Space considerations

Consider the following information as you prepare your floor plan:

• Provide sufficient space in the front and rear of the rack to enable the doors to open fully and to provide for proper airflow, cabling, and service access to all of the devices in the rack.
• Allocate space for an extended service clearance behind the rack to make it easier for you to install and service optional and hot-swap chassis devices. The access space that is needed to service the chassis depends on the devices that are installed and also might depend on your installation and service agreement.
• Identify the flow of work and personnel within the area and consider the operators' access to the racks, if required.
• Allocate space for storage cabinets, card files, desks, communication facilities, daily storage of tapes, and other supplies.
• Calculate the cable lengths that are required to ensure that they will reach, but will not be too long.
• Determine the routing for the rear door heat exchanger cooling lines, if required.
• Locate the cooling registers in a raised floor environment, if you plan to position the racks over the registers for cooling.
• Identify any cable guards, ramps, or other similar items that might be needed to protect equipment and personnel.
• Determine the location for any planned safety equipment.
• Consider space requirements for future expansion.

Review the final floor plan to ensure that cables distances or lengths are appropriate and that the racks have enough clearance. If you plan to move a populated rack, consider making a full-scale template of the rack, and then carry the template along the access route to check for any potential clearance problems through doorways and passageways, around corners, and in elevators.