Metagyre, Inc.

You only relocate a data center once (hopefully), but you manage it day after day. A big part of making your data center more manageable, dressing in all the cables and fiber. This means keeping everything covered, bundled and out of sight:
a) Cabinets have doors and sidewalls.
b) Copper cables are patched within the cabinets using the provided cable management.
c) Cables follow standard paths and do not cut across cabinets.
d) Fiber and copper cables are kept in separate trays.
e) Blanking panels will be used.

Dressing in the miles of cable and fiber required to connect all the data center equipment is an art form. With a little practice you will learn how to comb through the cables to ensure they are aligned and bundled so they stay out of the way and allow access to the hardware they connect.

A large part of a well dressed facility is having a solidly designed standardized cabinet layout along with a good structure cable design and power plan. Obviously each category of equipment will require its own layout and each should be considered and planned before any equipment or cable is ever brought into the data center.

All your designs will be a compromise between capacity, initial cost, and management. Since a majority of a data center’s TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) results from the ongoing management and maintenance, spend the time up front and perform the necessary work to keep everything covered, bundled and out of site. You will see the savings over the life of your data center.