All NIH guidelines, policies and accepted practices regarding information technology and security must be followed. In addition, the following policies and procedures apply to the Co-Location service offered by CIT.
Arranging for Co-Location
The service agreement will be initiated with a signed IT Services Master Agreement (ITSMA).
Requesting Services
- For all CIT-managed Co-Location sites, the web-based Application Service Request (ASR) facility must be used to report problems or request all services, including equipment deliveries, removals, etc. Customers must be registered to ASR to use this facility.
- For the off-campus Co-Location site, provide at least two hours lead-time and submit an ASR prior to any site visit.
Equipment
- All equipment must be installed in an approved rack.
- In order for equipment to be directly delivered to the Co-Location sites, the appropriate equipment delivery form – on-campus at NIH or off-campus in Virginia – must be on file with CIT. Delivery or removal of customer equipment must be previously coordinated with CIT via the ASR system.
- The lead-time for equipment changes is a minimum of one week except in emergency situations.
- Customers are responsible for assembling all equipment and installing in racks. CIT installs the Power Distribution Units (PDUs) in the rack and connects them to the electrical circuits. Connecting equipment to or disconnecting equipment from the PDUs is the responsibility of the customer.
- All dual-powered equipment should be plugged into both the "A" PDU and the "B" PDU to provide electrical redundancy.
Networks, Wiring, and Cabling
- Routers, Switches, and Network devices are not permitted in customer racks, in either the on- or off-campus Co-Location sites, except on a case-by-case basis and only with prior approval from CIT.
- All equipment power cables must be connected to the Power Distribution Unit (PDU) in the rack, unless otherwise coordinated with Co-Location staff.
- All connections to the electrical cables under the floor must be done by NIH Data Center staff only. Customers are not permitted to directly access anything under the floor.
- All network and communication wiring must be clear of the floor and must use the cable trays/ladder racking provided when appropriate.
- All cabling must be clear of the rack doors and allow the rear doors to close appropriately.
- The cable trays are to be used by CIT only. Customers can plug into CIT network patch panels after discussion with CIT. All customers who intend to cable between their racks must coordinate with CIT to ensure that all CIT networking cabling standards are met.
- When removing equipment from racks, customers should indicate whether they will still need the ports it was connected to, and if so, provide proper identification for port documentation.
- DNST provides the following turnaround times to install drops or activate ports:
- 1–10 ports – up to 1 week
- 10 or more ports – up to 2 weeks
- DNST’s maintenance window for off-campus requests is the second and fourth Thursday of every month except in emergencies.
Racks
- Racks are provided by CIT as part of the set up. Any racks provided by the customer must be pre-approved by CIT.
- End racks must include side panels.
- All front and rear doors to racks must remain closed when servers are not being accessed.
- Racks provided by the customer must allow cable access from the bottom (power underneath the floor) and top (fiber or CAT5 in the cable trays/ladder racking).
Property Inventory and Labels
- The customer is responsible for property inventory and management. Customers must remove/surplus all unneeded equipment in accordance with NIH property inventory policies.
- All customer-owned property must be identified by a property sticker from the customer’s institute or agency.
- All customer-owned property will be separately labeled by CIT for inventory control.
Physical Environment
- All CIT-managed Co-Location sites must be kept neat and clean of trash.
- No food or drink is allowed in the Co-Location area.
- All entrances to and aisles within the Co-Location sites must remain unblocked by equipment at all times.
- Backup tapes, extra parts, etc. must only be kept in the provided storage.
- When equipment is installed, customers are responsible for removing all boxes and packing materials, etc. from the area. CIT Data Center staff (on-campus) or vendor staff (off-campus) can provide access to appropriate trash dumpsters.
