Datacenter Layout

Before beginning the planning or construction process, I need to choose one of the two available empty rooms.

I must consider the number of racks available, air conditioning equipment, and maintenance space. Ultimately, the space was divided into a control room or workspace and a primary server room.

For my data center, I want to ensure it can meet future needs while remaining as concise as possible. This requires an adequate number of racks, a minimum of two air conditioning units, as well as an electricity and network box. In addition, I would like a separate control room and a small storage space.

There are two rooms available for selection. The first measures 5.1m x 4.8m (16.7ft x 15.7ft), and the second measures 3.6m x 4.8m (11.8ft x 15.7ft). Both rooms have a height of 4.5m (14.7ft).

I have decided to start with the smaller room.

Drawing from my past experience, I have decided to deploy server racks with standard dimensions of 1.0m x 0.6m. A shorter version, such as 0.8m x 0.6m, cannot accommodate some high-performance or high-density servers which have a longer length. On the other hand, longer versions such as 1.1m x 0.6m are rarely used and their non-standard dimensions can create barriers during accommodation.

Initially, I considered using traditional air conditioning(this later changed to a more energy efficient approach later). I have placed two air conditioning units at center to avoid a single point of failure that could bring down the entire data center. The specific model of the air conditioning unit will depend on the cooling capacity needed, which will be calculated later.

Taking into account the number of potential servers, I have decided to have two columns of racks with a distance of 1.2m between them. To allow for cabling, I have set the distance between the wall and the rear side of the rack to 0.6m, which I believe is the minimum required space for a person to perform the task.

After several attempts, I have determined that the column design with two columns of racks is the most reasonable option, as opposed to a row format.

Based on this design, it is clear that there is no space for a separate control room or storage area. As a result, I have decided to use the bigger room.

Now that I have chosen the larger room, the next step is to design the layout.

Based on the same design principles, I have created a prototype design.

This design includes 10 rack spaces, two air conditioning units, a control room or workspace, a storage area, and ample space for loading and unloading servers.

Each 42U rack has the capacity to fit either 20 * 2U servers or 40 * 1U servers. With one rack reserved for network equipment, the remaining nine racks have the capacity to accommodate 180 * 2U servers, which is more than sufficient.

The control room is a crucial component of my data center. Unlike official data centers that only host servers, I often work in my own data center to configure servers. Being able to work beside the servers, with ultra-low latency, greatly improves efficiency. This separate workspace is necessary due to the excessive noise produced by the servers.

In addition, the separate control room allows for the possibility of viewing the data center without physically entering it. Since the entire yard is not dedicated to my data center, visitors or friends may be curious about what is inside. With this separate room, I can provide simple demonstrations to satisfy their curiosity without actually accessing the server room.

Due to a construction error caused by misinterpretation of design by construction workers, the width of the storage room was extended from 0.8m to 1.2m, resulting in a reduction of the space between racks from 1.2m to 0.7m. This narrow space makes it a bit more difficult to load or unload servers. However, since a rework would take a long time, I have decided to work with the space I have for now.

Final Layout:

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