Comm. Closet Ventilation

[mini4YOU]

I am designing a comm closet. Inside will only be the patch panels and cisco switches etc..

Can this small 4'x 4' Closet be sealed? or does it need some type of ventilation?

does this room get hot? i see maybe only 2 switches at most. Should ask for a bath type fan to be installed?

or would a vented door be good enough?

 

[MasterRacker]

2 switches now. Unless you have building power backup I would put the switches on a UPS. Plan for expansion as you never know what really cool technology will come out next year that you will want to put in there.

That being said, if you're talking 4x4 with a std. 8' ceiling I would think a vented door would be plenty.

Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[alamtnman]

I have several closets in a multistory building that size that only have a couple of switches and heat has never been an issue. It did get a little warm on one floor when they decided to throw in a couple of small departmental servers and a small ups but even then an 18x18 vent cut into the door worked fine however our internal security has requested we use a thermostat controlled fan due to the ease someone could kick out a vent to gain access to the room. So I guess it depends on how security conscience/paranoid you/your customer is.

T.R.
RCDD

Honest officer,I know I've been thinking but i ain't thunk yet

 

[edfair]

Possibly smaller vents top and bottom to allow some airflow from the temperature difference. Then you could use a small fan blowing towards the top vent if needed.

This worked for one closet with a server and switch. Monitor was switched off when access not needed.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[buitenhek]

In my short 29 years cabling experience, stuff happens after 87 degrees continuous. Think and grow rich.

Regards
Peter Buitenhek
ProfitDeveloper.com

"Never settle for a job well done...always look for cost cutting measures

 

[TDMtek]

If heat is or becomes an issue you need a air flow path. Vents in the bottom of the doors and a vent into the ceiling space; if the ceiling space is the air return for the HVAC system. Or a duct into the nearest air return.

With a path for hot air to rise and exit, even a small vent can provide a lot cooling.

 

[FredWagner]

Definitely vents low and high to allow for rising air to flow out and pull in cooler air from below. Perhaps a thermostatically controlled fan to kick in above a 80F or so. In a previous organization, in a high rise, server and phone rooms were cooled but there were three Arcnet hubs in a large uncooled room with some large power transformers. Those three hubs were sitting on top of each other, and running so hot the rubber feet had melted and run down the sides of the cases. Short term, we ran a 4" conduit and extended 48 runs of coax to the phone room, moved the hubs to the cooled phone equipment room. Long term, built a new cooled server room, rewired for Cat5, with everything home-run wired to the server room. (the 100 Meter limit for Cat 5 was OK.)

Fred Wagner