Setting up a computer lab in an existing space

What if I set up my new computer room in that storage room, just 10 meters from the IT team’s offices? Good idea! Or maybe not…

Setting up a data center in existing facilities requires assessing its feasibility by checking a few key points.

The first thing to check isthe floor load capacity of the room. The combined weight of technical components (server racks, UPS units, air conditioning units) and, above all, servers and other storage systems can exceed 1,000 kg per square meter. Consequently, the floor strength of the target room must be greater than or equal to 1 ton per square meter. Since office floors often have a load-bearing capacity limited to 250 kg per square meter, you will need to either reinforce the floor (by installing load-distribution plates or carbon steel plates) or simply find a different location. Note that a raised floor does not distribute the load.

Another point to consider:quite simply, the available floor space. Depending on the desired Tier, setting up a modular data center requires sufficient floor space to accommodate the electrical, HVAC, and security components and rooms, as well as the server racks, with enough space in the cold and hot aisles to ensure the facility can be easily operated. Modularity implies scalability: be sure to carefully consider the desired scalability in terms of electrical capacity, climate control, and the number of racks.

With regard to the building envelope, the installation ofan automatic gas-based fire detection and suppression systemrequires that the walls, floor, and ceiling be properly sealed to ensure that the gas remains contained within the data center during the suppression phase. Cracks, cable penetrations, and openings to the outside of the room must be sealed, a task that is often difficult when dealing with an existing raised floor that has not been purged. As for the data center doors, they must allow for rapid evacuation: they must therefore open outward from the room and be equipped with either a panic bar or a lock that can be unlocked by the fire detection system.

When it comes to bringing in power and network connections, the main challenge is often cable routing. Ensure that cable trays can be used or added all the way to the room, ideally by using two separate runs—one for power and one for network connections.

For data center cooling, the requirements depend on the technology being considered. For chilled water cooling, verify that a network with sufficient capacity exists without any downtime. If not, verify that chillers can be located relatively close to the data center and that a piping network can be installed to connect to it. These constraints are the same for direct expansion air conditioning systems.

Setting up a data center in an existing building therefore requires a thorough assessment of potential technical constraints beforehand.

However, alternatives are available if any of these constraints prove to be insurmountable: for example, setting up a room using modular panels in a warehouse or parking garage, orinstalling a container-based data center.