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Far to often I see folks spending thousands of dollars on new servers and network gear without consideration for improving the server room itself. This oversight can be catastrophic, and the ROI is predictable when proper implementation occurs. The most often overlooked areas, especially with smaller companies, include physical security, electrical power and climate control.

Before you begin, plan for physical server security

The first step in designing a server room (MDF, IDF or POP), is to consider physical security. While encryption may help prevent some data from being compromised, it will not protect against the cost equipment reconfiguration or downtime while the systems are being rebuilt.

Servers need to be physically secured. This can usually be accomplished by a locked metal door (hinges on the inside please) provided it is a good lock and the locks are re-keyed when administrators leave the company or keys are lost.

Second in the list of “must haves” is power.

This should include dedicated multiple circuits to the room. The best form of high availability and redundancy starts with power. Whenever possible servers and network gear should have multiple power supplies (a load balanced server farm may be excluded from this list depending on business requirements).

Independent, redundant electrical circuits and associated power supplies enable the equipment to remain up during a power event. Such events may include, power supply failure, electrical circuit failure, or an accidental snag of a cable while doing cable management in a server cabinet (this has never happened to me but I know people ☺).

In addition to the infrastructure itself, weekly physical inspections of equipment should be performed. Even the best alert systems sometimes fail to address and recognized power issues.

Calling on UPS

Along with separate power supplies and multiple circuits, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems should be used. These provide power conditioning and battery backup to equipment. They can also be configured to send alerts when they encounter power failures, and in some cases can be configured to perform a soft shutdown of equipment when power failure is eminent.

UPS sizing needs to accommodate all connected equipment and should allow for some scalability as the business and infrastructure needs grow. UPS planning must also include adequate battery backup (business requirements will dictate this, but in most cases 15-20 minutes should be acceptable).

Many UPS devices also allow for external batteries to be attached increasing scalability and overall functionality. Batteries should be replaced regularly (depending on manufacturer recommendations) rather than waiting for a failure to occur (some batteries have been know to bulge and be hard to remove if in service to long).

And lastly, climate control needs to be addressed.

This is usually the most challenging issue when building out data centers and server closets. Often building architecture dictates what can be done and where. Simply put, servers and networking equipment create tons of heat, and too much heat will reduce the life of the equipment. Central Air is preferred here, but not always a possibility, especially if the equipment is in a backroom closet at a small office. In this case – and most cases in general – air circulation is key.

Even in the coldest datacenters, poor air circulation can cause problems. Sometimes because one server is running hot the entire datacenter is cooled way down to accommodate. Improving the circulation would have addressed the issue better. The key is to get cold air moving through the equipment. Having an air intake and exhaust on opposite sides of the equipment usually works well. In datacenters this is referred to as having hot and cold isles. For this to be effective, servers and networking equipment must all agree on where they intake and exhaust their air. They intake air from a cooled isle and exhaust it into the warm isle.

Good circulation can be effective even in the most inhospitable server rooms when it seems like nothing can be done. If space is available for a four post server rack this should be considered. Racked servers increase circulation due to the space created around the surfaces of the equipment that in turn increases convection cooling.

In summary

When budgeting for new equipment be sure to consider the environment where they will be used. For usually a fraction of the equipment price, a little infrastructure can go a long way to help prevent premature equipment failure, downtime or theft.