A populated rack in a European data centre.

200 servers, nine data centres, six countries, five days

We moved more than 200 servers out of Amsterdam to nine data centres in six countries in five days. Ten engineers, five flights, one ATA carnet for our kit and one very good customs agent got the servers to their new homes, with only minor glitches, mainly over access.

Client type: A client based in the USA
Scope: De-rack, pack, customs, transport and re-rack of 200+ servers across Europe
When: November 2025 to June 2026
Where: Europe
Results: 6 countries, 9 data centres, 200+ servers, 10 engineers, 1 ATA carnet, 5 flights, completed in 5 days

The challenge

Servers do not cross borders the way parcels do. Each one has a serial number, and each country wants to know it is coming and going. Move 200 of them from Amsterdam to Stockholm, Warsaw, Frankfurt, Paris, Marseille and London, and the paperwork is as big a job as the lifting.

The booking also arrived with 50 ticket numbers to work through. Every data centre has its own rules for access, escorts and timing. Nine sites means nine sets.

France added a wrinkle. The new ELO customs envelope, the Enveloppe Logistique Obligatoire, had to be dealt with for the French legs.

Our approach

This was not our first European server migration. In November 2025 two teams ran simultaneous server migrations in Europe for a US client: Frankfurt to Frankfurt, and Amsterdam to Amsterdam, which took two days. Our own tools and handling kit moved under an ATA carnet.

In December 2025 a two-man team went to Frankfurt, out on a Monday and back on the Tuesday. They did a full de-rack, packed the kit, moved it and re-racked it, again with our equipment on an ATA carnet.

For the big job in June 2026 we used the same approach at scale. Two European partners, one in Frankfurt and one in Amsterdam, assisted our own teams.

Our teams covered Warsaw, Stockholm, Marseille, Paris and London. Ten engineers in total.

Our own equipment ran under one ATA carnet. We used one EOR service for the exporter-of-record side, and one very good customs agent. Five flights and road transport to nine locations got the teams and kit where they needed to be.

The result

The job was completed in five days. In the team's words: 6 countries, 9 data centres, 50 ticket numbers, 200+ servers, 10 engineers, 1 ATA carnet, 5 flights, 1 EOR, 1 very good customs agent.

There were a few minor glitches along the way, mainly with access. That is normal at nine sites. Nothing stopped the programme.

On this job the carnet covered our own tools and handling equipment for the move. Customs for the servers themselves was separate work, with an exporter of record service and a customs agent. We plan both before anyone travels.

Each team works to its own list of access requests and ticket numbers. On this job two European partners helped in Frankfurt and Amsterdam, and our own engineers covered the rest. Access is where nine sites slip, so we get that booked first.

Mostly access. A pass not issued, a loading bay in use, an escort running late. We had a few minor glitches of that kind here.

Customs paperwork is the other one, and new rules such as the French ELO envelope catch people out. Plan for both, and leave slack.

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