 Designing and allocating space for communication rooms. Communication room design. Above all when looking at communication room design space required needs to take into consideration many elements. To begin with the current requirements and expected overall requirements should the tenant space have the ability to add additional data outlets in the future. ANSI, TIA 569D provides the outline for these spaces and the allowances that best practice should allow for. Communication room design sizes. Generally, the communications room should be built to provide enough space and cabinets for the largest amount of expected data outlets that the communications room will service. For example, if the tenant space could potentially have 500 employees and 1200 data outlets the space should be built for that allocation. Even if 400 staff and only 1000 outlets are only required to first be installed. As an outline of size against number of data outlets in the building the following guidelines apply. General requirements for communication room design. The following general considerations for communication room design allow the room functional use, the ability to take and remove equipment and the flexibility of mounting equipment. Only equipment relevant to the communications room should be present in the room. Furthermore, no services for the rest of the tenant space should pass through the communications room. The ceiling height should be a minimum of 2400 mm with no obstructions. Hence 3000 meters minimum is recommended to allow for overhead containment. Also, overhead containment should have a minimum of 200 mm clearance from the finished ceiling. Floor consideration, solid, tile, should be designed for the expected current and future floor loadings. Access doors should be a minimum of 900 m wide and 2000 m high. In addition, the door should hinge outwards. Furthermore, a double door 1800 wide and 2300 mm high is recommended if large equipment is anticipated. No external windows are recommended. Allowance of 19 mm fire retardant painted plywood to cover at least one communication room wall. Fire protection as per main building plan and code to apply. Mechanical and electrical requirements. Lighting should be a minimum of 500 lux in the horizontal plane and 200 lux in the vertical plane. For this purpose measured 1 m above finished floor level. Minimum of two dedicated unswitched power sockets on a dedicated circuit. Furthermore separate to the rest of the building sockets. A dedicated cleaners socket should be installed. For this reason to avoid the use of the cabinet power sockets. The temperature range must be 18-27 Celsius, 64-81 degrees Fahrenheit. The minimum dew point must be 5.5 Celsius 42 degrees Fahrenheit. The maximum dew point must be 15 Celsius 59 degrees Fahrenheit. The maximum relative humidity must be 60%. The temperature and humidity are as the ASHRAE class B standards. Data cabinet requirements. What is the standard rack size? Generally, server racks are typically stated in millimeters for width and depth and u-rack space for height. In fact a u is 1.75 or 44.45 millimeters in height. In addition it is the height of a standard patch panel or switch within a cabinet. Therefore the height of a 42 u cabinet is 42 slots for mounting and the outer casing of the cabinet. The height of a 42 u cabinet is typically 2,070 millimeters in height overall. A maximum cabinet height of 2,100 millimeters is recommended for installing and accessing top rack equipment. Cabinets should be planned for future and present equipment to be installed. Generally, depth is the main consideration and a minimum of 150 millimeters space. In addition, should be allowed for over the deepest equipment to be installed. Cabinets should have front and rear rails and be recessed a minimum of 100 millimeters. Hence to allow for cable management and patching. PDU, power distribution units, should be installed in all cabinets containing active equipment. Furthermore, they should not be switched to avoid accidental switch off. Cabinet clearances should be as follows. 1,000 millimeters clearance at the front of the rack, 1,200 millimeters preferred. 600 millimeters clearance at the rear of the rack, 1,000 millimeters preferred. Cabinet feet can either be solid feet or wheels. In addition, wheels must be lockable if installed. Wall mounted data cabinet sizes. In some cases, space or requirements will result in only a wall mounted cabinet being required for the main cabling termination area or in the sub cabinet locations. These cabinets are limited for future expansion. However, they can be utilized if lack of space leads to the requirements of these cabinets. The maximum depth of these cabinets is usually 600 millimeters. Subsequently, this limits how a server can be fitted or accommodated. They typically range from 6 U, 65 millimeters high, to 21 U, 1010 millimeters high. Euro class data cabling. Specifically, the requirements for building structured cabling installations will apply in the communication room environment also. BS6701 to 2016 plus A1 to 2017. This is the British standard associated with cabling and telecommunications equipment. Hence it creates a link from UK specific electrical installation standards and how they apply to the cabling equivalents. It references telecommunication cables and their reaction to fire performance in regards to CPR, construction products regulation for new installations and the refurbishment or extension of existing installations within the external fire barrier of the building, installation cables which are subject to CPR shall as a minimum meet the requirements of Euro class CCA, S1B, D2, A2. Other general considerations for communication room design. The communication room should be a dedicated room for technology equipment and services for the network throughout the tenant space. The following considerations should be considered as general advice. The communications room should be a restricted access area by code, key or access control. Sign in and sign out is recommended for troubleshooting should a failure occur. The room should not be used for general storage. The room should not be used as a general office area. When working in the room the door should be left open due to the presence of recirculated called air. For further assistance or a free survey, please email or call on the details below and click like and subscribe if you have enjoyed this video.