The first thing you need to do is get rid of all the unused cables beneath the suspended computer room floor. This is one of the oldest and greatest problems for computer rooms. The unused cables have not just been collecting dust under your floor – they’ve also been creating an effective air-block that doesn’t let the air flow down there. Plus they also make for very messy server rooms, because usually you’ve also got a significant amount of power and other communications cabling down there too. You might even need a computer room raised floor smoke detector installation.

The next thing you need to do is properly arrange your equipment into hot and cold isles. This will help significantly. The containment of hot isles will also help in areas where blade servers or other “very hot” equipment is in use. Also ensure that you have data center cooling rack enclosures and blanking panels in place in all empty cabinets so that you’re not wasting the energy to cool nothing. By properly managing the air flow in your server room, you will save a significant amount of energy, which turns into money.

You may also want to seriously consider virtualization, which will give you another boost in savings. If you take a look at the power consumption of a chip, from 0-50% utilization, power use is almost linear. But when you go up to 50-75%, there is small incremental power consumption. Over the past couple of years virtualization has gotten quite advanced and mature, which makes it a very viable solution to server consolidation.

And finally, properly provisioning your power can have a huge effect. If you add up the tags on the back of the power supplies to do this, you are probably working in overkill mode. The numbers on the tags are always the worst case and vary depending on the manufacturer. Chances are, you’re really only using about 1/3-1/2 that amount.

Power is expensive! That’s why some companies are really going the extra mile (pun intended) and moving their entire data centers to areas where power is the cheapest. That must tell us something about power costs!

Looking to design or re-organize your computer room? There are a few things that you should keep in mind. Since it stores a lot of valuable information, the safety and security of your equipment and hardware should be a top concern. Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Choose an Appropriate Rack Size

As you start the design of your server room and computer room layout, the logical place to start would probably be the computer room racks. Make sure to get racks that have not only enough internal space to house all your current equipment, but also your future equipment. You’ll need extra space now if you ever plan to expand in the future, as you surely will. You’ll also need enough room to move your servers in and out, as well as enough space to maneuver them around. For safety purposes, you’ll also need enough room between equipment. When installing it, follow the included instructions so that you’ll be less likely to have problems in the future.

2. Include Your New Room in Your Security Strategy

One of the most important things for you and your company is security. As you’re designing your room, make sure any changes you make are included in the business strategy. For security, you may want to consider buying server racks with lockable doors. Also consider minimizing personnel access to the server room and using cameras or other computer room monitoring systems. There are also a lot of other things that can potentially cause damage to your server room and equipment: temperature changes, water leaks, electrical issues, etc. Also write up policies and what needs to happen for data center escalation procedures. Keeping these things in mind and adding additional security features to your room will enable you to act quickly to take care of these issues and protect your valuable equipment.

3. Research New Power Technology

Power technology is always being improved. Companies are providing you with various choices for supplying your servers. You’ve got several options to consider: rack mount power strips, remote power products, three-phase power technologies, and, of course, standard power strips. Your choice is going to depend on various factors: the amount space in and around your computer room, the number of necessary outlets, each plug’s requirements, and redundancy requirements you may want to implement now or in the future.

4. Ensure the Safety of Your Room with a Good Cooling Strategy

Each piece of equipment gives off a varied amount of heat, making various cooling demands for your computer room. You’ll need to learn exactly how to keep a server room cool. When making the selection for server room cooling units, you need to evaluate your total requirements along with the available cooling methods in order to ensure the overall safety of the equipment, environment, and personnel according to server room specifications..