One design issue that get overlooked quite often when creating a data center is when you’re building in or renovating an existing building. Check into how to build a data center and computer room construction management if you’re not sure about something. There are some specific and unique physical requirements, as well as obstacles, that must be addressed first before you move on to the building or renovating stage. Building or renovating for a server room or data center in an already heavily-populated area includes a number of problems. However, they are not impossible to overcome. Especially important is checking into server room construction standards for your local area. This is a list of ten basic guidelines to get you started:

1. Remember that, according to TIA-942, cables must be run to accommodate growth. That just means that you need to lay your cabling according to your needs today and according to what you estimate your needs will be in the future. You’ll want to lay cables for speeds that will probably be used in the next 10 years. A 10-gigabit system will likely be used during that time, if not something even more advanced.

2. Make sure you check up on your local codes regarding abandoned cables. Chances are, in order to be compliant, you’re going to have to remove all abandoned cable. You’ll want to have all of them out of the way before you start putting in your own. After all, more cables always means more restricted air flow and less space, which can make cable organization a disaster, not to mention the hazard of computer room fires.

3. Ensure that your data provider will be able to install conduits that can accommodate your electricity and other cable demands. It will be a very expensive mess if you have to go back and pay to have additional conduits drilled/installed, for example, under existing roadways.

4. Check into local laws and codes for fire suppression and specific cable coating requirements. Does the cable need to be limited combustible? Does it need to be run in special conduits? Make sure you have the correct server room specifications.

5. Heating and cooling in your server room are extremely important. Check your HVAC requirements. Depending on your servers, your requirements may increase substantially, so look into a variety of server room cooling units. You may also want to install a server room temperature alarm, just in case you don’t have the ideal server room temperature.

6. Although you may not think of it at first, seismic activity and flooding are always a possibility. Check into local building codes and standards and regulations.

7. You’ll also want power redundancy. Check with your local power company to see what they can provide you with.

8. Something you must consider is how accessible you will be to the local fire department and hydrants. Hydrants should always be close, and the fire department shouldn’t have to cross any railroad tracks to get to your building. If they do, it’s going to cause your insurance rates go up. Strange, but true. You may also want to consider your computer room layout – will all the equipment be accessible to help teams?

9. Is your building secure from outside forces? For example, are you going to need to build barriers on the South side of your building adjacent to the road to prevent drivers from accidentally crashing directly into your server room? Keep anything in the outside environment that are not in your control in mind.

10. Pay careful attention to current and future floor loads. It’s often the case that high rise buildings can’t support heavy loads, like large computer room equipment, without expensive structural modifications and fortifications.

If you’re unsure about any of the above information, be sure to check into data center designing services. There is a great number of companies out there that can help you.

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..