New Data Center Standard

mstansberry writes to tell us that the Telecommunications Industry Association (the people who brought you the CAT standards for unshielded twisted pair cabling) recently published a 148 page document meant to standardize the design considerations for every single aspect of a data center. The standard covers everything from site selection to rack mounting methods.

Comments

twisting

[seanadams.com]

Speaking of CAT standards, has anyone else had a good look at the differences between CAT3, CAT5, etc?

CAT5 just seems to be twisted a little tighter, but CAT6 actually modifies the twist gradually, in a cycle that repeats every few feet, with each pair 90 degrees "out of phase" from the next. Plus theres (sometimes) a plastic "spine" in there to maintain spacing and/or bend radius. It's not obvious to me how varying the twists-per-foot along the cable should help - anyone know?

Pity it's $250 for a peek

[darnok]

I'm curious to see what this document contains: whether it's an ITIL-like view of the world (e.g. a data centre runs on change management, capacity management, problem management, ...), a hardware based view (e.g. a data centre needs a raised floor to duct cables, air conditioning, secure access, racks, ...) or something else.

Just not curious enough to pay the price to find out

Alternatives to THIS book

[xmundt]

Greetings and Salutations.
          Interestingly enough, a quick google search for "data center design" comes up with more hits than one can shake a stick at, ranging from free to fairly inexpensive (under $100.00). I have to admit that I wonder if THIS magnum opus has anything in it that these OTHER resources do not cover.

          It never ceases to amaze me at the number of books out there that are supposed to be useful learning tools that are nothing more than a slightly changed rehash of the man pages for a given program.

          Regards
          Dave Mundt