Data center planning: professional and requirements-oriented

Detailed planning is the key to a successful data center

Data centers are the control hubs of businesses and organizations. Complex architectures and operating workflows, as well as a range of different applications, all pose a challenge for the network infrastructure. The quality requirements that are placed on structured, application-neutral cabling are correspondingly high. Individualized planning and a high level of automatic cable management play an important role.

Transmission paths and attenuation budgets must be considered right from the start in the design of a modern data center. This is because efficient cabling forms the basis for the trouble-free operation of all the processes and this factor must therefore be taken into account during the data center planning phase.

Rosenberger OSI’s highly experienced employees will work with you on your project right from the outset. Our skilled employees will work at your premises to ensure reliability and security in every phase of the project. That is what Rosenberger OSI stands for. Rock-solid consulting. For a secure future. And a safe investment.

Many years of cabling expertise form the basis for correct data center planning

With more than 25 years of experience, Rosenberger OSI is your reliable partner for the construction of future-proof IT cabling infrastructures – whatever the scale and for both enterprise and co-location environments. Are you planning to construct or extend a data center? We would be delighted to help.

Planning new data centers

Professional preliminary data center planning is essential. This includes:

Comprehensive identification of the required material Clarification of the current requirements, while also taking account of future growth.
A suitable service package: As part of its service commitment, Rosenberger OSI works together with the operator as early as the pre-sales phase, long before the time of implementation of the data center plans. This cooperation results in a requirements catalogue together with the corresponding service package.

Planning data center extensions

A data center is a living organism that the operator must monitor constantly and plan anew if necessary. When doing so, it is necessary to answer various questions:

Where, for example, is it necessary to establish new connections and eliminate old ones? Where do new cables have to be laid if new active components are added to the data center?
Will additional space be required for an upcoming tech-refresh or might it even be necessary to perform a temporary parallel installation?

By planning the data carefully up-front, it is possible to eliminate the risk of any nasty surprises later.

Planning of data center relocation

Thought of everything? What is important for the data center relocation!

Relocating a data center successfully in 10 phases

from capacity planning
over project organization
harmonized migration plan
to concluding work

Our checklist helps to avoid pitfalls, to recognize potential problems early on and not to forget anything important when relocating.

to checklist

Good data center planning is everything

We will help you find the data center architecture that is right for your needs. Efficient cable management combined with the level of flexibility you want and the necessary reserve capacity to cope with the data rates that will be demanded in the future. We will show you various solutions and assess their cost and feasibility.

High-level network plan, including redundancy concept
Low-level network plan, including hardware components

Area planning, including the positioning of racks
Area planning, including outline concept for the cabling, and redundancy concept, including room-by-room planning while also taking account of fire areas.

Rack layout plan, including height units of equipment
Cabling that takes account of the attenuation budget and length restrictions
Translation of the logical connection planning into the corresponding physical implementation, including port allocation
Creation of a work order list for hardware items, basic IP management and cabling
Input for BOM in the ordering process

Rosenberger OSI is creating a modern data center for DVAG at its new site

“As early as the planning stage, the support we received from the experts at Rosenberger OSI was of enormous help to us because the intensive, and in some cases cross-sector, advice we received allowed us to get around a number of obstacles proactively during the individual construction stages.”
Ronald Appel, responsible for operation of the data center at DVAG

read the success story

Additional services in the field of data center planning

Once the architecture has been planned, you can additionally reserve various other services. More about our Consulting & Managed Services around the data center

Seamless documentation is important for both asset and facility management and is also of great significance for reliable data center operation.

Alongside the preparation and planning of a project, the service package also includes schedule monitoring in the procurement process as well as installation control.

News & Media

Blog

03/24/2020

Important trends for future-oriented data center cabling - Part 1

What cabling for 400G Ethernet might look like
With multi-fibre plugs to the high-speed network

Learn more

Blog

02/19/2020

Edge Computing: On the edge and yet right in the middle

Edge Data Center – old ideas in new packages? Where is edge computing used? Trend researchers see Edge as gaining momentum.

Learn more

Whitepaper

01/30/2020

When is OM5 technically and economically viable?

What are characteristics of OM5? What are the possible applications in contrast to the OM4 fibre?
What factors speak in favour of using OM5?

Learn more

Success Stories

01/31/2020

Future-oriented cabling for transmission system operator TenneT

TenneT relies on modern control centers to monitor its grids, that can grow with the requirements of the dynamic energy market.

Learn more

Any other questions?

Here you will find answers to various questions on the topic of data center planning.

As the bandwidths that are needed by new active technologies in modern data centers grow, so too do the demands placed on the passive infrastructure. The data cabling should therefore be planned as early as possible, preferably together with the power supply and air conditioning. Well thought-through, efficient cabling should combine optimization of the transmission lengths and attenuation budgets with a clear and manageable (and therefore also flexible) structure. However, the choice of an individual cabling concept that is appropriate for the data center in question must also be based on the standards EN 50173-5, EN 50174-1-2 and EN 50600-2-4.

An individual development plan is the guiding thread that helps during the implementation of a new data center. This plan extends from the active elements and on to the cabling and the necessary electrical connections. Depending on the data center’s requirements in terms of reliability, the fixed cabling (trunk cabling) is then planned as a redundant system in accordance with the standard EN 50600-2-4 and is expertly installed. Here, you can rely on our all-round service from a single source.

In order to make sure that the existing cabling is suitable for an upcoming bandwidth update - for example from 16 to 32 Gbit Fiber Channel - we offer you a proactive verification of the passive IT infrastructure using OTDR (optical time domain reflectometry) or on the basis of a BERT test (bit error test). In addition, we analyse the existing cabling for contamination using video microscopy.

External suppliers and third-party providers are often an integral part of the data center environment. If,for any reason, you cannot be on-site in your data center in order to check or accept the services undertaken by your provider then we will gladly undertake this task for you as a neutral party. Within the framework of our Quality Assurance Management, we will ensure that the third-party provider adheres to your quality standards.