Environmental Concerns for a Server Room? 78
christian_thoma asks: "My company is currently in the preparation phase for building a huge new manufacturing facility. While reviewing the site plan, I've discovered that there is both a cell phone tower and high voltage lines within 100-150 meters of where the server room is going to be placed. Do I need to be concerned? Are there any special considerations when designing my server room that I need to be aware of? Has anyone else had to deal with a similar situation?"
In two words... (Score:2, Informative)
Too far away... (Score:5, Informative)
Precautions (Score:5, Informative)
First, I would suggest that you have the site tested for RF levels. The tests should be fairly inexpensive. From the results you can decide if precautions are required.
You still need to consider future RF issues in case the cellular company decides to upgrade. It would be prudent to have some RF grounding brought into the server room and extend the ground to the racks and cable runs. Well grounded equipment will minimize any RF issues.
Multiple grounding might actually cause issues if there is stray AC from the high voltage. You can check for stray AC by having some ground rods placed at the site and check for AC potentials between the rods. A single low impedance ground is the best solution, but some electrical contractors don't understand the requirements.
Also, the cell tower could easily cause interference with WiFi or other RF equipment. If your new plant is going to depend on low power radio IT connectivity for either the plant or for IT, you should have an interference study done.
Things to look out for (Score:3, Informative)
Inverse-square law not withstanding you're gonna have more noise floating around then other locations will. This won't be so much an issue in the server room as much as on long cable runs, or runs at just the right (wrong) angle. And yes, as irrationial as they may be folks likes and dislikes need to be taken into account.
Advice?
- Make sure your server room is getting clean power. Same for all of your closets. As this is a new facility that should've been a no-brainer by the electrical engineers but double check on the planning and then see to it that there are tests made to confirm. The lines and tower are probably swamped out by the junk coming off the manufacturing equipment but you don't want any of that, whatever the source, giving you gremlins.
- Likewise make sure all of your grounds are good and everything is properly shielded. That doesn't mean putting screening over every surface, just regular testing of electrical outlets and network drops. Invest in the proper test equipment and put this on your maintenance schedule, prioritize it in your trouble-shooting procedures, doing so should keep on top of any potential problems.
- Keep an eye on your neighbors. Seriously, if something goes wonky for them it might spill over to you. Have a standing order with the security crew that all activity regarding the tower & lines is to be noted and reports copied to IS. That way you folks can correlate any problems.
- As others have noted, wireless might take a hit. Before doing any mission critical wireless planning wait until the buildings are done, all of the equipment installed, and everything running. Only once the plant is in regular operation is it worthwhile to get a competent site survey done for deploying wireless. (Note: "Mission critical": The access points for the conference rooms and mahogany row are conveniences where iffy behavior is acceptable. Go ahead and roll those out as part of the move-in, they'll provide you with valuable environmental data should you later want to commit to wireless technologies.)
- However unreasonable its true most folks don't like being near high voltage lines. It could be the scale, the humming, suspicion of ill effects, it doesn't matter don't try and fight it. Don't bother putting the picnic tables near the lines, don't ask folks to park near 'em if you can avoid it, etc. Indeed the side of the property closest to the tower and lines is probably the best place to put tractor trailers, storage areas, and other unpopular activities.
Yeah, your cellphones on average put out more energy into your local environment then the tower and lines do. However the tower and lines are there 24/7, they're big and ultimately pretty powerful, and strange interactions do sometimes occur. Its legitimate to undertake a little proactive planning and just make extra sure electrical systems are properly configured, cable segments are well shielded and grounded, etc.Lose sleep over any of this? No. Make sure you do everything right? Extra-yes.
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:3, Informative)
The Practice of System and Network Administration (Score:5, Informative)
Plan power and cooling into the future (Score:3, Informative)
That means that when you replace the out dated equipment, the new servers will require more power and cooling than the older equipment. Follow Moore's law (double X every 18 months) and you can't go wrong.
I only know this, as it what happened to us.
P.S. The weight will increase too.
Re:In two words... (Score:3, Informative)
Of course you're right.
But how would you know whether I was giving accurate information or just the half-thought-through ancdotal silliness that gets modded up as insightful or informative.
Oh wait, that's how the game is played here on
Re:FCC Part 15 (Score:3, Informative)
Part of the CE cert proceedure is testing RF immunity, something that isn't required by the FCC.
Re:Too far away... (Score:4, Informative)
Too bad the inverse square law doesn't apply for the high voltage power lines. It will just fall off as 1/r (where r is your distance from the lines), not 1/r^2. You're right about the cell phone tower, though.
Oh, and yes, IAAP (I am a physicist.)
Re:Too far away... (Score:3, Informative)