What is a Network Closet?

A network closet could be a closet or a small room where electrical wiring and computer networking hardware is installed. Depending on the size of the building, floors, number of workstations, servers, access points, and security equipment, there could be multiple wiring closets throughout a building on all floors.

What’s in a Network Closet?

For smaller businesses, a network closet could serve as a computing hub with everything needed for their computer network, including servers, storage devices, and network switches necessary for their business. A larger business would also have similar equipment, but their network closets may provide connection to a dedicated server room or internal or external data center.

A network closet includes equipment and wiring for:

Wireless access points
Fiber optic terminations
Alarm systems
Close-circuit television systems or cable TV
Firewalls
Patch cables
Circuit breaker panels
Telephone punch blocks

Protecting a Network Closet

Because of the nature of the equipment inside of a network closet and their smaller size, it is crucial that it be protected, organized, and managed efficiently to protect mission-critical data.

Protection– Systems should be in place to ensure continuous power, reliability and efficiency of equipment in network closets. This could include UPS for emergency power or ATS when redundancy is needed.
Organization– With limited space, racks and cabinet are needed to organize equipment and wiring for efficient operation and maintenance purposes. Considerations need to be made for proper airflow when selecting equipment, for example choosing an open-air rack instead of closed racks.
Management– Proper management products for hardware and software are needed to monitor any environmental and power fluctuations. This helps maintain uptime and efficiency while reducing operating costs.

LDP Associates specializes in services for network closets, including: