When your IT department is tasked with physically moving your data center, in an instant there are many working parts that need to be thought through, processes and action plans put into place. Part of the process of moving servers and data center gear, is the physical moving of IT assets that are not being migrated or decommissioned.
There are many steps before you can pack up and move a data center, and part of this really is deciding how many resources are available to you in the order of getting the gear moved from one data center to another. And, is the data center relocation project served best and most efficient by utilizing those internal resources putting their hands on gear and physically moving it?
Some companies are weary of having their internal engineers or IT staff physically move their data center. Your internal team members are probably rock stars on their day to day deliverables. But how often do they think about and have executed moving a data center? Lack of this particular experience will result in a less efficient move due to the missing preparations at the origin. Lack of preparing and executing efficient data center moving practices will result in a less than ideal and quite frankly, not a very smooth transition overall. The result is down sprits, loss of efficiency, and extended down time.
A specialized data center moving company will have the team in place who have experienced years of moving data centers. They will have the best practices to properly and efficiently document the gear so that when they unmount servers & gear from cabs, it is super smooth. There is a systematic approach to how server and IT gear is removed from server cabs, which also takes gear elevations into account. Also keeping in mind all the rail sets, power cables, network cabling; making sure they are neat and organized prior to leaving the origin so when the gear is being stacked back in at the destination it is a much easier and organized effort. A data center moving service, like nationalcws.com will also mitigate possible physical injuries from the gear, to a company’s staff. The Nationalcws.com team will prevent server room hazards and always keeps server room health and safety in the front of our actions.
Shawn Simon @ Nationalcws.com says that 60% of physically moving a data center is in the preparation, packaging and logistical foresight of a data center that needs to be moved. 20% is the execution of the server transportation and 20% is the un-packaging of equipment and remounting of the gear in its cabs. If the origin site is managed and the preparations have been put in (and thought of); it will then translate into an extremely efficient back end.
During discussions we have heard ideas from companies regarding server transportation that discussed stacking bare servers and gear in trunks of cars, or the back of a personal truck, or even a rented truck by the company (gear is shrink wrapped onto a pallet). This presents risks & liability in serval key areas. The gear needs to be prepared and protected from road bumps, shock, static-electricity, foreign debris and humidity. Prior to transporting any data center gear, weather, traffic and road conditions are also factors to be mindful of. Break down of the transport vehicle does happen, so what is the plan in regard to a break down? This can again translate into extended down time if there is no alternate back up plan(s) in place. Or on a worst case; what if there were a catastrophic accident while a company employee was transporting. What is this accident results in injury to a company employee, other involved in the accident. What is the gear being damaged beyond repair and is a total loss?
There are a multitude of considerations when moving a data center and its associated gear. This is just surface level to bring attention to some of the bulletin points when moving servers and IT equipment.
Nationalcws.com always offers free service quotes on any data center or IT moving project. We have a streamlined process to bridge any information gaps in order to better understand the scope of moving your data center. We are quite often referred to as an extension of your team when we are executing our specialized services. When it comes to data center movers, Nationalcws.com is the team that will exceed expectations and help to get all those lights green when spinning your gear up!