Outfitting a Brand New Datacenter?

An anonymous reader writes "We completed our new 4,000 sq. ft. data center (Tier II/III, according to The Uptime Institute) and just recently moved our core systems from our old data center to the new. We've been up and running for several months now and I'm preparing to close out the project. The last piece is to purchase some accessories and tools for the new location. The short list so far consists of a Server Lift, a few extra floor tile pullers, flashlights and a crash cart. We'll also add to the tools in the toolbox located in one of the auxiliary rooms — these things seem to have legs! What are we missing? Where can we find crash carts set up more for a data center environment (beyond the utility cart with and LCD, keyboard, and mouse strapped to it)?"

Comments

Safety equipment

[Gothmolly]

Ear protection
O2 masks for when the Halon drops
arrows on the floor directing people to the nearest exit
a 'Battleship' style row/column marker for every row/column of racks
near-Draconian access control policies

Re:Safety equipment

[_Sharp'r_]

Tarps.

Lots of cheap plastic tarps that are stored out of the way but that you can deploy quickly in the event of a water event.

I know, you think you'll never use them, but if you do (storm leaks, broken pipe above, etc...), they'll be the most valuable tools you could have spent $100 acquiring a whole bunch of.

You just haven't lived if you haven't empirically tested (even accidently) how long it takes for power circuits under six inches of water to blow, or how those drop ceiling flourescent tube lights look when they're full of water and still going, or how long servers and switches stay up with water pouring down the racks into them.... :)

Re: Tarps

[Tmack]

Its modded funny... but should be Informative. One of our datacenters had a bathroom located on the floor above. For fear of something overflowing and dripping into the racks, plastic was kept on standby. Notice I said "had a bathroom"... we finally worked out a deal with the building mgmt, now its more office space for us. Plastic sheets are a must. If for nothing else, the roof might leak, fire suppression might go off (now days replacing servers can be cheaper than refilling the "halon" tanks), some random pipe in the ceiling/floors above might break, or someone might decide to drive their car into the wall and make a new door. Having the plastic on standby is a good idea.

tm