For Data Center Equipment, Use Professional Moving Services
If you are a data center manager tasked to supervise the moving of all your data center equipment to another building or place, make plans and make consultations before hiring moving services and before doing the actual relocation task.
The first thing you need to do is to contact your equipment vendor and ask if it handles equipment moving. If not, ask if there are restrictions on equipment moving and if there are moving-related processes that can void equipment warranties.
If your equipment vendor does not undertake equipment moving, start looking for professional moving services that specialize in data center equipment. You can ask your vendor and other data center managers for recommendations. If they cannot recommend moving services, you can look in the Yellow Pages or on the Internet. Consider years of operation, awards received, references offered, online reviews, trucks and other vehicles used and the financial capability of the company.
Frank Shiboski, chief information officer of William B. Meyer, advises data center managers to choose moving services that require detailed planning before actual relocation. Moving services should use worksheets that list the types and brands of the equipment, equipment codes, time frames, authorizations, accountability for each equipment and special packing and moving requirements.
Shiboski also advises equipment moving managers to make sure that PCs are wrapped in nonstatic bubble wraps, placed in watertight containers, tagged on the outside on the containers and tracked on Palm Pilots or other tracking tools.
Meanwhile, Akibia data center relocations executive Steve Bolton’s advice is to hire moving services that use moving trucks with vibration controllers. To reduce extreme bouncing and vibration that damage computers and servers, professional moving services equip their special trucks use with air shocks to reduce vibration. Bolton recommends the placement of computer storage equipment just behind the cab.
Professional data center equipment moving services also use temperature-controlled vehicles to protect servers from overheating when the vehicles pass through hot climates. They also offer insurance that would replace the full value of the equipment being moved in case something happens.
Lastly, see to it that equipment containing data backups are not placed in the same moving truck. It is recommended that you make several backups for crucial data and ensure the security of such data. For the transfer of large numbers of data center equipment, choose the larger moving services which have been performing well for several years.
