Chapter 5:

Overhead or Under-Floor Installation?

What You Will Learn?

Benefits and drawbacks between ceiling and raised floor to run

power, data connection and cooling system

Detailed overview of components involved in both options

Common problems associated with both options

Options
Overhead installation
- Use of false ceiling in which cabling, electrical conduits are
routed
- Termination are done above the servers rows
Under-Floor installation
- Flat panels are placed in an elevated grid of horizontal and
vertical bars, electrical conduits, cabling and cooling system
are routed under this raised floor.
- Termination are done in a subfloor or into patch panel and
power receptacles within the DC cabinets
Overhead Installation

Advantages
Less expensive (Cable try ladder racks and raceways are less expensive
than a complete raised floor system)
More suitable for limited spaces
Requires less floor spaces (no entrance ramp)
Reduce chances to snagging or damaging data cables

Disadvantages
Challenges for air circulation within the DC and servers cooling system
Unplugged power cable or patch cord due to gravity and cord weight
Under-Floor Installation

Advantages
Better cooling capabilities
Protecting infrastructure (patch cords, power cables) against
accidental damage or unplugs
Easier to support and access infrastructure
Disadvantages
More expensive
Most Data Centers are built with a raised floor
system.
Deciding on whether to go with overhead Or Under Floor installation depends
on:
The needs for the data center
The size of the data center

If the Data Center is small In round numbers, generally less than 1000
square feet (100 square meters)or is being constructed in a building that
has limited space from floor to ceiling, I design it with overhead
infrastructure. The ramp needed for a raised floor and the height it
occupies simply take up too much space in such a small room.
If the Data Center is larger I design it with a raised floor and place its
various infrastructure down below. I find the raised floor system essential
for controlling airflow and neatly routing infrastructure. I've also learned
that it is much simpler to lift a floor tile and plug in to or disconnect from
infrastructure components than to climb a stepladder and stretch above a
server cabinet to make connections.
Separation of power & Data
Separation is a must, EMI may distort information on data cable
No standards available for the separation distance
Separation of power & Data (Cont.)
It is not recommended to use overhead & under-floor for
separation (exposed to disadvantages from both scenarios)

Precautions with using fluorescents lights specially with copper

cables (at least 5 inches distance is recommended)
Plenum and Non-Plenum Spaces
Plenum: cavities above false ceiling or below raised floor, used for
air distribution in the server environment, such spaces are more
vulnerable to fire
Certain regulations and building codes have been put in place that
permit only specially rated cables to be used in the plenum to
reduce the chance or effect of a fire
Chose the right type of cables according to building codes to rout in
a data center
Ceiling Components
Cable tray (shallow basket), Ladder racks (narrow ladder frame
installed horizontally), both are made of crossed metal bars secured
to the true ceiling and configured to align with infrastructure path
to be followed.

Raceways: help in organizing the infrastructure to be clustered over

each server cabinet.

Fire codes are applied on raceways, ladder racks, server cabinets, or

infrastructure equipments which in most of them requires around
50 cm distance between automatic sprinkler and any solid objects
 Ceiling Components

Raceways Cable Tray Ladder racks

 Ceiling Components (Cont.)

Raceway overhead Termination ExampleFront View Raceway overhead Termination ExampleBack View

Having the data ports above the back of the server cabinet in the raceways
would help in connecting them easily while it is not the case with plugging
power cables at the front of the raceways
Raised Floor Components
During design phase, we need to identify:
- Floor height
- Mechanisms for bringing in equipment
- Weight-bearing capacity
- Types and numbers of floor tiles
- Termination infrastructure
- Other subfloor details
Raised Floor Components (Cont.)
Floor Height:

some evaluation factors are tide to cooling issues (server

environment size and shape, number of equipment, and how much
cold air needs to be channeled in the space) while others are tide to
infrastructure (how much infrastructure is routed under the floor)

The simple rule is that the more height you have the more air you
can circulate within that space the more effect it has above the
floor, and the more infrastructure can be routed under the raised
floor
Raised Floor Components (Cont.)
Elevated floor vs. sunken floor

Deciding whether to go with either option should be made early in

the design phase
Raised Floor Components (Cont.)
Mechanisms for bringing in equipment
Ramps:
- More popular
- Raised floor height and slop determine the ramps length
- Ideal ramps, 1.8 M wide with 1.8m of landings at both ends
- Many building codes requires handrail on both side
- It is recommended to install slip-resistance tread on the ramp
- More than one ramp may be required depending on the DC size
and approved building codes
Lifts
- Occupies less space
- More expensive
Weight Bearing Ability
Considered by many as the most important element of any DC floor

Ideally, DC floor should support 2000 pounds or more per cabinet

location

Overall weight bearing ability depends on structure of the building

that entail
- Thickness & integrity of the concrete slab with bottom floor
- steel skeleton with above the ground DC

Weight bearing ability should be specified during the design phase

 Weight Bearing Ability (Cont.)
Other type of loads that needs to be specified:
- Static Loads
1. Concentrated or point load: weight applied on small area, area
where pegs or casters for fully loaded cabinets touches the floor
2. Uniform or static load: weight distributed over large area, as in
case of heavy boxes or large equipment sits on the ground
- Dynamic loads
1. Rolling Load(weight rolled over an area from passing
equipment)
2. Affect load (force generated by dropped objects item weight
& falling distance)
3. Ultimate load (breaking point of the floor panel)
It is recommended to apply weight load on ramps or lifts equipped wit
the room
Types and Numbers of Floor Tiles
Floor tiles comes with standard size (2 feet)
Typically made of steel with either wood, concrete or steel at the
core
Types of floor tiles:
Types and Numbers of Floor Tiles (Cont.)
It is recommended to review the planed floor tiles deployment with
the person responsible for room cooling as the more use of
perforated and notched panels the harder it is to maintain air
pressure
Use static control tiles to reduce voltage generated by walking people

Types of static floor tiles

Termination Details

Too many methods are available to terminate electrical outlets and

structured cables (end of flexible conduit, stationary raceways,
server cabinetetc)

The goal is to be flexible, not to restrict access, prepare for growth,

and can be reassembled else where
Common Problems

Poor sizing of tile cut-outs, or placing them in wrong location

causing air to escape from notches

Mistakes with relation to cable type installation (plenum, non-

plenum or low smoke/zero halogen)

Problems with relation to the strength of the raised floor