Cabling a SoftLayer Data Center Server Rack

http://www.softlayer.com ≡ http://sftlyr.com/ib

A few weeks ago, Sam Fleitman SoftLayer's CTO posted "Before They Were SoftLayer Data Centers," (http://sftlyr.com/ia), a virtual scrapbook from the San Jose data center construction process, and based on the surge of traffic we saw to the post, our customers loved it. It's incredible to see an open warehouse-looking space transformed into an enterprise data center environment, and there's more amazingness where that came from.

In addition to the pre-"Truck Day" pictures we posted on the blog and in the San Jose DC Construction album on Flickr, we trained a video camera on a row in the data center to capture the cabling process.

What's so interesting about plugging in cables?

Consider the fact that each of the network switches we use in a rack has at least 48 ports. Now consider that each rack has two public network switches, two private network switches and one out-of-band management network switch that need to be connected to every SoftLayer server in the rack. That's 240 pre-measured network cables that need to be labeled and routed to specific heights in each rack ... without getting tangled and knotted up (see: behind your TV or under your computer desk).

Get ready to be amazed here's the SJ data center team in action. The video is playing at 20x normal speed, and given the amount of time it takes to complete the cabling process for each rack, we enlisted the help of SpongeBob SquarePants in our use of the "Two Hours Later" cut.

http://www.softlayer.com ≡ http://sftlyr.com/ib

• Category

  Science & Technology

[harrio34]

What racks did you use, and is ther a guide to designing abasic data center

[softlayer]

The server racks in our data center pods are typically 42U with five network switches in the middle of each rack. The top two network switches carry public network traffic to the servers in the rack, the middle two switches carry private network traffic, and the bottom switch carries out-of-band management network traffic.

When building a data center, the key areas of focus are usually, power, cooling, airflow and connectivity. Each of those areas has its own set of best practices to apply.

[gilman danilo]

So the Internet for the whole Rack Server is T1? correct me if im wrong but im keen to know how the server installed here connects to the internet.

[softlayer]

The network connections on each server are dictated by the NICs (Network Interface Cards) installed. In most racks, those NICs allow for connections up to 1Gbps, but a few racks in each data center can accommodate 10Gbps connections. Each network switch is connected to a router in the data center via fiber, and those routers are similarly networked to our Tier 1 and peering bandwidth partners around the world.

[wessie1337]

Why do you guys put the racks free in the room? In europe we are using corridor's..

I am just intrested why you guys choose todo it this way :-)

[softlayer]

A big reason is that this configuration helps us optimize our use of space in the data center in all of our facilities (regardless of the shape/size of the room). The racks are arranged in a hot-aisle/cold-aisle configuration to make cooling and air circulation the most efficient it can be. Check out our AMS01 Data Center Tour video to see SoftLayer's data center in Amsterdam (very similar to this facility in San Jose).

[softlayer]

Interesting observation, Wadley225. The unfortunate truth is that "professional appearance" usually means "uncomfortable" when it comes to attire. Why are these employees wearing jeans and T-shirts? It's not because they're paid poorly or because they aren't "high-end" people ... It's because they are more comfortable in jeans and T-shirts, and it's easier to work in them. This video is not meant to be an over-produced "professional" video ... It's a "sneak peak at how we get stuff done" video.

[oOITwiTChIOo]

this may be a extreamley stupid question and please don't hate me for asking, But...What do you plug the other end of the cables to? more cables? ahah

[Andrew Rester]

no velcro, the zip ties they do use aren't even spaced evenly, why have vertical managers if you aren't even going to use them, and like others have said, the horizontal and vertical cabling is where the work is.... -level 3 low volt/fiber tech, CCNA

[hygkolk]

These are my kind of videos hihi

[hate32123]

They cut the 50 millon tie wraps they had to use to try and make it look half decent or they just hack it like the rest of their work.

[Helge Sverre Hessevik Liseth]

What do you do if one of the cables for some reason fails?

[Paul Freeman]

Your cables look pretty solid is that STP or normal UTP you're using there ?

[hate32123]

Oh fyi. You can easily spot the uneducated by comments such as. Why not install more per rack. One end of a patch isnt plugged in, my guess is, they will. Also. Wireless. Not what wireless is for. Ummm how to make the patchcords. Placement of racks, type of racks. Interesting. Hint this is the dummy part of the job. The before and after is the actual work. Horizontal and vertical cabling as well as the systems intergration. This video was mindless. Your welcome.

[hate32123]

You are far to easily impressed. Ive seen nicer with less manhours and materials. The fact they can place a rack, screw in a switch and label a patchcord doesnt quite do it for me. Its onviously something they arent very adept at hence the video taping. Again susan if thats your best, keep it to yourself. Some of us actually know what we are watching. The rest cant tie their shoes.

[goblinondrums]

YES! OCD AT ITS BEST!

[ultimaxx9]

Well, this part of the job is very boring, I must agree, but it has to be done as much as any other part. However, I find the video quite entertaining for the spongebob references.

You think this cabling looks like a mess? Look at the amount of cables, the detailing in connections, the labeling they put on EACH cable. That cabling is so organized...

[hate32123]

Wow you placed four post racks screwed in some switches and plugged one end of a patchcord. A two person job... only IT people would relish in that what youve accomped. Stick to vlans and software updates. Most of you dont even know a nic can have multiple ips. And a tie wrap every three inches. Frankly susan if thats your best maybe you should keep it to yourself...