Notes on counting room space

[Elton Smith <elton@jlab.org>]

Comments on the area required for the console and rack areas
-------------------------------------------------------------

I agree with others that have commented that the counting room space
proper is perhaps larger than necessary. This specifically refers to the
area with a raised computer floor for the console for experiment control
and racks for computers and electronics. The original dimensions come from
the existing counting rooms that contain a console area plus area for
terminals and table for meeting. The total area is needed, but I propose
to move the area for terminals and meeting outside the console area
proper.

Here are some dimensions which can be used for discussion:

Size of Hall B console area = 14'x19'=266 ft2 -> use 270 ft2
Size of Hall B rack area = 10'x38' = 380 ft2 for 14 racks (usage is
between 6 racks for online computers, ~4 full racks of miscellaneous)

For Hall D we will need online computers just as Hall B has, but will also
have a Level 3 farm of nominally 200 nodes. The cpu farms in the computer
center hold between 24 and 32 nodes per rack. For the purpose of
estimation I take 25 nodes/rack -> 8 racks for L3 farm. Using Hall B as a
guide we will need a total of 8(farm) + 6(online) + 4(misc) = 18 racks
total.

Looking at a few layouts a practical area for the racks would be about 480
ft2. Therefore the total area required would be 480+270 = 750 ft2.
However, the linear dimensions needed for the racks and the size of the
console does not quite match, so a slightly larger area is needed. Here is
straw proposal

           10 ft      20 ft
         ___________________________
         |       |                  |
         |       |                  |
         |       |                  |
         |       | 18 ft            |
         |       |                  |
         |       |  console area    |
         |     door                 |
         |        __________________|
         |                          |
         |    rack area             | 10 ft
         ___________________________

The total occupied is then 30x28 = 840 ft2, the console area gets larger
to accomodate the required linear dimensions of the rack area.

A single door into the rack area is adequate. The door in Hall B is 42"
wide.

Elton Smith
Jefferson Lab
elton@jlab.org
(757) 269-7625