Raised Floor for Telecommunications data center applications
Raised floors available for general purpose use typically do not address the special requirements needed for telecommunications applications.
The general types of raised floors in telecommunications data centers include: stringerless, stringered, and structural platforms; and, truss assemblies.
Stringerless raised floors — an array of pedestals that provide the necessary height for routing cables and also serve to support each corner of the floor panels.
Stringered raised floors — a vertical array of steel pedestal assemblies (steel base plate, tubular upright, and a head) uniformly spaced on 2-foot centers and mechanically fastened to the concrete floor.
Structural platforms — members constructed of steel angles or channels that are welded or bolted together to form an integrated platform for supporting equipment.
Truss assemblies — utilizing attachment points to the subfloor to support a truss network on which the floor panels rest. The truss has high lateral strength and transfers lateral loads to the subfloor with less strain than possible with a vertical pedestal assembly.
A telecommunications facility may contain continuous lineups of equipment cabinets. The most densely populated installation configuration would consist of rows of continuous 2-foot-wide equipment cabinets with aisles that separate 2-foot-wide adjacent rows. This lineup configuration is considered to be the most densely populated in terms of square foot area and, therefore, the largest floor load anticipated for a raised floor system. Considering prorated aisle space, a single equipment cabinet will then occupy an 8-square foot (0.74-m2) floor area (4 square feet for the cabinet and 4 square feet of aisle).
The data center can be located in remote locations, and is subject to physical and electrical stresses from sources such as fires and from electrical faults.