Key Points to Prevent Major Problems with Breakers for Data Centers
Breakers for Data Centers: Power and Design
The correct set up for a server room or data center isn’t always in the forefront of a small business owner’s mind. However, when you consider all the systems and mission-critical tasks that take place within the equipment housed within a data center or server room, it certainly should be near the top of the list. There are a number of points every small business owner should consider when designing a server room; especially for power and breakers for data centers.
Layout Considerations, Power, and Breakers for Data Centers
While data centers and their designs are often incredibly complex, there are specific items that should be consistent throughout, regardless of a data center’s size.
One specific design consideration for a data center is the flooring. All data centers should be built on a raised floor. This is important for several reasons. First, it helps protect the expensive equipment housed within a server room from potential flooding and water damage. If a minor flood occurs and water doesn’t reach the equipment above the elevated floor, the breakers for data centers will trip, preventing a major electrical accident and loss of equipment. Second, it helps to keep the server room or data center well organized and avoid potential injury by tripping over wires. All the necessary wiring for power lines, telephone lines and other data cables can be housed under the raised floor within the data center. If a team member requires access to any of the installed cabling, they simply remove a floor tile to access all the different cables underneath. Finally, a raised floor helps keep air ventilating properly around equipment. To add extra ventilation, you can simply drill extra holes in the floor tiles near any equipment you feel require additional cooling. By keeping a proper flow of air within a server room, it will help avoid overheating equipment, which will ultimately prevent a potential trip of breakers for data centers.
Another important consideration that is related to air flow is appropriate HVAC support for a data center. Many data centers and server rooms have their own HVAC system that is separate from the rest of an office building’s HVAC system. Heat and proper airflow is a huge issue in data centers. When equipment runs too hot and equipment’s fans do not provide an adequate level of cooling, mission-critical systems can easily overheat and shut down. Permanent damage can be avoided if breakers for data centers are in place and trip, thus protecting server room equipment. It is always easier to reset, or if needed replace, breakers for data centers, than it is to replace expensive mission-critical equipment.
Power is the key to an entire data center and business. When data centers do not have an adequate power supply, systems can overheat and shut down. Therefore, any time any changes are proposed to a data center, a power professional should be consulted to determine is the current power setup can handle the proposed changes. If not, any proposed changes should be put on hold until the power system has been upgraded.
These are all common threads for every data center or server room, regardless of size. They should all be part of any planned or existing server room which follows change management and data center best practices.
