Organization Tips for a Messy Server Room

Virtually every organization has a server room for its network connectivity these days. It’s the hub of communication and information exchange within the organization. As such, your server room must be well-organized and clean. 

If not, your network connections may be compromised, and you can experience expensive and disruptive downtime. This will affect productivity and eat into your profits. Having a clean server room with properly organized cabling is essential for the efficient running of your network systems. 

Another cardinal rule should also be that the server room or data center is not a storage area. Boxes and any ‘stuff’ cluttering up the area are not only inefficient, but they can contribute to polluting this very sensitive area.

Follow these pro tips to overcome a messy server room once and for all. 

Bundle, Mount and Label

The most efficient way to avoid that messy, confusing and dangerous spaghetti tangle of cables is to make sure that all cables are properly bundled and mounted. By using different colored tapes and labels you can clearly organize all your network cabling by function. 

This will ensure that they remain connected to the actual equipment that they serve. It will also make it easier to identify any issues like disconnections by lessening confusion, thus ensuring that maintenance and repair become easier and faster.

By organizing the network cabling using appropriate hardware, horizontal and vertical wire management and velcro ties, you will also achieve better airflow in your server room, which is key to avoiding overheating.

Keep it Accessible

Server room accessibility for maintenance and repair is a must as downtime costs money and impacts productivity. A messy server room compromises efficiency and causes delays. A logical structured cabling system, that is properly implemented with the use of ties and labels, facilitates speedy repair and maintenance services. 

Electronics get hot when they run for long periods, which can create a fire hazard. Data center experts have long adopted the practice of keeping server rooms at a cooler temperature to minimize overheating. Make sure that you remove any unnecessary equipment or cables, and that servers are separate and properly contained so that good airflow is maintained. 

A messy server room also increases wear and tear on your equipment, necessitating expensive repairs and replacement of equipment. Wear and tear can be lessened by cooling your server room by using fans and making sure your servers are correctly stacked. 

Adopt a Cleaning Schedule

Dirt and dust, in any shape or form, are the nemeses of a server room. It is a fact of life that premises need repair and maintenance from time to time. Construction work in particular can have a disastrous effect on the cleanliness of your server room. 

Maintain communication between your server management team and maintenance personnel. Adopt sensible precautions, such as using plastic curtains, to protect your equipment during construction or messy janitorial work.

Having a rigorous regular cleaning schedule, using antistatic cleaning solutions, high-efficiency particulate air vacuum cleaners, and microfiber mops and cloths, is also crucial. Over and above that, a deep clean, when an even more thorough cleaning of the server room is done, should be scheduled every three months.

More Pro Tips for Organizing Your Server Room

• Use Good Server Racks. An efficient system of server racks is crucial for any server room as it allows you to stack all your network infrastructure like routers and switches efficiently. Server racks come in all shapes and sizes. They can be wall-mounted or free-standing and are generally fairly customizable to fit your specific requirements.  

• Avoid excess cable lengths obstructing your rack by stacking server equipment from longer to shorter cables.

• Never leave redundant cables or obsolete equipment cluttering up your server rack. 

• If you would prefer to not use labels, color-coding cables offer another option.

• Why not invest in an electric duster that is purpose-designed for cleaning fans and server racks?

By following these pro tips, you will be able to keep your server room organized and support your team’s data exchange, communications and wireless networking services.

Is your messy server room keeping your team from pique productivity and putting your data and communication systems at risk? Systcom has been keeping server rooms organized for over 20 years. Call or contact us today.