Our new Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) is a rather large heavy box, with heavy being the operative word. Our UPS room has a purpose-built, reinforced floor specifically to bear the weight of several UPS units. The problem to solve of course is getting the UPS into the room. It is heavy enough that the point loads on the standard floor need to be minimized. It is also large enough to make negotiating hallways and doors very difficult. The final obstacle is lifting it up to the raised special-load floor of the UPS room itself through a door.

This UPS is a twin to the one we have now, so we know it can be done. We have spoken to the people who installed the first one and we'll be trying to benefit from that experience. Instead of jacks, we opted for a set of ramps. The question then becomes clearance. We did the math. We did the math again. We made diagrams and plans. The calculations said it would work, but it would be VERY close. Our Facilities Manager Kevin Teker had the ramps fabricated and we set them up on blocks in place. With our margin of clearance so close, we measured again several times and it was just too close to be absolutely confident that once we started to move the UPS that it would actually fit.

Nothing left to do but build a model and make a test run.

Kevin and our summer intern Chris set about building a wooden frame that would exactly match the dimensions of our new UPS. We would then use it, plus some wooden blocks that would do stand-in duty for the industrial rollers used to move the UPS up the ramps to check the clearances.

Above you can see the wooden frame UPS model taking shape behind Kevin (standing) and Chris (the intern, sitting on the floor). In the foreground right are our steel ramps. This view is through the door that the UPS must travel.

We set up the ramps next, and place the model frame on them to check clearances. The ramps will remain semi-installed until we are done moving all the new equipment into the UPS room, then go into storage until next time we have to move something in or out. Kevin designed them to bolt into the steel floor sub-frame for lateral stability, and use wooden dunnage for vertical support.

Above Kevin checks the clearance of the top of the model in relation to the door frame. It matches our initial calculations to within a centimeter. The overall clearance however is just over two centimeters, so you can see why we wanted to confirm our calculations. In the inset on the right he re-checks the measurements against the already installed UPS.

Next we have to check on the clearances as we roll the model UPS up the ramps and onto the floor above.

Here you see Kevin Teker sliding the model from level on the datacenter floor, up onto the ramps and through the door onto the UPS room floor. Kyle Murray our Network Manager looks on. Our multi-faceted trigonometry problem, which worked on paper, also works in real life. As you can see, the tolerances are close, but the model moved through the door frame with enough clearance to have us resting easy and ready for the real thing.

If Kevin is happy, we're happy.

Next comes moving the real thing. After that comes the installation and turn up. The goal is 360,000 Watts of redundant power. Stay tuned for more updates.