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?"
Well you want to call 911... (Score:4, Funny)
Good prior planning
Fossil fuels (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Fossil fuels (Score:3, Interesting)
You could tell the time-in-service of a memory board by how dark the printed circuit board material had become around the regulator.
The good old days....
In two words... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:In two words... (Score:2)
Yes and yes. Absolutely is an issue.
Re:In two words... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:In two words... (Score:3, Insightful)
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:In two words... (Score:2)
Epistemological roadblocks aside, it's called "trust" - the reader decides how much of it they want to lend you, based on their ability to understand your thought process, and who you are.
Re:In two words... (Score:1)
Only when you don't want to have any kids...
FCC Part 15 (Score:1, Funny)
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.
Wear appropriate headgear (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wear appropriate headgear (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Wear appropriate headgear (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Wear appropriate headgear (Score:1)
t
Re:Wear appropriate headgear (Score:2)
assuming you can still move, then put the foil hat over that... then seek immediate medical attention... then seek immediate psycological evaluation.
well there's one benefit... (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously... get the server room shielded with wire mesh built into the walls and conductive film on the windows... like a Faraday Cage [gla.ac.uk]... then you won't get weird interference problems
Re:well there's one benefit... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:well there's one benefit... (Score:2)
Re:well there's one benefit... (Score:2)
That won't block the radiation from the cellphone tower. Try wrapping your telephone in aluminum foil, just the small hole that you need to see the signal strength indicator is enough to get 5 bars of signal strength.
I don't think that either the cellphone tower or the power lines will cause lots of interference. As others pointed out, the cellphone is too far away to be of concern. You standing next to
Regular health check-ups for the servers (Score:5, Funny)
Make sure to have the company doctor check them out occasionally, although the servers should be aware that the company doctor does not work for them.
Too far away... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Too far away... (Score:1)
Re:Too far away... (Score:2)
Seriously, unless you're using WiFi links between your servers, you're putting servers in the service building for the tower, or you're building the data center within a few feet of the top of the cell tower, you won't have any problems.
Further, the metal cases of the servers function as very effective Faraday cages, so even if you were to set a server on top of the cell tower, the only risk would be that you get radio burns from acc
Re:Too far away... (Score:2)
(x being a constant based on the amount of power being emitted, and r being the radius distance you are from the source)
Well, say you measure the amount of RF/EM radiation coming from the cell phone mast at a distance of 1 metre. At 10 metres, you'd only have 1% of that. At 50 metres distance, you've only got 0.04%. At 100m you've dropped to 1/10000th (.01%) and at 150m its down to 1/22500th (0.004%)
As for how close you have to be before you start worrying?
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:2)
(trying recall something about that from his undergrad physic clases, but realising they were too long ago, and i've sufficiently pickled my brain too many times since then)
Re:Too far away... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Too far away... (Score:2)
Re:Too far away... (Score:2)
Almost right... It would be right for a single wire, but here, you have multiple wires, half of them carrying positive voltage and current, and the other half of them a negative voltage and current. These will partially cancel out, giving you 1/r^2 instead of 1/r (for point sources it would be 1/r^3 instead of 1/r^2).
Note that the above is for field strengt
Primary concern (Score:2)
Re:Primary concern (Score:2)
What you seal behind drywall is supposed to be conduit, nice fat conduit. Conduit with an inner diameter about twice what you think you're going to need.
dental implants = resonance mind control (Score:3, Insightful)
However, if you have any fillings in your teeth, get them replaced with non-conductive material [google.com] by a certified herbalist. Or do I mean certifiable?
Ever hear of the Inverse-Square Law? The cell phone on your belt clip pumps more EM into your precious racks (and obviously into you) than that tower.
Re:dental implants = resonance mind control (Score:5, Funny)
* Set your phone to vibrate and smile with every incoming call.
* Rapid access to the phone; if you're scratching your nads and the phone goes off you're only a matter of inches from hitting the "accept" key.
* There will in future be fewer people who wear cell phones on their belts.
Thanks for your co-operation.
I guess it depends on what you consider 'older'. (Score:2)
Sun will go to major pains to keep from changing out the processors -- they'll even strip out the center plane on a 4500, just so they don't have to change out the processors.
I've heard rumors that you have to sign an NDA to get the processors replaced, as they don't want people knowing that it's a processor problem. [but of course, it's one of those 'f
Re:I guess it depends on what you consider 'older' (Score:1)
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.
Re:Precautions (Score:1)
Re:Precautions (Score:2)
BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:2, Insightful)
So please, yes I'm aware that the effects diminish rapidly...but that doesn't really answer my question.
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:2)
The inverse square law only applies to a point source. The gain antennas on a cell site at the very least, shape the field into an expanding pancake shape rather than a sphere.
That said, it's still not an issue.
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:2)
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:2)
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:1)
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:1)
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:2)
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:2)
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:1)
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:1)
Of course, none of this changes the fact that this entire section of thread is about semantics, and has nothing to do with the issue.
Re:BTW, the Inverse Square Law? (Score:3, Informative)
CRT screen problems (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm no electrical expert, so I have no idea how far this effect reaches, but I would be very prudent and try to measure/test the area for interference.
Re:CRT screen problems (Score:2, Interesting)
More than anything else, this sounds like a good excuse to get some nice LCDs
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lds
Re:CRT screen problems (Score:2)
It's been a while since I did any physics, but is "stealing" really the correct description for "utilising natural EM radiation" ?
Re:CRT screen problems (Score:1)
Of course, it could all be an urban legend.
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lds
Re:CRT screen problems (Score:1)
After making a fuss, i've been given a 17" LCD - and very nice it is too - but i'd rather have my old CRT back and not have to sit in such a strong EM field
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?
Lose sleep over any of this? No. Make sure you do everything right? Extra-yes.
Re:Things to look out for (Score:2)
I agree with points 1, 2, and 3 - regardless of the circumstances. Just good operating protocol. As for being concerned about them, bingo there. I would be willing to bet that the 220v lines in the wall powering the air conditioning gives off more EMI (as measured in the server room) than the high power lines 150m away.
Free power! (Score:3, Funny)
The Practice of System and Network Administration (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The Practice of System and Network Administrati (Score:1)
Re:The Practice of System and Network Administrati (Score:1)
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.
Thats nothing (Score:2)
Considering one full days downtime will cost us an estimated 80,000 $$$, the sprinklers have been high on my priority list to push for change.
I dont think other companies on our street are in less hazard. Someone
Re:Thats nothing (Score:1)
Umm.. That is a no brainer... Get your GM show him the sprinkler in the server room and see.. "We need money to make it go away".. if he doesn't understand ask for his cell phone and ask him to follow you to the bathroom
Just a cell tower and power lines? (Score:2)
One thing to consider for small data centers (mine holds 3 racks) is that modern building construction assumes that the walls go where they build them and the fancy floor gets adjusted to the walls. That turns out to be very nasty when your in a room with 4x7 computer room tiles that are exactly the same size a
If you have to ask... (Score:2)
Um, yes. If, say, your servers are maintained by a third party, they'll have all sorts of environmental requirements (security, hookup to BMS fire alarm, aircon of sufficient quality/performance/with a good maintenance contract) etc etc. Likewise, if your business is insured against the costs (both material and in terms of lost productivity) of damage, then the insurers will want to know you're not keeping the
Re:If you have to ask... (Score:1)
Re:If you have to ask... (Score:2)
Remember the inverse square law.