Situation

A branch office for a software development division of a global telecommunications equipment manufacturer was moving offices that included several large Server Rooms containing internal and a critical Development Servers for a major Client. The local IT staff, although very capable of providing all daily support, had never been involved with a relocation before.

Unified Relo Services

Unified Relo provided a turnkey solution including planning, project management, Data Center Engineers to un-rack and re-install all equipment, and Movers to transport everything to the new building. During Planning we provided options and advice to simplify the new environment, developed a reasonable taxonomy for Data Center cable labeling, developed a schedule for the weekend moves, a resource plan, and sign-off documentation.

On Move weekends, our project manager and technical staff arrived each Friday at close of business to prep the source and destination sites. By the time we leave, the destination racks have stickers with Server names to simplify installations and labeled Patch Cables. Saturday mornings at 7:30AM, our technical team started un-racking equipment and prepping it for the Movers. At 8:00AM, the Movers arrived and started speed-packing all equipment. Within a few hours all servers are delivered to the target destinations.

Our technical team, was already there to immediately unpack and re-rack all equipment. The color-coded stickers have a Rack ID. The destination Racks have stickers with Server names so it's very easy to get all devices exactly where they are supposed to be. As equipment is racked, we start patching in Servers to Switches. Teams of two are provided with a per Rack listing of all Patch Cables for that Rack. One person is plugging in cables as the other checks off each server connection on the list. Completed Rack sheets are collected by the project manager who validates all connections. As full Racks are completed, the Customer's Server Manager is notified so he can log in and perform a final validation. Once all Racks are completed and validated by the Customer's Server Manager, the Unified Relo Project Manager prepares a Server Room Sign-Off.

Final Sign-Off's were received early each Saturday evening and the Unified Relo Project Manager was on-site Monday mornings to review results and help resolve any issues not caught by the multiple checks performed as part of the move process.

Overall, the result was a clean transition to new facilities and organized Server Rooms with accurate labeling.