Feng Shui your technology

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When you move in to a new house or apartment, if you’re like me, you want to move things around and arrange the place differently from how the previous owners had it. It’s your right to put your stamp on a place and make it your own.  Inevitably, you often end up putting everything in roughly the same place because the power sockets haven’t changed position. 

I had this experience recently and nearly all of my big plans were ruined by the position of radiators and power sockets.  Room design is something you need to think through carefully. The same can be said of your technology layout. Larger businesses have the luxury of specialty data centres specifically built to suit the needs of the technology—but if you don’t have that luxury, then you need to consider how to tackle this issue.

Checklist for your technology space

Planning how and where your technology is laid out is essential for the performance of your technology and therefore the productivity of your business.  Just having your servers and storage sitting in the corner of the room poses a number of problems in terms of noise, heat, space and, most crucially, security.  Whilst having a dedicated room for your technology is a cost factor, it does provide you the security your technology needs and allows you to plan for growth. 

Setting up your technology space is just as crucial and complex as setting up a room in your home, but there are a few simple rules that can help you get the best fit for your technology:

• Place the technology in a location where the noise cannot distract people
• Choose a space that can accommodate all of your technology and give the hardware space to be cooled
• Do not place your hardware near other systems which may cause disruption
• Do not place your technology in a location that is open to security or natural disasters
• Choose a location that has space for the planned growth
• Ensure there are enough power supplies
• Place your back up in a separate location so that it is not faced by the same risks as the original data storage systems

Rules to succeed by—do they work for you?

These may seem like simple rules. But it’s easy to forget just one of them—and when you do, you can run in to problems down the line. Space planning is essential to get the best from your technology. If you do not do it right first time, you may end up having to start again—and that can be costly. 

Do you have any other suggestions or experiences to share about your technology and how to lay it out?  Do you agree with our suggestions?  Let us know.