Additional specifications
Compute capacity	Can support over 7,000 compute nodes or 24,000 large-form-factor (LFF) hard drives, up to 1.3 megawatts up to 30kW per rack
Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) rating	POD 20c and 40c: 1.25; POD 240a: 1.05 to 1.4, depending on IT load and location
Cooling method	POD 20c and 40c: water cooled; POD 240a: HP Adaptive Cooling Technology (air cooled)

The HP Performance Optimized Data center (POD) is a range of three modular data centers: the HP POD 20c, HP POD 40c and the HP POD 240a. These integrated data centers are housed in purpose-built modules similar to a standard shipping container (which the original PODs were made from) of either 20 feet or 40 feet in length; in the case of the 240a, they are multiple modules connected together. The data centers are shipped preconfigured with racks, cabling and equipment for power and cooling. They can support technologies from HP or third-parties. The PODs are built-to-order and ship within six weeks of a customer's order; they are fully configured and tested to customer’s specifications in HP’s Factory Express and PODWorks facilities. The capacity of the PODs is the equivalent of up to 10,000 square feet of typical data center capacity depending on the POD. PODs can support more than 7,000 compute nodes or 24,000 large-form-factor (LFF) hard drives in a single POD. The HP POD 40c and HP POD 20c both use chilled water to cool the servers, storage and network equipment inside the POD. The HP POD 240a uses a combination of direct expansion air cooling with air-side economization that allows the use of outside air when conditions permit.

HP says most customers purchase PODs as an expansion or replacement of their existing data center. HP also notes that modular data centers have a lower operating cost due to the energy efficiency of the design. HP estimates that the HP POD 240a requires 88% less space than a traditional data center.

HP POD 240a

The HP POD 240a (nicknamed "EcoPOD") was launched in June 2011. It can be configured with two rows of (44) 50U IT racks (of 22 racks per side). That could house 4,400 server nodes of typical size, or 7,040 server nodes of the densest size. HP has claimed that the typical brick and mortar data center required to house this equipment would be 10,000 square feet of floor space and deliver a power density of between 6 and 8 kilowatts per 42U rack.

HP has claimed that the POD 240a has "near-perfect" energy efficiency. HP says it has recorded estimated Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) ratios of 1.05 to 1.4, depending on IT load and location. The perfect efficiency is a PUE of 1.0. According to a data center industry survey by independent data center research company, Uptime Institute, 70% of respondents reported an average PUE of between 1.6 and 1.99. Google has said its lowest published quarterly average PUE of an individual facility is 1.11. It has been reported that the PUE of the HP POD 240a could be 1.05 if the POD is located where it could use free outside air cooling. If the POD 240a is located in an area that would require closed loop cooling, the PUE would be 1.4. Annualized PUE for the 240a is dependent on the amount of hours of free air cooling and closed loop cooling per a given location and based on the customer’s cooling preferences and IT load. The POD 240a has a refrigerant-based air cooled HVAC system with air-side economization. This means that the cooling system automatically senses and optimizes the cooling mode for capacity and efficiency. When the ambient air conditions are cool enough, the 240a uses economizer or free air mode—where outside air (also described as Direct Expansion DX cooling) can be taken in and circulated inside the modular data center to cool the IT equipment. This method is also called “free cooling” because no electrical or mechanical power is used to produce cool air; the system uses fans to introduce and exhaust air to and from the POD. It is no longer considered “free cooling” if the outside air passes a predefined temperature and the direct expansion HVAC system engages to lower the air temperature.
The POD 240a uses the HP Adaptive Cooling Technology to adjust its cooling system based on IT workloads and climate. The default is to use ambient air where possible but switches to DX closed-loop cooling when the outside air temperature is too warm. The container’s airflow design can maintain the cold aisle at temperatures as high as 90 degrees.

HP POD 20c and 40c

The POD 40c was launched in 2008. This 40-foot modular data center has a maximum power capacity up to 27 kW per rack. The POD 40c supports 3,500 compute nodes or 12,000 LFF hard drives. HP has claimed this offers the computing equivalent of 4,000 square foot of traditional data center space.
The POD 20c was launched in 2010. This modular data center is housed in a 20-foot container. This version houses 10 industry-standard 50U racks of hardware. The POD uses an efficient cooling design of variable speed fans, hot and cold aisle containment and close coupled cooling to maximize capacity and efficiency. The POD 20c can operate at a Power Usage Effectiveness of 1.25. PODs can maintain cold aisle temperatures higher than typical brick and mortar data centers. The temperate of the cold aisle in traditional data centers is typically 68 to 72 degrees, whereas the POD can efficiently operate at temperatures in this range up to 90 degrees.
The 20c and the 40c are water-cooled. The benefit of water cooling is that water cooling has higher capacity and uses less power than traditional air-cooled systems.