Notes from the team
Restricted: rack and switch ports
- U42: Fibre patch, Corning Closet Connector Housing, 1U
- U29 to U41: Space for growth
- U28: Out-of-band router, cellular, ZPE Nodegrid Gate SR
- U27: Out-of-band console server, ZPE Nodegrid Serial Console Plus, 48 ports
- U26: Wireless controller, Cisco Catalyst 9800-L
- U24: Internet circuit handoff, ADVA FSP 150-GE114Pro
- U23: Firewall B, Palo PA-445, In service, no open incidents
- U22: Firewall A, Palo PA-445, In service, no open incidents
- U20: Core switch B, Cisco Catalyst 9500-24Y4C, In service, no open incidents
- U19: Core switch A, Cisco Catalyst 9500-24Y4C, In service, no open incidents
- U16: Access switch 2, Level 12, Cisco Catalyst 9300-48P
- U15: Access switch 1, Level 12, Cisco Catalyst 9300-48P, In service, no open incidents
- U12: Fibre patch, floor riser, Corning Closet Connector Housing, 1U
- U9 to U10: Patch panel B, Level 12, Panduit NetKey Cat6A patch panel, 48 ports
- U6 to U7: Patch panel A, Level 12, Panduit NetKey Cat6A patch panel, 48 ports
- U3 to U4: UPS battery pack
- U1 to U2: UPS, APC Smart-UPS SRT 3000VA, 2U
Rack space
17U free of 42U
25U used.
Needs 42U for what it serves: exactly enough.
Access ports
40 free of 96
- Access switch 2, Level 1228 of 48
- Access switch 1, Level 1228 of 48
- Outlets patched56 of 96
Needs 68 (56 + 20% headroom): 28 to spare.
PoE 437W to 1440W of PoE+ power depending on power-supply configuration on each of 2, as the vendor states. The draw is not measured.
Power
APC Smart-UPS SRT 3000VA, 2U, with a battery pack
- FeedsA and B
- Load and runtime52%, 21 min
2 power strips at the back: Raritan PX3 monitored rack PDU.
Circuits: A from DB-12A, way 12; B from DB-12B, way 14.
Internet and uplinks
- Internet circuit handoffInternet provider, ADVA FSP 150-GE114Pro
- A pair of firewallsPalo PA-445
- Down to 13.20 Comms room (IDF)Level 13, over the riser fibre
Out-of-band: out-of-band router, cellular (ZPE Nodegrid Gate SR); out-of-band console server (ZPE Nodegrid Serial Console Plus, 48 ports).
Power and temperature
Against the power and racks standardsUPS runs 21 min at 52% load, inside the standard · the room is at 25.3 °C
UPS runtime · APC Smart-UPS SRT 3000VA, 2U
21 min at least 15
UPS load
52% at most 80%
Temperature Simulated
25.3 °C 18 to 27
Runtime and load as measured at the last timed test, 21 Oct 2025 Demo value. Temperature from the temperature probe on the UPS network card, at the front of the rack, reporting to monitoring; live readings come by connector.
If this were off
SimulatedPick a switch, gateway or circuit here to see which spaces, meetings and services would lose the internet. Worked out from the recorded patching.
Firewall B Palo Alto Networks PA-445 · Rack 1, U23 · 12.11 Comms room (MDF)
Would affect nothing: Firewall A carries every space
Level 12
Level 13
Restricted: rack and switch ports "Up" is an uplink: the way this switch reaches the internet.
Spaces it would cut off 0
- None: Firewall A carries every space.
VLANs at the Chicago office
9 VLANs · 0 ports to reviewEvery port on its planned VLAN
Switches here chi-1211-cs01Core switch Achi-1211-cs02Core switch Bchi-1211-as01Access switch 1chi-1211-as02Access switch 2
In-room switches chi-1208-sw0112.08 Barn Owl
| VLAN | Prefix | Gateway | Addresses | Reaches | Ports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Management | 10.40.10.0/24 | 10.40.10.1 | 22 reservationsreserved 10.40.10.20 to 10.40.10.219 · pool 10.40.10.220 to 10.40.10.254 | Only the network team's tools and the controller | 48 |
| 20 Corporate | 10.40.20.0/22 | 10.40.20.1 | None reservedreserved 10.40.20.20 to 10.40.20.219 · pool 10.40.21.1 to 10.40.23.254 | Internal services and the internet | 51 |
| 30 Room systems | 10.40.30.0/24 | 10.40.30.1 | 31 reservationsreserved 10.40.30.20 to 10.40.30.219 · pool 10.40.30.220 to 10.40.30.254 | Their cloud services, device management and the booking service | 32 |
| 31 Displays and signage | 10.40.31.0/24 | 10.40.31.1 | 28 reservationsreserved 10.40.31.20 to 10.40.31.219 · pool 10.40.31.220 to 10.40.31.254 | The display and signage management platforms, NTP and the room control system | 28 |
| 40 AV | 169.254.0.0/16 | None: not routed | Link-local, in each room | Nothing outside the room (not routed) | 1 |
| 50 Building | 10.40.50.0/24 | 10.40.50.1 | None reservedreserved 10.40.50.20 to 10.40.50.219 · pool 10.40.50.220 to 10.40.50.254 | The building management platform only | 0 |
| 60 Security | 10.40.60.0/24 | 10.40.60.1 | None reservedreserved 10.40.60.20 to 10.40.60.219 · pool 10.40.60.220 to 10.40.60.254 | The security platforms only | 0 |
| 70 Printers | 10.40.70.0/24 | 10.40.70.1 | 1 reservationreserved 10.40.70.20 to 10.40.70.219 · pool 10.40.70.220 to 10.40.70.254 | The print service | 1 |
| 90 Guest | 10.40.90.0/23 | 10.40.90.1 | None reservedpool 10.40.90.20 to 10.40.91.254 | The internet only, clients cannot see each other | 0 |
From the network standard's VLAN plan. Prefixes, gateways and addresses are made up for the demo; the ports are as recorded for the demo, as the switch platforms would report them.
Compared against
Cisco and Palo Alto (older): The earlier build: two Palo Alto firewalls in a pair, two Cisco core switches, the floor's access switches, a wireless controller, an out-of-band console server and cellular router, fibre and copper patching, on a UPS with power strips on two feeds. Rooms built to it move to UniFi when their network kit is refreshed.
- Network standard
- Older kit, due 2027
- Required devices
- All recorded
Older kit: Cisco Catalyst 9800-L, Palo PA-445, Cisco Catalyst 9500-24Y4C, Cisco Catalyst 9300-48P. Moves to UniFi when refreshed.
Lifecycle
- In service
- 5
Upkeep
Room checks from the maintenance planner
Next check: Thu, 29 Oct
- Quarterly comms room checkThu, 29 Oct, Grace, with 1 more space
Sized for what it serves
12 spaces, 6 video rooms · How a comms room is sized- Data outlets5612 spaces, 6 video rooms96panel ports40 to spare
- Access ports6856 + 20% headroom96on 2 switches28 to spare
- Access switches248 ports each2Exactly enough
- PoE budget237 W14 devices as the vendors state; 7 PoE devices with no figureNot recordedNot recorded
- Rack space42U20U of parts + 25% growth42UExactly enough
- UPSNot sizedload and runtime not recordedAPC Smart-UPS SRT 3000VA, 2Uin the rackNot checked
Patching
114 cables in 26 runs, coloured by the house cable standard · All cables at Chicago officeRestricted: rack and switch ports
- 2 × Fibre OS23 m, yellowto Internet circuit handoff, ports 5 to 6The internet provider's fibre.Singlemode fibre
- 1 × Cat6A0.5 m, purpleto Out-of-band console serverConsole and out-of-band
- 7 × Console1.5 m, purpleto Console ports: core, access, firewalls and wireless controllerConsole and out-of-band
- 1 × Cat6A1 m, yellowto Internet circuit handoff, port 2Uplinks and trunks
- 1 × Cat6A0.5 m, redto Firewall B, port 8Firewall failover link.Critical and security systems
- 1 × Cat6A1 m, yellowto Internet circuit handoff, port 1Uplinks and trunks
- 2 × Fibre OM42 m, aquato Fibre patch, floor riser, ports 3 to 4Riser to the Level 13 IDF (access switch 2).Multimode fibre
- 2 × Fibre OM42 m, aquato Fibre patch, floor riser, ports 7 to 8Riser to the Level 13 IDF (access switch 4).Multimode fibre
- 1 × Fibre OM43 m, aquato Access switch 1, Level 12, port 50Multimode fibre
- 1 × Fibre OM43 m, aquato Access switch 2, Level 12, port 50Multimode fibre
- 1 × Cat6A1 m, yellowto Firewall B, port 1Uplinks and trunks
- 1 × Cat6A2 m, yellowto Wireless controller, port 2Uplinks and trunks
- 2 × Fibre OM41 m, aquato Core switch B, ports 25 to 26Core interconnect.Multimode fibre
- 2 × Fibre OM42 m, aquato Fibre patch, floor riser, ports 1 to 2Riser to the Level 13 IDF (access switch 1).Multimode fibre
- 2 × Fibre OM42 m, aquato Fibre patch, floor riser, ports 5 to 6Riser to the Level 13 IDF (access switch 3).Multimode fibre
- 1 × Fibre OM43 m, aquato Access switch 1, Level 12, port 49Multimode fibre
- 1 × Fibre OM43 m, aquato Access switch 2, Level 12, port 49Multimode fibre
- 1 × Cat6A1 m, yellowto Firewall A, port 1Uplinks and trunks
- 1 × Cat6A2 m, yellowto Wireless controller, port 1Uplinks and trunks
- 28 × Cat6A1 m, blueto Patch panel B, Level 12, ports 1 to 28Panel B outlets 1 to 28 live; 29 to 48 spare.User data
- 28 × Cat6A1 m, blueto Patch panel A, Level 12, ports 1 to 28Panel A outlets 1 to 28 live; 29 to 48 spare.User data
- 1 × Power C19 to C202 m, blackto Power strip AUPS to power strip A.Power, feed A
- 1 × Power C19 to C202 m, greyto Power strip BUPS to power strip B.Power, feed B
- 10 × Power C13 to C141 m, blackto Power strip A, ports 1 to 10Power, feed A
- 10 × Power C13 to C141 m, greyto Power strip B, ports 1 to 10Power, feed B
- 5 × Cat61 m, greyto Out-of-band router, cellular, ports 2 to 6Management
Spaces it serves
32 spacesLevel 12 12 spaces · Patched in this space
Level 13 20 spaces · Through 13.20 Comms room (IDF)
- 13.01 Oystercatcher
- 13.02 Lapwing
- 13.03 Kingfisher
- 13.04 Cormorant
- 13.05 Wren
- 13.06 Robin
- 13.07 Goldcrest
- 13.08 Stonechat
- 13.09 Goldfinch
- 13.10 Focus 13.10
- 13.11 Focus 13.11
- 13.12 Focus 13.12
- 13.13 Office 13.13
- 13.14 Office 13.14
- 13.15 Pantry
- 13.16 Flex desks A
- 13.17 Flex desks B
- 13.18 Flex desks C
- 13.19 Assigned desks D
- Open areas and corridors, Level 13
Notes
- The rack also holds access switch 2. The main comms room space type gives the floor one access switch position, so it is counted from the rack.