The document provides guidelines for designing and setting up a computer room or data center. It discusses considerations for location, physical access, environmental controls, power infrastructure, security, and maintenance. Key factors include limiting access, protecting against hazards like fire and flooding, regulating temperature and humidity, ensuring reliable power supply and redundancy, proper cabling and labeling, and keeping the space organized.

2.  A centralized location where computer related
resources (and data) are stored.
 The users do not require physical access in
order to use the resources.

3.  A room
 Interior room
 A section of a building (a floor)
 Interior building space
 A building, underground structure, etc.

4.  Ease of access to roads
 Ease of access to the interior
 Large oversized double doors
 Loading dock
 Ramps
 Service elevator

5.  Geography, weather, and climate
 Earthquakes
 Floods
 Lightning
 Fires
 Hurricanes
 Tornados

6.  Fire protection
 Weight rated floor
 Access to power
 Access to HVAC
 Access controls
 Limited access entry points.

7.  Crime prevention through environmental
design:
 Fences, walls & gates
 Natural barriers and open spaces
 Lighting
 Surveillance
 Alarms

8.  The computer room should have limited
access: on a need to be there basis only.
 Keycards and old fashioned keys and locks.
 Guests should not be given access without an escort.
 Proximity badges
 Biometric Passes

9.  A room may require two people to have access at
any one time, so no one can be alone in the computer
room.

10. • Cameras (Closed Circuit Video)
• Motion Detectors
• Keeping track of entry and exit of each individual

11.  Your power capacity must provide for
 Computer equipment
 HVAC
 Lighting
 Security
 Fire prevention
 As technology advances, it takes less space to
use equal amounts of power.
 Power cords, fuse boxes, switches must meet
fire safety standards. (NEBs Standards)

12.  Networking Equipment Building System
 Floor loading
 Temperature & Humidity
 Fire prevention
 Airborne contamination
 Noise level
 EMF

13.  Electrostatic Discharge
 Lightning protection
 Electric safety standards
 Grounding
 etc

14.  UPS
 Surge Protection
 Line conditioning

15. Consist of
 ATS (automatic transfer switch)
 Fire codes require an off switch for UPS.
 Batteries
 May include generators for prolonged outages.

16. Automatic Transfer Switch
 Detects when utility power is outside of an
acceptable range, then activates the UPS and
generators.
 Detects when utility power resumes, and
switches from UPS to utility power.

17.  UPS must provide power for
 Computing systems and other essential hardware.
 HVAC
 Security
 Lighting
 Separate backup power for any fire suppression
needing power.

18.  UPS may require special requirements for:
 cooling,
 ventilation
 power
 Its own special room
 Make sure the power is available for this room too!
 Access is for maintenance and inspection only!

19.  UPS can be made up of a room full of batteries.
 these can be a dangerous fire hazard.
 Fumes from battery acid are flammable and
poisonous.

20.  Statistics show that power outages tend to last
for very short periods or very long periods.
 Most power outages last less than 5 seconds.
 If an outage lasts more than 10 minutes, it is
likely to last all day.

21.  A UPS should have enough stored power to
last about 10 min + the required time to safely
shutdown.
 A generator would be required to handle
power outages lasting more than 10 to 15
minutes.
 UPS needs maintenance. Rechargeable lead
acid batteries will last about 5 years.

22.  Required to protect against jumps in voltage
from your power source.
 Can happen when there is a sudden large draw
of power. Most likely to happen during power
outages.
 A spike in voltage can damage electronics.

23.  Data center should be grounded for lightning
strikes using lightning rods.

24.  A power conditioner keeps the power supply
at a constant voltage and frequency.
 Deals with sags, spikes, surges, and outages.
 Surges last longer than spikes.
 A step above surge protection.

25.  Fire suppression power requirements must be
separate from everything else including
computer system UPS.

26. Halon Alternatives are used to reduce the oxygen
content. (There must be enough remaining oxygen
for humans to breathe)

27. CO2 – cheap but causes greater condensation
compared to other alternative suppressants.
If fire suppression is activated:
Power down systems.
Evacuate personnel
Shut off all power and system UPS
Contact the suppression experts
Maintain a fire-evacuation plan

28.  Fuse boxes, and any other power switch
control should be easily accessible and not
hidden behind equipment.

29.  Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning

30.  Fans for forcing air flow
 Filters for reducing the amount of
contaminants in the air.
 Humidity control –
 dry air leads to more static electricity.
 Damp air leads to corrosion
 40%-60% RH
 Water chillers, pumps, compressors

31.  http://www.42u.com/42u-rack-cooling.htm
 The hot aisle-cold aisle alternating system

32.  Room should have good ventilation.
 Equipment should be spaced apart to prevent
heat pockets from forming.
 The Amundsen-Scott facility does not require
heating as long as the equipment in the data
center is running.
 Water sensors should be placed under AC
units, and raised floor.

33.  Multiple thermostats may be required for
larger rooms.
 Alarm to alert when temperature/humidity is
outside a safe operation range.

34.  Power
 HVAC
 Hardware
 Server
 Disk
 Backup

35.  Selection
 Floor Layout
 Contents

36.  Racks help manage space efficiently.
 Racks are needed so that equipment is not
literally stacked on top of each other. (build up
of heat)
 Racks also provide cable management.
 Racks help manage HVAC

37.  Two Posts – usually for lighter
communications hardware.
 Four Posts – for heavier hardware.
http://www.racksolutions.com/index.html

38.  Height – should not be too tall that access is
difficult or gets too close to the roof. Heat rises
and equipment at the top will be subject to
higher temperatures.

39.  Width
 Computer hardware standard is 19 inches.
 Networking hardware NEBS standard is 21 inches.
Network Equipment Building Standards.

40.  Depth
Must be deep enough for your equipment to fit plus
enough space for vertical and horizontal cabling.
Cables and equipment should not protrude into aisle
space. (check fire codes)

41.  Extra deep racks tend to create unused space.
 Over packed racks lead to cabling complications and
heat build up around equipment.

42.  Some racks have built in fans.
 Bottom mounted fans may require perforated
raised floors.
 Bottom mounted equipment can restrict air
flow.
 Doors on racks restrict air flow when closed.

43.  Allow racks to be far enough apart for easy
access to equipment and cabling.
 Racks placed too close will build up excessive
heat and cause access problems.

44.  PDU - power distribution unit connects
different sockets into different circuits.

45.  Not all equipment is rack mounted.
 Be sure to have enough space for non-rack
mounted hardware.

46.  Power
 Data
 Networking cables
 Hardware connection cables

47.  Heavy power cables are best suited for under
the raised floor.
 Cable tracks hang from the ceiling. They are
designed to handle both power and data
cables.
 Lighter data cables can be above the drop
down ceiling.

48.  Keep power cables and data cables as far apart
as practical.
 EMF from power cables can adversely effect data
cable performance.

49.  In some instances, the floor may collect water
and not be ideal for power cords.
 A leaking roof is also problematic.
 Water sensors should be installed under a
raised floor near the AC units.

50.  Use twist ties to keep cables in place.
 Put labels on both cable ends. Color coded
strips are ideal.
 Consider what will happen if you unplug the wrong
piece of equipment.

51.  Data and power cables should be color coded.
 Thick black and gray cables are usually power
cables.
 Networking cables are often red, yellow, blue, etc.

52.  Collect cables in different lengths. Try to use
cables of the correct length to avoid large cable
loops.
 If cables are too short, maintenance on
hardware is more difficult.
 Use plastic twist ties for bundling similar
cables.
 Don’t bundle power and data cables.

53.  Wire the data center for different AC power
sources.
 Create different pathways for cables. In other
words not all cables should go through the
same path. If a path is submerged in water or
on-fire, you want alternative pathways.

54.  Label racks
 Power cords at both ends.
 Data cables at both ends.
 Hardware
 Disk drives
 Tape drives
 Servers Front and Back

55.  High port density equipment is difficult to
label. Be creative with your labels.
 Some cables are molded with labeling on them.

56.  Data centers are noisy due to fans, disk drives,
and the AC. Phones are hard to use.

57.  The data center is not a good environment for
working at a console.
 Too noisy
 Insufficient space
 To many servers to have individual consoles for
each.
 Tends to be cold and drafty

58.  Keep a minimal number of consoles in the data
center.
 You want to discourage unnecessary console
usage in the data center.
 Use a switch box for accessing the individual
servers.

59.  A laptop computer or serial console can be
placed on a moveable cart. The cart can be
positioned and connected to any server.

60.  Should be grounded.
 Grounding wrist bands should be attached to
the bench.
 Should have multiple power sockets.
 Should be in close proximity to the data center
floor.
 Work rooms generate dust and should not be
in the data center.

61.  It is very difficult to keep track of tools. Tools
are borrowed and never return.
 Consider using an inventoried tool box and
checkout policy.
 The best tool box has drawers in a cart.

62.  Miscellaneous things to have:
 Dolly
 Vacuum cleaner
 Brooms and brushes.

63.  Keep spare parts in a special area.
 Use bins or drawers to organize.
 Cables of different types and lengths.
 Fans
 Power supplies.
 Anything else you can’t afford to do without.

64.  Network Equipment Building System is the
documented standards for
 Room space planning
 Floor loading
 Temperature and humidity
 Fire resistance
 Installation procedures
 Airborne contamination

65.  Acoustic noise levels
 Electric safety
 EMF
 Electrostatic discharge immunity
 Lightning protection
 DC potential difference
 Grounding

66.  Used by the telecommunications industry.
 Creates high reliability standards.