Team Introl wins Data Center World’s 2025 Rack & Stack Challenge

TL;DR — Team Introl captured the crown at Data Center World’s adrenaline‑charged Rack & Stack Challenge

What on earth is the Rack & Stack Challenge?

Every year, Data Center World (DCW) turns its expo floor into a live‑action lab where two‑person teams race to mount, cable, and power‑up a full server rack faster—and cleaner—than anyone else. Think “NASCAR pit crew,” but with PDUs and SAN arrays instead of tires and lug‑nuts

• 4 teams.

• Bracket‑style prelims on April 15, with finals on April 17 in the DCW Theatre. 

• Judged on speed, accuracy, and cabling aesthetics, with $250 gift cards for the champs. 

• Hardware supplied by sponsors like Martin International Enclosures (racks) and nVent (PDUs). 

DCW bills the competition as “the ultimate test of technical skills, teamwork, and efficiency”—perfect territory for Introl’s Get **it Done ethos.

Meet the Introl winning team

• Sergii T. – Lead field engineer & cable‑management perfectionist.

• Rafayel S. – Deployment specialist with the fastest torque‑wrench draw in the West.

• Mykola K. – Head of Field Services and master tactician (a.k.a. the coach).

Their mission: prove that the same elite precision we bring to 100,000‑GPU cluster roll‑outs applies when the stopwatch is running and cameras are rolling. 

How the competition played out

The Rack & Stack pit at Data Center World’s Expo Hall Theatre was already buzzing on Tuesday, April 15 when Sergii and Rafayel took to the start line.

Quarter‑final — 8 minutes

The competition kicked off, and the two‑person crews sprang into action. Sergii and Rafayel slotted rails and staged power cords, the duo moving with practised choreography. Eight minutes later their rack stood fully dressed and booted; the judges read out Introl’s tally 89 to the competition’s 85.

Semi‑final — clean run, opponent times out

With adrenaline still high, Sergii and Rafayel reset for the next day's semi-final. This time, they breezed through the rack and stack while the opposing team struggled to finish. The clock expired, Introl’s rack humming online, and the other side was still dark. No score needed, just a handshake and a spot in the final.

Final — 6 minutes and a first‑ever full completion

Crowds packed the Theatre again on Thursday, April 17, the slot DCW reserves to “crown the fastest Racker and Stacker.”    Fresh kits waited: seven devices, switches, network cable, and power cords supplied by event partners. At the whistle, rails snapped in, servers slid home, cables dressed, power landed, switches lit. It was fast, 6 minutes, but the team got it done. The only team to finish the championship course, and, as judges told Mykola, the first complete final‑round build in the competition’s history.

Mykola looked at the timer and summarized the impressive victory, “Imagine what we can do if we have more time.”

Why this win matters

• New competition record. Completing the final course set a new DCW benchmark and marked the first time the rack went fully live during the championship heat.

• Lightning‑fast go‑live for customers. The Rack & Stack Challenge mimics real‑world installs; topping the leaderboard proves our crews shorten the “racks‑are‑here” → “workloads‑are‑running” gap for every deployment. 

• Peer‑reviewed quality stamp. More than 3,000 data‑center pros and 250+ exhibitors were at DCW 2025, so the trophy doubles as an industry‑wide endorsement of Introl craftsmanship. 

• Faster AI outcomes. Cleaner, zero‑rework cabling means GPU clusters come online sooner, accelerating everything built on top of them, from model training to inference. 

• Talent magnet. Engineers want a stage for their skills; winning in front of the DCW crowd tells future recruits they’ll sharpen (and showcase) their craft here. 

High‑fives & handshakes

• Event gear MVPs — Martin International Enclosures, nVent, ZONIT, Revalize, OceanTech, and Securis supplied the racks, power, and kit that made the race possible. 

• AFCOM & Informa — for giving field engineers a spotlight as big as their skill‑sets by curating Data Center World. 

What’s next?

The trophy’s headed to HQ, but it won’t gather dust. As Mykola put it: “This hardware’s getting filled with something strong after hours—then we’re back to work.” Expect a behind‑the‑scenes video drop soon, plus deep‑dive posts on cabling best practices that won us those 89 points.

Until then, remember: when failure isn’t an option—whether you’re deploying 100 GPUs or 100,000 - Introl gets **it done.