-heavy, with the ten largest facilities accounting for close to 80% of capacity.

Individual projects give a sense of the scale. QTS topped out the third building of its Eagle Mountain campus in April 2026, with buildings in the 579,000–592,000 square foot range on a 193-acre site. Novva operates a 100-acre West Jordan campus at around 120 MW, and Aligned runs a multi-building Salt Lake campus in the 172 MW range.

Why operators keep choosing Utah

Factor What it means for a Utah data center project
Land at campus scale Eagle Mountain, West Jordan, Bluffdale and Delta offer parcels large enough for phased, multi-building campuses instead of single-building infill sites.
A deep fiber backbone Salt Lake City is a major interconnection point between the West Coast and the Mountain West, with conduit that dates to the I-15 reconstruction before the 2002 Olympics.
Power availability — the real constraint Rocky Mountain Power interconnection timing now drives project schedules, and several operators have delayed or re-sited campuses over it. Utility coordination is the long pole, not construction.
Water and permitting scrutiny New campuses are being approved with explicit water commitments and closed-loop or air-cooled designs, which changes mechanical layouts and the equipment rooms around them.
Seismic engineering Wasatch Front sites are designed and anchored for seismic loads, which is why cage, rack and shelving anchorage has to be reviewed by the project engineer rather than assumed.
A trained workforce Utah’s technology and construction base supplies the trades and operations staff a campus needs once the shell is closed in.

One caution on seismic anchorage

We supply cage, rack and shelving anchorage details and will provide the manufacturer’s published data, but seismic anchorage in Utah is an engineered condition that depends on the slab, the seismic design category and the specific installation. We never certify compliance ourselves — the project engineer of record signs that off.

What You Need at Each Phase of a Data Center Project

Requirements change completely between the shell going up and the first tenant moving in. Buying to the phase you are actually in prevents both the rushed order and the pallet of equipment that sits in a corner for a year.

Phase Equipment typically needed Who we usually work with
Construction & buildout Tool cribs, contractor storage cages, staging rack, modular site offices General contractor, site superintendent
Electrical & mechanical fit-out Mesh guarding for switchgear, UPS and battery rooms, equipment cages Electrical contractor, commissioning team
IT deployment Staging pallet rack, ESD-safe build benches, single-rack cages, parts shelving IT infrastructure and deployment teams
Colocation tenant buildout Tenant cages, mesh ceilings, locking doors, access-control integration Operator sales and facility engineering
Ongoing operations Spares room shelving, lockers, tool storage, maintenance cages Facility manager, critical-facilities team
Expansion Additional cages, panel runs, rack and shelving as halls come online Operator capital projects
Wire mesh tool crib enclosure with a lockable door used during a facility buildout
Lockable wire mesh tool crib used during a facility buildout

Buildout: contractor storage before there is a facility

During construction the problem is not tenants, it is tools, spare conduit, switchgear components and expensive material sitting in an open shell that dozens of trades walk through. A bolt-together mesh tool crib gives the general contractor a lockable room on day one, and it can be taken apart and reused as a spares cage once the building is turned over.

Modular site offices do the same for people: a trailer-free superintendent’s office, a security desk at the man door, and a break area inside the shell — all of which can later become the NOC or the shipping office rather than being demolished.

Industrial workbench with monitors and an anti-fatigue mat used as a hardware staging station
Workbench and monitor setup used for hardware staging and configuration

Deployment: staging, burn-in and build benches

Hardware deployment is a small factory. Pallets arrive, chassis are unboxed, firmware is flashed, rails and cable managers are fitted, and finished racks move to the hall. That work wants selective pallet rack with adjustable beam levels for mixed pallet and loose-chassis loads, plus static-safe workbenches with power, monitor arms and anti-fatigue matting where technicians actually build.

Getting staging right is what keeps the receiving dock from becoming the staging area — and keeps aisles in the white space clear during a deployment wave.

Design, Coordination and Installation

1

Site visit and measurement

We walk the space, measure the tile grid, rack rows, sprinkler heads, containment aisles and egress paths, and note the change-control constraints for live rooms.

2

Layout and drawing

You get a CAD layout with cage lines, panel breaks, door type and swing, ceiling coverage and a full bill of material — free of charge, and revised until it works for engineering and security.

3

Specification and factory confirmation

Mesh, gauge, panel schedule, door sizes, hardware and finish are confirmed with SpaceGuard or WireCrafters before release, including access-control components.

4

Delivery scheduled to the phase

Material is staged to each building and turnover date rather than dumped on site, which matters on multi-phase campuses where two buildings are in different stages at once.

5

Installation

Bolt-together assembly with no cutting or grinding, worked around your change-control window, with floor protection and a clean handover.

6

Expansion and reconfiguration

When a tenant grows, a hall comes online or a cage has to be subdivided, the same panels and posts are reused instead of replaced.

Installers working at the door opening of an orange bolt-together wire mesh enclosure
Bolt-together mesh enclosure being assembled at the door opening

Coordination is where data center projects go wrong

The technical decisions on a cage are usually straightforward. The failures are logistical: a cage line drawn under a sprinkler head, a door that swings into a containment aisle, panels delivered to a building that has not been turned over yet, or an installer arriving without a change-control ticket for a live room.

Because we sell, draw, deliver and install the same package, those handoffs happen inside one company. That is the practical argument for using a local supplier on a Wasatch Front campus rather than assembling three vendors and a freight schedule.

Gray woven wire mesh cage enclosing IT equipment with a full mesh ceiling panel above
Mesh cage with a full ceiling panel used for secured equipment storage

Operations: spares, tools and the people who run the site

Once a building is live, the equipment list shifts to the parts room and the staff areas. Drives, optics, DIMMs, patch cords, PSUs and fans belong in indexed shelving with drawer or bin modules, not in cardboard on the floor, because the whole point of a spare is that someone can find it inside an SLA window. High-density shelving is worth specifying where the spares room is small and the inventory is not.

Lockers give permanent staff, contractors and visitors a controlled place for personal items on a site where phones and bags are often restricted in the white space, and a mesh tool crib keeps facility tooling accounted for. These are small line items that get bought twice if they are not planned once.

Utah Data Center Storage FAQs

What storage and security products do Utah data centers actually buy?
In practice it is six things: colocation and tenant security cages, single-rack or network closet cages, mesh enclosures on rack and equipment framing, pallet rack for receiving and staging hardware, shelving for the spares and cabling room, and modular offices for the NOC, security desk and support space. Lockers, tool cribs and ESD build benches follow once the site is staffed and operating.
Do wire mesh cages meet SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS or FISMA requirements?
Those frameworks require you to restrict and record physical access to equipment, not a specific product. A locked mesh cage with a defined perimeter, hardware fastened on the inside, a mesh ceiling where the wall stops below the deck, and a credentialed door with an access log is the standard way operators demonstrate that control. We build to the control you have to evidence; your auditor determines whether your overall program satisfies the framework.
Will a cage restrict airflow, cooling, lighting or fire suppression?
No. That is the reason mesh is used instead of drywall or solid panels. Open wire walls let conditioned air, sprinkler discharge, clean-agent flooding, light and wireless signal move through the enclosure, and the equipment inside stays visible for inspection. Coordinate the cage line with the sprinkler layout and containment aisles at design time so a panel does not land under a head or block a containment door.
Can cages be installed inside a live data hall?
Yes. These systems bolt together from prefabricated panels, posts and carriage bolts, so there is no cutting or grinding and no metal dust introduced into the air or cooling path. Work is normally scheduled around change-control windows, with tools tethered, floor tiles protected and the aisle kept clear.
What mesh should we specify?
The most common data center specification is 2″ square welded mesh in 10 gauge, or 2″ × 1″ 10-gauge woven mesh on WireCrafters Style 840 partitions. Step up to 6-gauge welded mesh where attack resistance matters, drop to 1″ or 1/2″ woven mesh where nothing may pass through the wall, and use 1-1/2″ diamond mesh or perforated steel where the cage is tenant-facing or needs visual privacy.
How fast can you deliver in Utah?
Stock panel, post and door configurations typically ship in about two to four weeks, and quick-ship programs exist for common cage, rack and shelving sizes. Because we are based in Salt Lake City we can be on a Wasatch Front site the same week for measurements, so lead time is usually driven by the factory build, not by freight.
Do you serve data centers outside Salt Lake City?
Yes. We work across Utah — Salt Lake City, West Jordan, Bluffdale, Eagle Mountain, Lehi, Draper, Midvale, Ogden, Tooele, Provo and Millard County — and we ship nationwide. Multi-building, multi-phase campuses are handled as a scheduled program with deliveries staged to each building’s turnover date.
Can you design the layout from our drawings?
Yes, at no charge. Send the floor plan, the rack elevations and the tile grid and we will lay out cage lines, door swings and panel breaks, then return a drawing with a bill of material and pricing. You can also rough out a cage yourself in our free Security Cage Configurator and send the configuration to us.

Planning a Utah Data Center Project?

Send us your floor plan, rack elevations and phase schedule. We will return a cage and storage layout, a bill of material and installed pricing — and flag the sprinkler, egress and anchorage questions your engineer will ask before you buy.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT • Serving customers nationwide
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