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Planning a Server Room

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by catherine

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My office is moving and i need to set up a server room at the new location. What are the basic things I need, or what do I need to keep in mind? I have one server and the phone equipment to put in this room. I will take any advise. Thanks.

6 replies

by ni70

Catherine

Here's a list of things to keep in mind.

1) Room size. You'll want a room bigger than a broom closet so that you have enough room to actually work around equipment. Plan for growth.
2) Security, physical security, you want a room that you can lock, allow only authorized personnel access to the room.
3) Dedicated electrical circuits.
4) Environmental controls - air conditioning, filtered ventilation, etc.
5) Have your phone company install the demarc in this room.
6) UPS.
7) Cabling - if your new office is scheduled for new cable, go with Category 6.
8) one wall should be plywood, so you'll be able to secure your phone equipment, punch down blocks, patch panels, etc.

by frwagne

Put in some racks -19" or 23", with balanced shelves and restraint brackets for tower servers (if that's what you have). have the rack set up with one side against the plywood wall, so you can get to the front and back of the rack without tripping over or moving anything else. Have the power and network cables routed along the wall - permanent power strips mounted vertically on the wall are good. Have your Cat5/5 patch panels and switches and such mounted in a rack -separate from your servers if you anticipate growth. an UPS with serious battery capacity (hours, not minutes) for your servers and network equipment.
Use different colors of patch cable, so you can more easily trace one from one end to the other. reserve one color for outside the firewall (red?)) and others for inside the firewall. You do have a hardware firewall, right ?

by stephenmoriarty

Try to be center of building or center of office space. Next once location is chosen, stick your head above the ceiling tiles and see what kind of pipes travel above your location. Drain pipes, Sprinkler mains ect. also take note of walls in your location, if its an old building that has been added too alot you could be dealing with cinder block walls,(tought to pull cable through ect) Also if you opt for UPS power supply in the room think about powering entire room I was forced to put UPS in Adjacent room which was a Boiler room killed battery life and forced my AC in computer room to early demise just to keep it cool. Be aware of heat of your equipment most reputable vendors will say how much heat it throws into a room (PBX, Servers, ect.)_ Make sure your cooling system is up to snuff and not over burdened figure a 10-20% safety factor, One other note if your where you get a lot of snow make sure you can get to cooling unit on roof to keep snow clear, I paid for expensive snow shoveling because of this.

by shirinshah

Hi Cathy,
One of the key things you want to keep in mind is keeping the server room clean. Depending on the location, you want to make sure the area is well air-conditioned.

Even if you're in a big office bldg, remember that the ac is off during nights and weekends.
additionally, rooms usually can't be monitored on an independent temp. setting.

Your best bet is a portable air conditioner or a commercial cooling unit - which will also be a lot cheaper and effective than running a central ac just for one room.

Here's an article I wrote on this issue:
http://www.air-conditioner-home.com/server-room-guide/

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