The 5 Server Room Essentials you should Know
If you want your server room to serve you well now and in the future, then make sure you know the five essentials of server rooms so you k now what needs to be considered before choosing comms room services to rebuild, refurbish or move your server room.
1. Leave Room for Expansion
As a general rule of thumb, to leave enough room for your business to grow, you need at least double the space that your current servers and other technological equipment take up. Don’t forget to include room for hidden essential such as cable storage or power outlets.
2. Security is Key
These days data protection is a huge issue which means it’s more important than ever to ensure that your server room is properly protected. Ideally, a server room should be situated at the heart of the building and should be easily monitored from all angles. Masonry walls and concrete floors a re a huge plus, mainly due to their fire resistant qualities. You should also make sure that if there is a dropped ceiling, it can’t be easily accessed from outside of the room. A door that locks automatically is generally more efficient than relying on staff to remember to keep things locked, but if you opt for self locking you also should be able to keep the door open easily so items can be moved in and out without hitting obstacles.
3. Play it cool
Any server room should have a cooling system, but it’s important to opt for the best possible quality as you’ll get a more efficient system. As your business expands you’ll need to use more energy to cool your server room so look for a system that leaves room for growth and that offers the highest efficiency as the better your cooling system works, the less money it will take to run it.
4. Light and Bright
There should be plenty of light in your server room so that equipment can be easily seen. Include lighting in front of and behind server racks and make sure that any workbenches are free from shadows.
All buildings with electricity are at risk from the occasional power cut so install emergency lighting so servers can be seen easily if power is lost.
5. Raise the Floor
One great way to increase the amount of space available to you is to raise the floor of your server room. This creates lots of space for cables to be stored easily and extra cables can be incorporated as the business grows. If you can’t have a raised floor in the space your server room needs to be then store cables overhead instead.
To ensure that the server room meets all of this criteria, using correct products and materials is key. Furthermore, professional help from companies such as http://www.commsroomservices.co.uk/ will ensure that the room meets this criteria. Depending on your budget you may want to complete the project ‘DIY’ but if you are concerned about messing it up then it always best to get the professionals to do it.