- Steven
Leidig, manager of enclosure engineering at Crenlo (www.crenlo.com/enclosures), says:
In
Part 1 and Part 2 of this post, I discussed the importance of having an
established design in place prior to procuring racks or enclosures for the data
center. All too often, a procurement agent will provide too little information
to the enclosure manufacturer, which can lead to project delays and increased
long-term cost of operation due to inefficient design. Thus, I suggest that
procurement not take place until seven key questions can be answered by the
purchasing agent. This post will outline numbers 4 through 7.
4. What size of enclosure will
be a sufficient long-term solution?
Size often seems a relatively
easy decision to make based on the number of rack units needed to house all the
equipment and accessories, but there are a couple of factors that buyers often
fail to consider, the most common of which is the possibility of future growth.
Purchasing without regard for future growth could mean significant
modifications or horizontal expansion of the data center footprint, which takes
up valuable space.
As an example, I’ve seen a
community college that had a small server room with racks packed to capacity.
When the time came to expand, they had to expand into another space, ultimately
eliminating a classroom. The ceiling in the server room was such that it would
have accommodated much taller racks, so if they had purchased racks with extra
rack units to begin with, they probably could have avoided expanding into
another room.
The other factor buyers often
fail to consider is the size constraints of building elements, such as service
elevators and doorways through which the enclosure will have to pass in order
to be installed. If this information is provided, enclosure manufacturers can
easily build modular products to fit through tight spaces.
As an example, we’ve actually
had to develop enclosures that required a unique modular configuration that
allowed for final assembly after passing through the small hatch of a
submarine. The same concept can be applied to normal data center installations;
however, it’s quite common for us to hear from customers who don’t think of
size constraints until they realize the enclosure doesn’t fit in the elevator.
At that point, they either have to make time-consuming modifications, or ship
it back to us and start from square one.
5. What is the footprint of the
space in which the enclosure will be installed?
Any information on the
installation room layout can help the manufacturer determine proper enclosure
configuration, avoiding costly and time-consuming in-house modifications. If a
buyer can provide information on the predetermined locations of the A/C supply
and cabling in the server room, that will allow us to put the intake locations
in the most efficient places, but it’s still very common for us to have to give
them advice on how to modify the enclosure to accommodate those types of things
during or after installation.
6. What
type of equipment is being installed, and what is the ambient temperature of
the operating environment?
These are the two most
important questions to help enclosure manufacturers determine airflow design
and the selection of all the enclosure components that affect airflow. By
knowing the type of servers, we can use the wattage and the fan locations to
determine waste heat generation and airflow paths in order to recommend the
proper location and type of A/C unit, heat exchanger or blowers, as
well as the right type of enclosure panels and
doors — whether they’re solid, louvered or perforated. It’s no secret that
airflow efficiency is one of the most important factors in reducing power costs
and keeping electronics running smoothly, but this type of information is still
not often provided upon initial customer request. See Figure 3.
7. How will the equipment be
serviced, and which areas need to be regularly accessed?
The amount of time a data center
manager spends servicing equipment can be drastically decreased if the
enclosure is designed in such a way that accessibility to key components is
easy and efficient. If a technician expects to need access to a particular
component pretty regularly, it makes sense to include an access panel on the side or back,
so that the door doesn’t have to be removed each time. As far as cabling goes,
having a patch panel can free up space, making service easier.
Another important factor in
serviceability is the location of the wire pass-through grommets. Simply
informing the manufacturer of the size and voltage of the PDU will help determine the
proper location of wire pass-throughs. This information is rarely presented,
but can drastically decrease the amount of time technicians spend rerouting
cable.
As an example, I recently visited a
news station that was converting to high definition. The technicians had to
reroute about 6,000 cables, and because the holes in the enclosure were not
efficiently located, the technician probably spent at least an extra minute on
each cable. That doesn’t sound like much, but with 6,000 cables, that equates
to an extra 100 hours of labor.
Bottom
line
Whether due to procurement taking place too early in
the design or a lack of communication between purchasing agent and designer,
not providing adequate information to an enclosure manufacturer can lead to
project delays and increased cost due to inefficient design. With today’s
enclosure manufacturers increasingly taking a configure-to-order approach to
sales, buying the most efficient enclosure solution is easier than ever — so
long as the buyer can answer the seven preceding questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment