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How to Establish a Small Business Server Room in Six Simple Steps

October 20, 2017 No Comments

Featured article by Simon Richards, IT expert and Independent Technology Author

Having IT experts to your house to set up dedicated servers on your premises might be a difficult task for small businesses. Also, resources that should help usually assume enterprise and medium-sized installation. It might not work the way it should be for establishing a little server room.

However, when you understand the basics, the setup process for a small business will be a simple. Here are the tips to help you get started.

Have a rack-mount equipment

Small businesses usually don’t start by stacking network appliances and server hardware on a shelf or desk. It’s inexpensive to have such a deployment, but as the equipment piles up, it can become hard to manage as the company grows. Also, the exposed hardware is vulnerable to physical damage and can cause accidents like coffee spills, people tripping over wires or dust.

Rack-mount equipment houses the hardware. It is specially designed for this purpose. It might be expensive, but since it is easy to manage, it will have more benefits that the cost won’t matter. Some drawers and shelves are designed that can be mounted onto server rack.

You can get best server racks from different manufacturers that offer good quality. For instance, server rack manufacturers in China provide the best quality while with affordable prices.

You will always find a server rack that is ideal for any season

When you want you to want to purchase a server rack, you should first understand the basics. Rack units are used to measure server racks. It is written as “RU” or just “U.” Compliant equipment is usually measured as a multiple of “U.” Servers are usually between 1U and 4U while network switches range between 1U and 2U, and blade servers can be between 5U and 10U.

The depth and the width should also be considered. The ideal dimensions for two are 19 inches in width and between 600 mm and 1,000 mm of the depth. Some server racks have adjustable rear brackets. However, many rack mount servers have a mounting kit which can be adjusted and used when the server depth is sufficient.

Servers should be isolated to reduce noise

An organization that doesn’t have a dedicated house for their server equipment should consider managing noise. A small room will do. Not only will the room help in reducing noise but also secures the IT equipment against tampering and theft.

A small business should place their rack within IT department or in one of the corners in the room. You will need a rack that has sound-dampening properties. Air vents prevent compete for soundproofing, and therefore, noise-reduction properties can be used to measure these racks.

Avoid the heat by getting an AC unit

When you want to deploy a five-bay NAS system and several network switches, then cooling won’t be necessary. When you add more servers, a more massive NAS, and a mid-sized power supply, heat will start to build up. High temperatures shorten equipment life significantly. It can lead to outages and crashes.

If the servers are left on after offices have been closed, you should get a different air-conditioning unit which is not connected to the main air unit of the building.

Proper cable management helps in ensuring proper ventilation.

Managing wires is necessary

You will need to do more than just twisting some screws to fasten equipment when setting up your server rack. Having a proper cable management is crucial. You can manage cables by using RJ45 patch panel if you want to terminate Ethernet cable runs. Using patch panel require stripping cables, having them into the panel and testing it with wire tester tool.

Apart from the patch panel, get a bag of cables ties to secure any stray cables. Perhaps you can purchase throwaway standard cable ties as they are cheap when bought in bulk.

Label everything to keep it simple

You should label and document the set up even if the deployments are simple. It could be obvious to the employer, but it won’t be the same for new IT staff or other contractors who might be working on the system. Not only does labeling save a lot of time but also reduces chances of catastrophic mistakes.

You should purchase label printer for quick and easy labeling. Network appliances and servers need to be labeled with their IP addresses and unique descriptive names.

Detail information that describes crucial procedures that relate to hardware needs to be printed out and placed on server cabinet.

Author Bio: Simon Richards is an IT expert and part time technology writer. He does share his experience by writing in field which he has experience. He likes to spend his holidays with family at home.

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