IT Infrastructure Design & Planning

Will the Technology Infrastructure in your building be obsolete before you move in? 

We Design the layout and manage the installation of all of your critical technology spaces within the facility, from outside plant to carrier entrance facilities, to the Main Distribution Frame (MDF) and Intermediate Distribution Frame (IDF) rooms, network & server rooms, technical labs & the Cable Plant that ties it all together.  Technology Infrastructure services include design and value engineering of these critical requirements; telecommunications cabling, IDF, MDF, MC, MCC, BDF, space planning, Riser pathway, BDF/IDF, Space layout, project management, facility planning, Equipment racks,  telecommunication room, server room layout and requirements.

We plan for the installation of cabinets, cables, shelving, cable management as well as monitor, maintain and coordinate service for HVAC in technology areas, security systems & all IT cabling and racking systems, evaluate and provide requirements for power & environmental needs, UPS & Generator systems when the project calls for them. The Project Manager will coordinate customer installations and work with Telco service providers, equipment vendors and other departments to insure a smooth transition and cutover to the new site.   

With the transition from an industrial society to that of the Information Age, virtually every business today depends upon the flow of information, both within the corporation and in communications with it customers & vendors. It is with realization, and comments from people like Allen Greenspan, who stated that, “technology is providing significant gains in employee and corporate productivity” that more and more firms, are investing in the technology that will improve communications & productivity within the corporation. All of these changes are putting even greater demands upon the Information Technology organizations within the company. They have also led to a change in the design and construction of new office buildings and campus facilities.

Space Considerations

Space considerations are always a concern during the design process. Whether designing space for personnel or equipment, it's always prudent build in an appropriate growth factor.  Since computer room space is expensive, consider using taller racks and cabinets to make the most of your available space.

When planning for the installation of racks and cabling for your communications infrastructure, it is extremely important to have a well designed layout for centrally locating the intra-building cable plant for the facility.  Make sure that all of your communications cabling is coming into the main communications rooms, properly terminated, grounded and has appropriate protection from lighting and power spikes.

If you do use larger racks, remember to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do taller racks in my computer room interfere with overhead fire protection?

2. Do they add safety concerns for our staff & technicians installing & patching equipment?

3. Do I have enough electrical density to support my increased capacity?

4. Is their sufficient air flow to cool the equipment room in its proposed configuration?

5. To take the full advantage of rack space, many computer manufacturers are producing rack-mountable servers, which take up only 1 rack unit (known as "1 U" in the industry) or roughly 2 inches on a vertical measurement.

Typically, one of the afterthoughts in the design process for office space is where the Phone Company should install its main service. Service Provider demands have changed dramatically over the past decade. Previously, a service provider would install your phone service in some out-of-the-way corner or closet. Today, extra equipment may have to be installed by the service providers (e.g., Bell Atlantic, WorldCom, Sprint, etc) which may require certain environmental conditions.  We plan for these spaces upfront, and work with the Carriers to ensure the facilities meets the requirements of the local operating company providing communications circuits.

Power and Cabling Requirements
Today's electrical power issues can be sophisticated and daunting, but with the proper planning, these challenges can be overcome.  The current state of the IT industry could conceivably drive the power requirements for a data center up to 150 watts/SF and, occasionally, beyond.   Power and signal grounding is increasingly important in today's computing environment. As your dependency on computers increases, proper grounding and power conditioning become even more critical to maintaining a suitable environment for your network and communications equipment.  Our design plan specify what type of power is needed for each area, technology room, where the power is to be landed and how many circuits each of the equipment racks will need based upon planned installation and future projections.

The following is a list of items to consider in your design:

1. With IT professionals taking greater advantage of smaller footprint devices, and stacking this equipment tighter and higher in racks, new problems arise. Electrical density becomes the issue at hand. Is there enough electrical capacity in your facility to handle this type of growth?

2. Contributing to the increase in electrical density is the explosion of devices with dual and triple power supplies to provide system redundancy. To truly take advantage of this capability, consider providing these systems with diverse power feeds in the form of multiple power distribution units.

3. Power and signal grounding is increasingly important in today's computing environment. As your dependency on computers increases, proper grounding and power conditioning is a must. Minute power fluctuations can easily damage equipment, resulting in data loss and down time.

4. Most businesses now have a PC on every desk. You should also consider requirements for copiers, workgroup printers, network scanners and fax machines. Up-front power planning can save you the headache of adding additional electrical circuits in the future. 

Cabling Issues

The voice and data cabling for a new facility may appear simple at first glance. However, there are a few issues that, when addressed early in the design process keeps the "gotcha" factor to a minimum.

1. Over the past 10 years, Cat 5 UTP (Category 5 Unshielded Twisted Pair) cable was sufficient for most network requirements. Recently, Cat 5e and Cat 6 cabling has become a standard requirement for most high-speed networks. Your network design-with future bandwidth projections-will determine how best to address which cable type to use.

2. To prevent new technology space from becoming a sea of spaghetti, cable management is a must. Establishing the correct ratio of cable management components to cable plant capacity is critical to ensuring the long-term life span of the cable plant. You may also wish to consider such features as self-healing/reusable harnesses and cable management databases to reduce your future costs as your cabling needs grow. Should we install Fiber to the desktop?  When & where?

3. Accommodating growth in your office space can be tricky. It's less expensive to plan for growth and install a little extra voice and data cabling during construction. But if you need to add more wire at a later date, a properly planned and documented cable plant will help installers put your wire in quicker and easier.

4. Will you need a Wireless amplifier for cell phones within the facility, should you deploy wireless voice network within the facility, are you ready for 3G wireless?  As you consider the security issues tied to today's Wireless Infrastructure you may not be ready to deploy today's wireless solutions, but you should consider adding additional network drops throughout the building for local antenna's which could be added to the network at a later date.

Transition Issues

The voice and data cabling for a new facility may appear simple at first glance. However, there are a few Transition Issues in Relocating systems to a new facility involve greater challenges than in years past. The biggest issues include:

1. Coordination of high-speed bandwidth circuits is a critical item for any project; long lead times and problems with circuits have caused many relocation projects to be delayed because the carrier did not have service to the new site on-time.  Service from multiple service providers is not only a long lead concern, but adds significant co-ordination requirements between the vendors. These requirements often extend out 4 to 6 months for new entrance facilities and high speed data services depending upon the levels of service required, and you must factor in the infrastructure that may (or may not) be in place within the facility, the business park, and the individual provider's service area.  Requirements for multiple points of entry add even more complications for mission critical facilities and the selection of optimal site location for these services.

2. Computer network address changes at many layers will often create difficulties that carry significant cost potentials. Do we have sufficient IP addresses to set up a new branch office?  How will the address scheme fit into the overall corporate addressing plan?

3. Pre-testing with spare network equipment or is always recommended prior to site turn-up to insure that connective is in place and operation as planned.  Can you imagine moving to the new office, Monday morning comes & no one can log onto the network, or client can't call into the site because phone system isn't working.

4. The physical movement of equipment requires significant planning to ensure that the new site is sized and equipped with racks to accommodate the equipment.  The layout for the rooms and the power and environmental requirements for the technology infrastructure needs to be well designed to ensure system and services can be installed as planned. 

With the recognition that today’s businesses view communications as a mission critical resource, an ever increasing focus is being placed upon Design and Implementing the IT Infrastructure which is the backbone of all communications. Just as with many things in life, the IT Infrastructure is only as strong and reliable as its weakest link. This has led to the development of a relatively new area, Technology Construction Management, (TCM) which is a practice that marries Facilities and building components with technology infrastructure. Today more and more IT Infrastructure Design Consultants & Engineers are being added to the construction teams as part of the design & build process.

For TCM to work, we need to get involved in the design-build process, as early as possible.  Leading technology companies are finding that they need to get the IT Infrastructure Design Consultants & Project Managers in as a consultant to the Facilities Project Manager or as one of the other subs under the general contractor.  The marrying of Facilities and technologies is more critical than ever based on the importance from the business prospective of the role that technology plays both internal to the organization and as these companies make themselves available, via the Internet to the outside world.

The value an Infrastructure Design Consultant can add to the Facility is enormous in time & cost savings over the life of the building. The correct IT infrastructure can provide the foundation for scalable network and information technology solutions and transitions for companies that require sophisticated, quality-driven technology and technology-focused services.  Designing the correct Technology Infrastructure into the initial building design can save thousands of dollars in later modifications, and avoid significant cost and disruption for these areas to be retrofitted and modified later to provide the critical Infrastructure changes that should have been in the base building design.

Incorporating the right technology into the design of a new or existing facility is every bit as critical as attention to electricity, heating, plumbing, and air conditioning. Technology systems are critical to the health and success of a business or institution. Ignoring this crucial component at the design level can create disasters for everyone involved: from the construction phase to the occupancy and maintenance of a building. On the other hand, incorporating the right technology into the design of a new or existing facility can create flexible, user-friendly environments and save money in the future.

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