Choosing and Preparing a Server Room

In server room projects the expensive mistakes are made when choosing the room, not when choosing the hardware. A badly chosen server is replaced in three years. A badly chosen room works against everything inside it for as long as it exists: cooling runs harder than it should, cabling takes the long way round, and a single flood takes everything at once.

That is why a project starts by walking the space, not by drafting an equipment list.

Eight things to check in a candidate room

• Floor loading. A fully populated cabinet weighs several hundred kilograms concentrated on a few square metres. In older buildings and on upper floors this question is not optional.
• The floor above and the shared walls. A kitchen, toilet or any wet area overhead is a permanent risk, and so is a main water riser running through the wall.
• External walls and windows. A sun-facing wall pushes heat into the room all day, and a window is both a thermal and a security weakness.
• Door, corridor and lift. The cabinet has to get in. A narrow door means dismantling it, and that is not always possible.
• Ceiling height and cable routes. You need working clearance above the cabinet and a path for cables to enter.
• Distance to the electrical panel. If a dedicated supply has to be run, distance is cost.
• Noise and vibration. Lift machinery, compressors or a production line next door cause problems for both equipment and people.
• Access control. Who gets in should be settled up front; the end of a corridor everyone walks through is a poor choice.

Spaces to avoid

• Basements. Flood risk is real and the loss is total when it happens. If unavoidable, a raised floor and a water sensor are mandatory.
• Top floors and sun-facing corners. Cooling load rises all summer for no useful reason.
• Next to a boiler room, kitchen or wet area. Heat, humidity and water risk arrive together.
• Inside a warehouse. High fire load, heavy dust, and a room that slowly turns into storage.
• A corner of an open-plan office. Dust, noise and uncontrolled access, plus equipment noise that staff have to live with.

Preparing the room

Once the space is chosen, several things happen before any equipment arrives:

• Floor: a finish that does not shed dust. Bare concrete produces dust for its entire life and clogs filters.
• Walls and ceiling: paint and sealing. Flaking plaster is dust too.
• Door: lockable, ideally opening outwards, and wide enough for the cabinet.
• Cable entries: openings made now and fire-stopped afterwards.
• Lighting: enough to work behind a cabinet. One ceiling fitting is not enough.
• Provision for a water sensor and a door sensor, including the cabling for them.
• Confirmation of whether the building fire detection system covers this room.
• The room is not used as storage until the build is finished — this is where most on-site losses start.

When there is no separate room

Small offices often have no dedicated room, and the answer is a wall-mounted cabinet. The rules do not change, they simplify: not on a wet-area wall, not in the middle of a corridor, inside a lockable space, with clearance front and back, and positioned where access can be controlled rather than wherever there is free wall.

A ten-point checklist

Check	Why
Floor loading confirmed	A full cabinet is several hundred kilograms
No wet areas overhead	Leak risk is permanent
No main water riser in the wall	One burst takes everything
No window, or one that can be sealed	Heat and security
Cabinet fits through door and corridor	Transport cannot be solved later
Clearance above the cabinet	Maintenance and cable routes
Distance to the panel known	Supply cost depends on it
Floor and walls do not shed dust	Filter and fan life
Door locks, access defined	Physical security
Space allowed for water and door sensors	Retrofitting cabling is painful

The rest of the build

What follows once the room is ready is covered separately: the six stages of a build, rack design and airflow layout.

How Yamanlar Bilişim works

Our surveys start by measuring these items on site; the output is a room condition report and a requirements list, and the design is built on top of that. Examples of rooms we have built are on the case studies page.

Frequently asked questions