Communication Room Installations, Datacentre Planning and Computer Room Maintenance from ZebraHosts.

 What is a communications room?

At the time of construction, many buildings were designed and constructed with the comfort of the people working in them as the main concern.  Little or no consideration was given to the technology of the future. Many businesses therefore choose to build a communications room specifically to accommodate technology such as servers and communications equipment.

These communications rooms can be varying sizes and sometimes only take up a discreet section of a large of office.  They also go by many other names such as server room, comms room, comms suite and datacentre.  When bought in house all of these names describe a space dedicated to the same function: supporting part or all of the technology for that business.

Why is there a need for a communications room?

Commonly, server and network equipment is located on and under desks in extremely accessible areas. This means that equipment can be subjected to unintentional and intentional misuse from users and intruders.  By moving equipment to a central communications or server room, the management of access and security to the equipment becomes much easier.  This generates greater confidence among new and existing clients for many businesses.

The other added benefit of a dedicated comms suite is the option for appropriate fire suppression systems to be installed. Main offices will often use sprinkler systems in the event of a fire which cause damage to equipment and mean that data would most likely been destroyed and lost.  Well designed communications rooms focus on preventing system failures which is less costly than trying to recover from a major incident.

 How can we help?

Having built our own data centre from scratch, the team at ZebraHosts can offer firsthand experience and knowledge when it comes to communication suites and computer rooms.

Whether it is sourcing premises and building a brand new communication suite or simply upgrading your existing facilities, ZebraHosts can design and build communications rooms to meet your unique requirements.

We are experienced in creating environments for securely housing large amounts of data and can create an in-house data suite at your premises or offer advice on creating a similar facility offsite.  With the added benefit of PRINCE2 based project management we are able to deliver projects on time and on budget.

·         Site survey

ZebraHosts can conduct a site survey of the current equipment or comms room that you have in place.  From here we can create a report list requirements to produce a detailed project specification and fully costed proposal.

·         Hardware installation

ZebraHosts can specify, configure and install all required hardware ranging from routers and switches to servers and storage. Where these systems are already in place or if required as an additional service, technical and maintenance support can also be provided by ZebraHosts.

·        Network cabling

ZebraHosts can assist with the supply and installation of structured cabling via raised floors and over head cable trays, cable containment and all cable trunking.

·        Cooling

With knowledge and experience of modern data centres ZebraHosts can advise on a wide range of cooling techniques such as hot and cold aisle containment cooling and more regular air condition deployments of free standing and under floor systems.  We also offer advice on green options that can make the most of nature for environmentally friendly coolling.

·        Power management

Standard practice indicates that computer systems should aim to have an uptime of 99.999%. To achieve this, power protection systems need to be utilised such as UPS's and backup generators. ZebraHosts helps with the use and installation of these systems along with calculation and future management of power availability so that the flexibility and scalability of your comms suite can be established from an early stage.

·        Security

The theft of data is always a current topic in the news headlines and can be catastrophic to the functionality of a business and also to its reputation. This makes the security of your communications room very important to the effective protection of data. ZebraHosts can help with a range of solutions such as: CCTV, Electronic Access, Lighting Control, Fire Detection & Control and remote room monitoring.