9. North Kansas City Appendix A.4.1 _ OIT Data Center Design Narrative.pdf
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This document is a comprehensive Telecommunications Room (TR) Design Checklist developed by the VA Office of Information Technology (OIT) Solution Delivery Data Center & Infrastructure Engineering team. The checklist provides detailed architectural, telecommunications, mechanical, and electrical requirements for designing telecommunications rooms in VA facilities, with specific guidance for different facility types including healthcare settings.
The checklist covers critical design elements such as room size standards (170 square feet for healthcare facilities, 80 square feet for other facilities), placement restrictions, power distribution requirements, and technical specifications. Key requirements include vertically stacked TR locations, avoiding proximity to water sources, dedicated cooling provisions (5kW per network rack), redundant power distribution with A/B circuit configurations, specific lighting standards (500 lux horizontal, 200 lux vertical), and mandatory use of 3-phase 208V power with rack-mounted UPS systems. The document references VA OIT Infrastructure Standards for Telecommunications Spaces and emphasizes eliminating single points of failure in electrical and network infrastructure design.
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Basic Guidance: Telecommunications Room (TR) Design Checklist
Review the design of the Telecommunications Rooms against this checklist to determine if the planning documents meet the basic design requirements specified in the Infrastructure Standards for Telecommunications Spaces and OIT Design Guide Templates (see reference URLs below).
☐ Design plans utilize modern naming conventions. Ensure all references to “IDF,” “server closet,” “telco closet,” and similar are changed to “Telecommunications Room” or “TR” in all drawings and narratives.
Architectural
☐ Final TR layout has been vetted by Data Center & Infrastructure Engineering.
☐ Meets the size standard for TRs in a healthcare facility (170 square feet) and conforms to the rectangular form factor described in the OIT Design Guide Templates.
☐ Meets the size standard for TRs in other facility types (80 square feet), with 20 square feet additional per network rack necessary to support the served zone. Conforms to the rectangular form factor described in the OIT Design Guide Templates.
☐ Separate TRs for OIT/biomed/FMS are not present. Chain link fence separations and similar are not present.
☐ TRs are vertically stacked in multi-story buildings.
☐ TRs are not located adjacent to or under spaces with water (restrooms, break rooms, kitchens, et cetera). If unavoidable, water barrier is between the spaces.
☐ TRs do not have equipment not related to the support of the TR (e.g., piping, ductwork, pneumatic tubing, electrical distribution, et cetera) installed in, passing through, or entering the
TR.
The Solution Delivery (SD) Data Center & Infrastructure Engineering team has developed this guidance as a supplementary narrative to the OIT Design Guide Templates to provide a design checklist for field OIT and FMS staff, A/Es, and implementing contractors and VA staff. Please contact the Data Center & Infrastructure Engineering team for additional detail as necessary.
mailto:%20VAITESEDatacenterEngineering2@va.gov?subject=RE:%20Single-Rack%20TR%20Design%20&%20Outfitting ngrimit Text Box x ngrimit Text Box x
☐ TRs are not adjacent to spaces that limit cable distribution to the serving zone including stairwells, elevator shafts, outside walls, et cetera.
☐ TR entrance door is minimally 3 feet wide and 8 feet tall and fire rated to at least ¾ hour or greater per AHJ.
☐ Enough TRs exist to distribute horizontal cabling to all spaces in building. Permanent link rectilinear pathway distance (including vertical height changes at each end) is less than 90m (295 feet) from patch panel to work area outlet.
☐ Backboard is installed on three walls to support supplementary equipment. Backboard is painted white to provide improved light efficiency.
☐ TRs do not have suspended ceilings.
☐ TRs have all required security measures including physical access control, motion detection, intrusion detection, and other systems.
☐ Vertical pathways (conduits, slots, sleeves) have been detailed.
☐ Pathways for backbone (diverse path) and horizontal distribution including types of support have been detailed.
Telecommunications
☐ Final TR telecommunications plans have been vetted by Data Center & Infrastructure Engineering.
☐ Drawings include specifications and quantity of telecommunications cabling for backbone and horizontal distribution.
☐ The specification for horizontal UTP is Category 6A for medical-serving installations and OM4 (intra-building only) and SM (intra-building and inter-building).
☐ Horizontal and Vertical media terminate in rack panels, except coax which may terminate on backboard .
☐ Fiber backbone enters TR from diverse pathways from the Main Distribution Areas.
☐ Standard network channel racks are specified. See OIT Design Guide Templates. Two-post racks are not acceptable.
☐ Angled UTP patch panels are specified. See OIT Design Guide Templates.
☐ Horizontal cable managers are specified for use above, below, and between LAN switches (sandwiching all switches). Horizontal cable managers are not used between angled UTP patch panels. See OIT Design Guide Templates.
☐ Vertical cable managers are specified between racks. See OIT Design Guide Templates.
☐ Assess the total number of patch panel positions required for the serving space and the total number of switches required.
☐ Vertical rack elevation plan have been completed before construction drawings to determine the number of racks required. Rack elevations show fiber backbone patch panels, UTP patch panels, horizontal and vertical cable management devices, active switching equipment, Zone PDU, and rack-mounted UPS locations are present and follow guidance in the OIT Design Guide Templates. Generally, limit the patch panels to the top third of the rack, the middle third to switches, and the lower third to UPS & power distribution.
☐ Architect has conducted a capacity analysis to confirm horizontal raceway (cable tray) max fill ratio of 40% is not exceeded.
☐ Architect has confirmed that the maximum horizontal cable distance does not exceed 90 meters.
Mechanical
☐ Final TR environmental conditioning has been vetted by Data Center & Infrastructure Engineering.
☐ Dedicated cooling for anticipated active critical load is specified. Each network rack has 5kW of electrical capacity. Plan for 5kW (17,000 BTU/h) of heat load per installed rack.
☐ Temperature monitoring equipment to be connected to a central monitoring and alarm system operated by FMS (or similar group) is specified.
Electrical
☐ Final TR electrical plan has been vetted by Data Center & Infrastructure Engineering.
☐ Unswitched 120V convenience outlets (NEMA 5-20) on three walls.
☐ Lighting is installed in front of and behind network racks providing 500 lux in the horizontal plane and 200 lux in the vertical plane at three feet above the finished floor.
☐ Technical power to network racks in TRs is installed above the rack positions (not wall-mounted).
☐ Power to the network racks is 3-phase 208V. No 120V single-phase power distribution is specified. Note that IEC 60320 C13/14 and C19/20 power cords are required for all installed active equipment.
☐ For TRs with only one network rack: A/B redundant L21-20 circuits, with A/B redundant Rack PDUs to distribute power in the rack. See OIT Design Guide Templates.
☐ For TRs with two network racks: A/B redundant L21-30 circuits for the pair of network racks, with a 30A Zone PDU serving the pair and A/B redundant 20A Rack PDUs to distribute the power in each rack is installed. See OIT Design Guide Templates for topology and equipment details.
☐ For TRs with three network racks: A/B redundant hardwired circuits for the trio, with a 60A Zone PDU serving the trio and A/B redundant 20A Rack PDUs to distribute the power in each rack. See OIT Design Guide Templates for topology and equipment details.
☐ For TRs with more than three network racks, the following electrical distribution combinations are used.
Four racks:
Five racks:
Six racks:
☐ A and B distribution is sourced from distinct, separate upstream sources to eliminate single points of failure.
☐ For healthcare facilities, at a minimum the A distribution leg is on generator-backed distribution.
☐ The A leg supporting each network rack has a 5kW L21-20 input, L21-20 output, 208V rack-mounted UPS system immediately upstream of the A leg Rack PDU. Suggested model is the Eaton BladeUPS ZC0517700110000 or equivalent. See OIT Design Guide Templates.
☐ A 607-C compliant bonding system is specified. See OIT Design Guide Templates.
☐ Each network rack has a single 1RU, two-lug Rack Bonding Busbar (RBB) installed in position RU45 (rear top of rack). See OIT Design Guide Templates.
References:
VA OIT Infrastructure Standard for Telecommunications Spaces with Desgin Guide Templates:
https://www.cfm.va.gov/til/dguide/OIT-InfrastrucStdTelecommSpaces.pdf https://www.cfm.va.gov/til/dguide/OIT-InfrastrucStdTelecommSpaces.pdf https://www.cfm.va.gov/til/dGuide/OIT-DGTemplates-CriticalTelecommSpaces.pdf https://www.cfm.va.gov/til/dGuide/OIT-DGTemplates-CriticalTelecommSpaces.pdf
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