DRAWING NO. 001 — COMPLETE REFERENCE
The free book
every data centre
engineer needs.
33 chapters. 5 appendices. Power, cooling, commissioning, operations, incidents, and leadership — from the floor, for the floor. Written by a DC Ops Engineer with 10+ years in DC ops, with AI help, because knowledge should be free.
Free forever. No email required. A gift to the community.
What's inside
SECTION 01 — CONTENTSPART I–II
Foundations & Power
How the industry works, tiers and standards, the economics — then grid to rack: HV, switchgear, transformers, UPS, generators, redundancy topologies.
PART III
Cooling
Air, liquid, and the AI-density transition. CRAH to chip-level, containment, PUE/WUE, and what "liquid ready" actually means.
PART IV
Operations
Commissioning, preventive maintenance, incident command, change management (MOPs done right), monitoring, fire, physical and OT security.
PART V–VI
Leadership & Advanced
Building teams, SLAs, compliance, sustainability, disaster recovery, decommissioning, automation and AI in operations.
PART VII
Practical Reference
30 scenario-based drills, the career guide, and quick-reference tables you'll actually use on shift.
APPENDICES
The Toolkits
EN 50600 matrix, Uptime tier summary, country electrical-code comparison, sample PM schedules, sample IST scripts.
Why free?
SECTION 02 — PHILOSOPHYI started as a generator mechanic. No degree, no connections, just curiosity and the willingness to work the night shift. Everything I learned, I learned from people who shared what they knew — for free, on the job, in the moment.
This book is my way of paying that forward. The data centre industry is desperate for good engineers, and the best way to grow the pool is to make knowledge accessible to everyone — not just those who can afford a £50 textbook.
If this book helps you get promoted, pass an interview, or keep a facility alive at 3 AM, that's payment enough. If you want to say thanks, share it with someone who needs it.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 33 chapters
- 5 appendices
- 30 scenario drills
- 10+ years in DC ops
- 0 cost to you
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