ktl@wag240.caltech.edu (Kian-Tat Lim) (01/08/90)
We may soon be able to design a new machine room. Are there any generic (machine-independent) issues we should be sure to address? Examples might include raised floor, adequate air conditioning, earthquake resistance, cable trays, power outlet positioning, etc. I think we have most bases covered; I'm just trying to make sure we're not missing anything. Any suggestions, anecdotes, or warnings will be helpful. I will summarize (not just batch together) any useful E-mail replies. -- Kian-Tat Lim (ktl@wagvax.caltech.edu, KTL @ CITCHEM.BITNET, GEnie: K.LIM1)
brooks@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (01/13/90)
It seems that you do have most of the bases covered although you didn't mention Halon fire protection or similar system.
perand@nada.kth.se (Per Andersson) (01/13/90)
In article <13176@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> ktl@wag240.caltech.edu (Kian-Tat Lim) writes: >We may soon be able to design a new machine room. Are there any >generic (machine-independent) issues we should be sure to address? >Examples might include raised floor, adequate air conditioning, >earthquake resistance, cable trays, power outlet positioning, etc. I >think we have most bases covered; I'm just trying to make sure we're >not missing anything. Any suggestions, anecdotes, or warnings will be >helpful. I will summarize (not just batch together) any useful E-mail >replies. You don't mention what scale of money you have available, but: Some kind of stabs on the power can be a quite cheap protection against diverse moonphasedependant trouble. This catches small peaks and disturbances om your incoming power. A PDS (= Power Distribution System) can save you some trouble, by having sequenced powerup after a powerfail. This way you can give the disks power and time to aquire full speed before giving power to the machine ( of course you might have small machines with internal disks...) If the situation motivates it, an UPS is the way to go (UPS =Uninterruptible i think). These usually have batteries for 15 or 30 minutes of lost power. This at least gives you time to make a controlled shutdown. Quite expensive although. Per -- --- Per Andersson Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden perand@admin.kth.se, @nada.kth.se
ktl@wag240.caltech.edu (Kian-Tat Lim) (01/17/90)
[An early version of this was mistakenly posted late last week; you
may have seen it if the cancel didn't get out fast enough. This is
the final version.]
Last week I posted a request for any suggestions people might have
for designing a machine room. Here is a summary of the information I
received, organized into categories I thought were appropriate. I apologize
in advance if I misunderstood the main ideas in someone's letter. I would
like to thank all the contributors; many of their comments were incorporated
into our preliminary design.
--
Kian-Tat Lim (ktl@wagvax.caltech.edu, KTL @ CITCHEM.BITNET, GEnie: K.LIM1)
===== CONTRIBUTORS =====
[1] smaug@twiddle.eng.umd.edu (Kurt J. Lidl)
[2] ric@cs.arizona.edu (Ric Anderson)
[3] cdr@amdcad.amd.com (Carl Rigney)
[4] steve@nuchat.uucp (Steve Nuchia)
[5] rxxgpf@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (Greg Farrelly)
[6] starr@hriso.uucp (Michael Starr)
[7] blarson@dianne.usc.edu (Bob Larson)
[8] chytil@tuvie.uucp (Georg Chytil)
[9] putterman-miriam@yale.arpa (Miriam Putterman)
[10] brodie@fps.mcw.edu (Kent C. Brodie)
[11] dan@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov (Daniel Dick)
[12] jgd@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (John G. Dobnick)
[13] andy@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Andy Clews)
[14] treese@crl.dec.com (Win Treese)
[15] james@capital.csd.uwm.edu (Jim Lowe)
[16] kutz@andy.bgsu.edu (Kenneth J. Kutz)
[17] brooks@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu
[18] perand@nada.kth.se (Per Andersson)
===== MECHANICAL =====
Raised floor [1]
24" raised floor [2]
No raised floor -- cable trays instead [14]
Drop ceiling [1]
Large doors for wide cabinets [11,13]
Ramps for heavy equipment [11]
Space behind and around machines [11]
Room for interface stuff, consoles, printers [11]
Lay out room using paper rectangles on scale drawing [11]
Firm mounting for earthquake resistance [3]
Tray in ceiling to catch water from above [6]
Check water installation in rooms above [8]
Raised lips around floor cutouts to stop wheels [7]
Adequate drainage [10]
===== POWER =====
UPS (uninterruptable power supply) [1,11,18]
UPS in different room [1]
UPS batteries in different room -- overcharging leads to acid spray [10]
Power conditioner [11,12,15,18]
Power distribution system for sequenced powerup after failure [18]
Signal reference grounding grid bonded to all metal penetrating room [2]
Grounded raised floor grounded in only one place [15]
All outlets grounded in only one place [15]
Emergency power shutoff [10]
Power supply stays off once it goes off -- human in loop [3]
Plenty of outlets [10,14]
Flexible cables leading to underfloor outlets [12]
Modular power systems -- put power where needed on demand -- large distribution
panel with 4-conductor twist-lock sockets wired with 3-phase T. Build
cables of required length terminated with sockets [4]
Ground wire at least as large as power conductors [7]
Underfloor outlets with outlets on sides of conduit rather than top to allow
for large plugs [9]
===== COMMUNICATIONS =====
Convenient phone lines [3]
Modular data systems [4]
Cable races on a grid, not just to initial equipment [4]
Procedures for cabling -- every cable tagged with unique serial number; log
book for locations of endpoints and intermediate routing [4]
Label all cables on both ends [16]
===== SECURITY =====
Controlled access [3]
No outside windows [3]
Make sure walls and door extend to real floor and ceiling, not just false
floor [5]
Security locks with easily-changed codes [11]
Motion detectors that automatically call campus security [16]
===== FIRE SUPPRESSION =====
Halon [10,11,12,17]
Halon activated before sprinklers [7]
Connect fire detection system to campus security [12]
===== COOLING =====
Reliable temperature gauges [5]
No second-hand air conditioning units [5]
Two air conditioning units for redundancy [14]
No Airdale AC units -- Liebert preferred [14]
Temperature driven alarms and power shutoffs [11]
Environmental monitoring unit to shutoff power [14]
Visual thermometer [11]
Adequate air space between real floor and raised floor, real ceiling
and drop ceiling [15]
===== LIGHTING =====
Non-glare lighting ("open grille" diffusers) [12]
Incandescent lighting to avoid fluorescent flicker [15]
Battery powered lights [10]
===== CLEANLINESS =====
No printers except consoles (reduces dust) [3,5]
Sticky doormat -- sticky plastic sheets on floor at entrance to remove dirt [5]
===== MISCELLANEOUS =====
Check Federal Information Processing Standard FIPS-94 [2]
Take course in machine room setup [15]
Design for change [4]
Beware last-minute expenses mandated by code (fire doors) [7]
Noise suppression -- carpeted floors, drapes on walls [12,13]
Water alarms [10]
Moisture detectors if equipment is water-cooled [12]