Infrastructure modern office - 1

As you know, now everyone is in a state called the “Financial Crisis”. Empty offices, unemployment and so on ... However, there is a hope that it cannot last forever, so sometime your office will also need to come to a new, beautiful, equipped with the latest technology office. This series of articles is for those who want Understand what a modern office consists of from the point of view of IT infrastructure - IT managers, IT managers, senior administrators, and those just interested. I cite here what I encountered in my work in person. In fact - I suggest you not to fill my bumps :) This article opens the cycle, the second part (about the SCS and LAN) has already been published , as well as the continuation about telephony, wi-fi and planning of provider inputs . It turns out that that in one article, I obviously will not fit in with the large amount of information that I want to convey. In this article I will try to reveal the composition of the engineering systems that make up the work of the office and describe one of the approaches to the design of such systems. I suppose there will be four articles in total, which I will publish weekly. I would be glad to co-authors, and, of course, emerging issues.

-one. What does a modern office consist of?

Well, you (the management of the company, your boss, you yourself, as the head of your business) decided that it was time to change the office. At first, the decision causes light trepidation, because it involves an incredible amount of work - planning, various approvals, supervision of performers ... The worst thing is the deadline, as a rule, is extremely rigid, and the risk of being late is directly a financial risk. On the other hand, the right approach will ensure you At the very least, an exceptional pleasure from the results of your work and, at the most, an understanding that everything was done correctly . It should be understood that, as in the development of any complex system, when working on engineering systems building, maximum attention should be paid in planning and design, since any processing in the near-completion phase will be extremely expensive (especially if you understand that costs could be avoided with proper design). Directly, the composition of engineering systems that form the work building from the point of view of IT-specialist (low-voltage systems), includes, in general, the following subsystems:

1. SCS - structured cable system. This concept, in the first place, implies a cable structure that ensures the operation of the computer network and office telephony (topic # 2).
2. LAN , phone system and WiFi - active network equipment (switches, routers, access points, etc.) and a telephone exchange. I combine these points, because a modern telephone station, as a rule, contains functions for ensuring the operation of telephones by ip, and, generally speaking, there is a tendency to the fact that an increasing number of installed PBXs are sharpened, first and foremost, to work on ip (we speak on the scale of the office from 10-15 permanent jobs) (disclosure of the topic - in the article number 2)
3. Organization of external inputs . The question is rather a construction one, but you, as an IT specialist, should clearly understand how your server’s connection to external communications, for example, will be implemented, for example (topic # 2).
4. Fire extinguishing system and fire warning (topic disclosure - in the article number 3)
5. Physical security systems : access control system , intrusion alert system (including, and monitoring the security services of emergency situations), video surveillance system (topic disclosure - in article number 3)
6. The television broadcasting system inside the office (for example, ip-broadcasting or banal NTV + in the offices of management and negotiation rooms) (the topic is disclosed in article No. 3)
7. The systems of the “intelligent building” are the ones that will turn on the light in the offices of executives at the click of a finger, maintain an optimal climate, save electricity, use all sorts of smart algorithms, and so on. (Disclosure of the topic - in article number 4)
8. The power supply system of all of the above. Without electricity, alas, it will not be possible to go anywhere. Unfortunately, there is not enough personal experience everywhere, so I refer to the first part of the Novikov article - “Electricity in a small and medium office” . Maybe he will give birth to the following parts:) I, however, will include my thoughts on this matter as a bonus track to the articles, along with the individual elements of the air conditioning system (applied to server rooms).

I deliberately included in this list things that are not always supported by the IT office, due to a number of factors:

1. You (and hardly anyone else) will ensure the coordination of performers on low-current systems; Generally speaking, you are very lucky if the contractor for all low-current systems will be one - so much easier. However, it is highly likely that, due to budget or other considerations, you will have to choose between several or divide the scope of work between them.
2. (consequence of the first paragraph) you and no one else will be responsible to the management (or to yourself, yes) for the result of the work; Naturally, the satisfaction of the management and you will directly depend on the quality and quantity of the implemented "holeyok"
3. In the end, modern engineering systems are usually highly integrated with computing equipment — many systems already directly, for example, depend on the availability of ip and actively use it; In addition, often many aspects of the management of engineering systems are tied to a single control panel, for example, a workplace for managing security systems.

0. Design

In general, the greatest attention should be shown, as I noted above, at this very moment. Collect a wish list (of all!) From people who make decisions in your organization. For example,

1. Executive offices are required to equip the system, including light by clicking the fingers
2. You need to have an employee alert system that allows you to selectively or massively inform employees about certain events in the manner of intercom

In the future, such a wish list will be called Wishlist. Your task is to systematize and coordinate these Wishlings with everyone who participates in their formation, and then approximately understand which of the building’s engineering subsystems will translate into one or another wish. Yes, do not look at the budget now - it will emerge a little later and will be one of the decisive factors in realizing one or another wish. There are several approaches to the design of engineering systems from the point of view of the customer / exploiter. By and large, it all depends on your resources and qualifications in relation to each component of such a system:

1. You are weak in the subject area, the process of developing project documentation goes to the project organization along with a list of your wishes to the system
2. You are directly involved in the work on the project by virtue of your own knowledge of the subject area, but the project is still executed on the side
3. You (the organization) have sufficient experience, required licenses and resources in the form of draftsmen, large printers and iron nerves - the project is carried out independently.

There is a certain danger in the situation when the design is carried out by the future engineering system contractor - this creates a number of potential difficulties that should be stipulated in the design contract:

1. Be sure to draw up a design specification. In fact, this is a formalized version of the hotelkeys with a binding of wishes to various systems, taking into account, in addition to all, the requirements for projects. NB: TK for design should, if possible, exclude the names of specific vendors of equipment (about this - just below)
2. Each contractor (excluding, probably, super-large integrators, although I will not undertake to say here) has certain preferences regarding equipment vendors and the architecture of a particular subsystem. This should be borne in mind at the moment when you will be determined with the performers. As practice shows, some intentionally include in the project equipment or materials, which will be unrealistic to buy by them.
3. The project executor should be responsible for the design decisions made. At a minimum, this should be confirmed by the presence of the appropriate licenses by the designer, and at the maximum, the responsibility should be specified in the contract.

Budget issues

When implementing projects, of course, the question of budgeting will arise. At this point, you need to go back to the list of “hoteles” , rank them by priority (from the most important to the whims without which it is possible to live) and contact potential suppliers / integrators for specifications / commercial proposals for each of the systems. Ideally, there should be several potential suppliers - so you can choose the optimal solution. From the above, by the way, a paradox arises: many integrators are ready to carry out the design at no cost if the implementation of the system will get them. This is a subtle point to keep in mind when interacting. Subsequently, you can avoid a lot of unpleasant situations associated with understatement at this stage.

What is the result?

So, upon completion of the design, ideally, there should be the following:

1. A package of project documentation, including the following documents: the Wish list , the design specification, the projects on engineering subsystems, the task for the performers
2. A set of commercial proposals and / or specifications for which you will choose performers by systems
3. Understanding which systems (taking into account the budget) you will do immediately, which ones will be set aside for sweets (having done the preparatory work), and which, gritting your teeth, you will refuse.

This concludes the first article of the cycle. In a week, read about tasty - networks in all their manifestations (SCS, active network equipment, WiFi and organization of external inputs. I will be happy to answer your questions :) Also, if you have a desire to participate in writing a series of articles (for example, open the topic implementation of a particular equipment in relation to a particular system a la "Telephony of a small office and Panasonic" ) - I will be glad to accomplices. My contact information is present in my habraprofile.