I still believe ... in Raised Floors

In this industry, there has always been a steady influx of new technologies aimed at addressing end-user challenges. While some of these innovations prove to be significant improvements and manage to establish a lasting presence, many others tend to be fleeting, disappearing as quickly as they appeared.

Access floor has been a timeless solution through the decades.

Initially access floor solved the traditional data center issues of weight, cooling, and wiring. It branched out to office buildings, and hospitals, banking, industrial control rooms, casinos, clean room manufacturing, historic buildings, A/V platforms in churches, retail spaces, gaming venues, exhibition centers and event spaces. The use of raised floor keeps growing and growing because it solves so many problems in a wide variety of industries.

However, access floor still represents a valid, economical, and practical solution to the everyday dilemmas faced by the IT professional. It also affords a creative solution for the non-traditional applications looking for an answer to their similar challenges like when a maze of wires is present. Raising the floor offers a solution by providing a sub-floor space for wires, keeping the walkways clear and safe. This arrangement allows for efficient bundling of network cables by rack resulting in neatly organized power cables and reducing floor obstructions. Reconfiguring cables for a new rack or replacing old ones is straightforward with an access floor. Simply lifting a single panel from the support grid gives an operator direct access to the underlying area, eliminating the legal risks associated with overhead tray systems. Overhead trays require using ladders, navigating over equipment, or needing extra help, which can be precarious and cumbersome. Access floors offer a more efficient, safer alternative.

Another long standing benefit of raised floors is their contribution to cooling efficiency. High efficiency grates installed in the floor enable strategically directed airflow, channeling cooled air precisely where it's needed - towards the server racks. This is energy-efficient and maintains ideal temperatures for sensitive equipment. With these additions, raised floors are instrumental in implementing hot and cold aisle configurations.

The trend of repurposing large spaces in historic districts for both commercial and residential uses has gained popularity, and access floors have emerged as an ideal solution for these environments. People are increasingly drawn to downtown areas, seeking to live and work in buildings that boast architectural character. However, these expansive open spaces often present challenges in efficiently distributing utilities, plumbing, power, and network connections. Access floors address this issue by enabling flexible and unobtrusive power distribution across the space, eliminating the need for unsightly power poles hanging from ceilings, which might not have a crawl space between floors. In commercial applications, raised floors facilitate the creation of open-concept work environments, offering easy access to power and air, secure network connections, and the ability to craft smaller, private areas within the larger space. Additionally, access floors allow for quick and easy upgrades, and the reconfiguration of these segmented areas can be done almost instantaneously.

The increasing installation of raised floors over the years has resulted in a wider availability of pre-owned options. There are now many more cost effective access floors available.? Pre-owned floors can frequently be utilized and often appear to be nearly new.? Refurbished floors have made a large impact in the raised floor market.? Refurbished floors are recycled panels and understructure which has been stripped and a new surface applied.? These systems meet all the design requirements of a raised floor, including the ability to support heavy server rack weights, while reducing the costs to nearly half the cost of a new floor.?The circularity aspect of preventing abandoned access floors from ending up in landfills is also a commendable benefit.? The true cost of an access floor is more than the cost of the materials initially, and when considered over time, is often much more economical than traditional methods.??

Access floor is far from obsolete. Even though hyperscale facilities might adopt diverse approaches for environmental advantages, traditional raised floors continue to be the ideal choice for a range of applications and users. Its enduring practicality ensures that access floor's relevance will continue for years to come.

I still believe …

A note about this article: I wrote this article in 2010 in response to Christina Page with 雅虎 and her support of the greening of data centers with the chicken coop design being unveiled. At the time, every one thought raised floors were on their way out. I didn’t and still don’t. Here’s the original article refreshed for 2023 with my current thoughts.

Carol Blake