Server room

A server room is a room, usually air-conditioned, devoted to the continuous operation of computer servers. An entire building or station devoted to this purpose is a data center.

The computers in a server rooms are usually headless systems that can be operated remotely via KVM switch or remote administration software, such as Secure Shell (ssh), VNC, and remote desktop.

Climate is one of the factors that affects the energy consumption and environmental impact of a server room. In areas where climate favors cooling and an abundance of renewable electricity, the environmental effects will be more moderate. Thus countries with favorable conditions, such as: Canada, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland, are trying to attract more companies to site their server rooms there.

Building a server or computer room requires detailed attention to six main design considerations:

Computer or server room location is the first consideration, even before considering the layout of the room’s contents. Most designers agree that, where possible, the computer room should not be built where one of its walls is an exterior wall of the building. Exterior walls can often be quite damp and can contain water pipes that could burst and drench the equipment. Avoiding exterior windows means avoiding a security risk, and breakages. Avoiding both the top floors and basements means avoiding flooding, and leaks in the case of roofs. If a centralized computer room is not feasible, server closets on each floor may be an option. This is where computer, network and phone equipment are housed in closets and each closet is stacked above each other on the floor that they service.

In addition to the hazards of exterior walls, designers need to evaluate any potential sources of interference in proximity to the computer room. Designing such a room means keeping clear or radio transmitters, and electrical interference from power plants or lift rooms, etc.

Other physical design considerations range from room size, door sizes and access ramps (to get equipment in and out) to cable organization, physical security and maintenance access.

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Wikipedia