Tricks & Tips - installing in racks - preinstallation stage

Summary: Tricks and tips that I learnt during my career.

A set of rules that I follow before my installations that I found myself repeating to junior colleagues. 

1- Check the installation space 

Apart of the obvious "check if there is enough space for the equipment", make sure have the required U(s) and install the equipment in the right U(s). Believe me, in this job, there are few things more frustrating than going for an installation and you need to rearrange some equipment's because someone didn't install theirs correctly. 

Nowadays, most of the racks have the Us numbered, so before the installation, confirm witch U(s) are you going to use:

 (If you don't know what a U is, please check the link below "A typical section of 19-inch (482.6 mm) rack rail" : Rack_rail_dimensions )

2- Confirm the power outlets

 I'm from Portugal so we mostly use CEE outlets but you might found racks with C13 or C20 power outlets so check out if the equipment came we the right cable. Here's a nice article that sums it all nicely:  

FS.com community: "How Much Do You Know about Power Cord Types?" 
 
This is something that most non-tech people overlook so I strongly suggest that you confirm it personally.

 
3- Confirm if there are cage nuts for the equipment

Here's something that's vastly overlook by non-tech people. Confirm if the equipment has  cage nuts or if their are included in the list of equipment.
Use a cage nut tool to install them but since it's most likely you don't have such tool, have a least a "flat-blade" screwdriver at hand.

 

4- Check the cabling and the SFPs

Here's something that shows if the non-tech people involved on the project has any experience. Usually, the most experience accounts or pre-sales team or project managers are aware of the quantities and different types of SFPs and also the cabling that is required, but I urge you to confirm if the order has the right amount of cabling or if the customer will provide some or all of it.
Also, make sure that the cabling has the right length and the proper termination, specially the FO pairs. Nowadays, the vast majority of FO terminations are LC-LC but you should be aware that there are other kinds of FO terminations (SC or ST).

  

5- Stage your equipment

Staging is was separates the pros from the newbies.

You never know what would be the conditions on site at the day of the installation so everything that can be prepared prior is a must. I usually say to my junior colleagues to stage the equipments in such way that when they go on site, they only need to mount, cable and power it because:

• You don't know if there won't be any power issues during the installation.
  Sometimes customers schedule different teams to work during their maintenance window and you might end up waiting for the power to come up. However, if your equipment was staged properly, you know that you can mounted it and just need to plug the power cables after they finish their work. Also, make sure you can mount your equipment without having to connect a laptop to check the config or status. For instance, if you are mounting a switch stack, you should know (for instance; write some note at the equipment box) which switch is the master switch and preferably, the switches are mounted according to the order of the stack. Sure you can renumber it after but it's not efficient work.
  
  
  
  

  

• You don't know what will be physical the conditions on site.
  It's a lot better to be seated in a comfy chair, in a room with proper light and AC while you install the blank covers, the mounting brackets, the stack modules, the fans and network modules instead of crouching over the equipment, with AC blasting over (or below) you, under poor light or at a very noisy environment.

• You don't know if you will have a place to lay your laptop and configure the equipment.
  It's a lot better to calmly configure a equipment while you are seated on a comfy chair, in a room with AC, with time to check manuals or clarify configuration details instead off standing in an extremely cold (or hot if there isn't any AC yet) tech room, while holding a laptop with one arm and punching commands with the other hand and there's someone using a power drill in a room near by.

• You don't know if you have a DOA (dead-on-arrival) equipment or a faulty cable.
  Which it's not the installers fault but all in all, it's the installer who stands in front of the customer. No matter what he says the thought that will linger in the mind of the customer will be "well, if you have tested the equipment before this wouldn't end up being a waste of time for all of us..."

• You don't know what is the firmware it's on and if an upgrade is required.
  It's a lot better to calmly download the proper version while you are seated on a comfy chair with a stable internet connection than being on site, looking for place to activate your personal hotspot and download through a mobile connection a image that can be several hundreds of megabytes in size.

Here's a story I also like to tell my junior colleagues and that it sums this all. When you schedule a cable service for your house, what do you expect from the cable technicians?

That they should arrive on time, extend the cable/fibber to your house, plug and power up everything, call central to activate the service, test everything and it's all done. You can go on with your lives. But I'm sure you will file a complain if you heard anything like "Oh, sorry, we need to postpone the installation because..."

"... I don't have the right power cable."

"... I don't have the right tools."

"... the equipment it's dead."

"... it's the first time I see this equipment and I don't know how to configure it"

Next time, I will blog about tricks and tips that I use during my installations.

How about you? Any more tricks and tips that you would like to share? Please write them on the comments below. Thank you.