What Would You Like to See in an Ops Center?

binaryspiral asks: "I work in a network operations center that has a fair amount of tours and escorted customer traffic. We (the ops employees) have been given the option of submitting ideas for a redesign that would upgrade our ops center to something more functional and visually impressive to potential customers who visit. I'm also looking into software applications that monitor our systems and put them on large displays but a lot of it looks ho-hum. Unfortunately, one of the criteria is that this redesign be functional and visually appealing. I would ask the Slashdor crowd to share with me the things you hate or love about your ops center. Any suggestions or ideas from this crowd might actually be what I'm looking for!"

Comments

Big Red Button

[ericspinder]

A big red button near the door, uncovered, and at the right height for a twelve yo to punch. The real question would be wether or not to hook the halon up to it. :)

Really, other than software, I'd suggest a good look at layout; are the work areas separate from the racks, perhaps even a separate area for 'problem' servers? Is there a good size parts room (perhaps off the 'beaten path'). Can you keep people away from the cabinets by having large windows to view the 'magic area'. Nothing says 'professional' like all LCD monitors (dual is better).

Just don't let them forget the break room and the bathrooms. Also be sure to have plenty of cameras For a touch of fun, you could install UV lighting, and reactive cables. Taking another page from the case mode handbook, liquid cooling might really 'wow' them.