In most organizations, cable management isn’t given the same priority as designing the data center. However, improper cable management can lead to issues and delays while troubleshooting data center problems. Therefore, cable management should be treated as an important part of the data center design itself, instead of being treated as an afterthought. With that, here are five important tips to help you manage cables better.
Color coding
This simple and cost-effective method makes it very simple for you to identify and trace cables. You could use specific colors for data cables, power cables, and other types of cables. You can further make the process efficient by using different colors to identify dual power sources and redundant power sources.
Labeling
After color coding, labeling your cables can be time-saving in case an issue has to be fixed in your data center. It also makes the cable installation process efficient and quicker. While labeling the cables, ensure that the labels are visible from multiple angles and positions and yet secure enough that they can’t be removed easily.
Cable tying
Once you have labeled your cables, the next step would be to use cable ties to hold the cables going to and from the same node. You can choose a simple velcro-based tie to hold cables together – velcro-based cables can be reused and adjusted, and can also be easily removed compared to other types of ties.
Cables in hot aisles
If your data center uses the hot aisle/cold aisle format for arranging servers, then you could run your cables under the raised floors of the hot aisles. Fitting them under raised floors can protect your cables from pooling water and cable air dams. Since these cables do not interfere with the airflow, this process helps with improving the temperature management of your data center by preventing hot spots from forming.
Cable guides
You can use vertical and horizontal cable guides to properly route the cables from one node to another. However, if your data center employs fiber optic cables, you cannot use the standard vertical and horizontal guides as they can prevent information from being relayed accurately. Therefore, you could use fiber raceways which comes with a curved guide to ensure that the transformation capabilities of the cables are not lost.
By following these cable management tips, you can improve the uptime of your data centers. At Hardy Racks, we manufacture and install fiber raceways for the efficient routing of fiber optic cables. To know more about how our raceways can help you with cable management and to know more about our other products and services, get in touch with us now.