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The company that I started up back in 2003, and still work for on a full time basis (SevenL Networks Inc), was in need of a data center layout overhall for our servers. Originally we had our servers located on vertical telco racks but as time went on and we grew we realized the original layout wasn’t very efficient. Pulling out servers for part replacements or upgrades was a two person job and the airflow wasn’t very good. As a result, we spent more time than we generally needed to in order to do small tasks and some servers were running too hot. In addition, the previous layout resulted in a poorly set up system for electrical power whereby we were sitting right at the edge of the power supply’s capacity. A rework was needed.
I began working on a new layout for racks in which our servers could reside that would eliminate all the problems mentioned above and these two images are the final results. Now, the servers can easily be taken down and put back in, there’s enough space between them for good airflow and the bottom racks allow the cooled air from our HVAC system to filter up through all the servers more efficiently. In addition, network cabling is easy to deal with and power is no longer an issue. All in all, our new setup is significantly more efficient than the previous layout. 3D modelling to the rescue!