Server & Comms Room Fit-Out
Cooling, Power, Cabling & Raised Floors

What a server or comms room is for

Wikipedia’s server room article describes a server room as a room, usually air-conditioned, devoted to the continuous operation of computer servers. In a small or mid-size Malaysian office it is often a converted store room holding the network rack, the router and firewall, switches, a small server or storage box, the CCTV recorder and the access-control panel. The equipment is modest, but the business stops when it stops.

The same article lists the design considerations: the location of the room, the air conditioning, fire protection, power, and physical security. This page takes them in that order.

Choosing the location

• Away from wet areas: not below a toilet, pantry or roof tank, and not on an external wall that leaks in storms.
• Away from the main entrance and windows, for security.
• With a route for the aircon piping and condenser, and for cables to every floor zone.
• Big enough for the rack, service access at the front and back, and some growth.
• Not a room that doubles as a store for paper, boxes and cleaning chemicals.

Cooling: the part that most often fails

Equipment makes heat, all the time. The Wikipedia article notes that computer equipment is sensitive to heat, humidity and dust, and that most server rooms use close-control or precision air conditioning that manages temperature and humidity within tight limits. For a small comms room, a comfort split unit is common, but it must run continuously, day and night, and it becomes a single point of failure.

• Size the aircon for the heat the equipment gives off, not for the floor area.
• Fit two units where you can, so one can carry the room if the other fails or is being serviced.
• Keep the room on its own aircon, not on the office central system that switches off at night and at weekends.
• Route the condensate drain away from the rack, and never run it over the equipment.
• Add a temperature alarm that warns someone before the servers shut themselves down.

As a guide to temperature, Wikipedia’s data center article records that ASHRAE recommended a range of 18.0 °C to 27.0 °C in 2008, and notes that cooling far below the needed level wastes energy. Colder is not better; stable is better.

Rack layout and airflow

Most equipment draws air in at the front and pushes it out at the back. In a room with more than one rack, the Wikipedia article describes the hot aisle / cold aisle layout: racks face each other across a cold aisle and back onto a hot aisle, so hot exhaust is not drawn straight into the next rack. In a small room, the practical rules are simpler: point the aircon at the front of the rack, leave space behind it, fit blanking panels in empty rack slots, and keep cables tidy so they do not block the airflow.

Power: dedicated, protected and backed up

• A dedicated circuit for the rack, so a kettle or a heater elsewhere cannot trip it.
• An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that keeps the equipment running through short cuts and lets it shut down safely in longer ones.
• A separate supply for the aircon, sized by the installer.
• Proper earthing for the rack and equipment.
• For businesses that cannot stop, a generator or a plan for longer outages.

Electrical work in the room is a job for a registered electrical contractor. If the office is already short of power, our three-phase upgrade guide explains when a bigger supply is needed.

Cabling and raised floors

Every data point in the office runs back to the comms room, so it sits at the centre of the cable plan. Cables arrive through the ceiling, under a raised floor or through trunking. Our office cabling guide compares the routes and reminds you to plan the comms room with ventilation or cooling, power and space for growth. The Wikipedia server room article notes that up-flow aircon units suit retro-fitted rooms where a raised floor is too shallow or absent, while down-flow units that blow through floor grilles suit new rooms designed with a raised floor.

Fire protection

Water and electronics do not mix. The Wikipedia data center article notes that the main equipment room usually avoids a wet-pipe sprinkler system because of the fragile circuit boards, and that gaseous fire suppression is used instead in sensitive rooms. For a small office comms room, the essentials are smoke detection, a room built with fire-rated walls and door where the building requires it, and no combustible storage inside. Any change to the building’s fire systems has to follow the landlord’s and Bomba’s requirements. Our fire-rated door guide explains how rated doors work.

Security and access

The comms room should be locked and logged. Our office door access guide covers card and biometric access, and notes that the controller cabinet often lives in the server room itself. Keep the server room on its own key rather than on the office master key suite, and keep a list of who can enter.

Fit-out checklist

What it costs

ClickBina does not publish a price for a complete comms room fit-out, because it depends on the equipment, the building and the level of backup. These are the related figures on ClickBina’s own guides.

A comms room that runs continuously should be on an aircon maintenance plan; our office aircon contract guide lists server rooms among the mission-critical spaces that suit a comprehensive contract.

How ClickBina can help

Commercial fit-out is not one of ClickBina’s own listed trades, so WhatsApp us your job details for a quote: the office size, the equipment in the rack, and whether the room is new or an existing store room. We reply within the hour. ClickBina handles refurbishment and coordinates the trades on one job, with a flat price, no hidden charges, and a site visit of RM150, waived if you go ahead.

Sources & methodology

• Wikipedia, Server room — design considerations, precision air conditioning, up-flow and down-flow units, hot and cold aisles.
• Wikipedia, Data center — the ASHRAE temperature range and fire suppression in equipment rooms.
• ClickBina office cabling, aircon contract, door access and gypsum partition guides — cable routes, servicing prices, access control and fire-rated board.

Pricing note: prices are indicative Klang Valley figures quoted from ClickBina’s published guides; a comms room is priced in writing after the room and the equipment list have been checked.