In a typical care facility, the network closet is wherever there happened to be space. It might share a room with a water heater, cleaning supplies or a stack of boxes. Yet that closet holds the firewall, switches, phone system and sometimes servers that every clinical and business function depends on.
Facilities across Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas also face severe thunderstorms, tornado season, ice storms and summer heat. A little planning can keep a weather event or an ordinary equipment failure from becoming a building-wide outage.
Avoid spaces beneath plumbing, near water heaters or in areas prone to flooding. A room on an interior wall, away from exterior windows, offers better protection from storm damage.
The closet should have a lock, and a short list of people with keys. Network equipment contains administrative access to systems that hold protected health information, and the HIPAA Security Rule expects facility access controls. Log who enters if practical, and never use the room as general storage.
Dust, boxes and cardboard create fire and airflow problems. Keep the floor clear, and do not store supplies on top of equipment.
A UPS provides battery power during outages and cleans up minor surges and sags. Size it to the connected load, and plan for enough runtime to either ride out short interruptions or allow orderly shutdown. Check whether the UPS can notify you of problems.
Storms produce voltage spikes that damage equipment. Use quality surge protection at the closet, and consider protection at the main electrical panel. Equipment connected to outdoor cabling, such as cameras or antennas, deserves particular attention.
Many long-term care facilities have generators for life-safety systems. Ask your facilities team and electrician whether network and phone equipment is on a generator-backed circuit, and how long the transfer takes. The UPS should bridge that gap. Test it under real conditions, and note that the CMS emergency preparedness rule expects planning for power loss.
Know which breaker feeds the closet, and mark it clearly so no one switches it off during maintenance.
Network gear generates heat, and small closets can become very warm. Excess heat shortens equipment life and causes unexpected failures, especially in summer.
Provide dedicated ventilation or cooling, such as a small split air conditioner, rather than relying on hallway air
Add a temperature sensor with alerts, so you hear about a cooling failure before equipment shuts down
Mount equipment in a rack with space for airflow, and use blanking panels
Keep door vents unobstructed
Tidy cabling makes troubleshooting faster and reduces accidental disconnections.
Label both ends of every cable and each patch panel port
Use color or tags to distinguish networks, such as staff, resident or phone
Keep a printed port map and a network diagram in a sealed folder inside the closet
Use cable ties or hook-and-loop straps to avoid tangles
Consider low-cost sensors for temperature, humidity and water. A sensor on the floor near the closet can warn of a leak. Send alerts to more than one person, including after-hours contacts.
Know the shutdown order if a storm forces a power-down, and write it down
Keep an offline copy of configurations and critical contact numbers
Place equipment above floor level
Ensure backups are stored off-site, since the building itself may be affected
Review insurance coverage for equipment
Test your internet and phone failover options
Schedule a quarterly walk-through to check temperature, cleanliness, UPS battery status, labels and access. Replace UPS batteries on the manufacturer's recommended schedule.
UnityCare IT can assess your closet, recommend upgrades and coordinate with electricians and contractors. If your equipment shares space with mop buckets, we can help you plan a safer home for it.
Call or text: 405-285-3845
New customers: start@unitycareit.com
Existing customers: support@unitycareit.com
Address: UnityCare Technologies, 2524 N Broadway Ste 554, PMB 947974, Edmond, Oklahoma 73034-4172