710 Central Computer or Telecommunications

Definition: A space used as a data or telecommunications center with applications that are broad enough to serve the overall administrative or academic primary equipment needs of a central group of users, department, college, school, or entire institution.

Description: A Central Computer or Telecommunications room or a Secured Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) may be one of a group of spaces that constitute a center for delivering data processing or telecommunications services to various levels of user groups. Although the ongoing primary activity of this category is tied more closely to equipment than human activity, these areas require technical support staff, and physical access may be restricted to these personnel. These central equipment spaces appear most frequently at the campus-wide and large organizational unit levels and are generally subject to environmental and security controls and procedures limiting users to remote access. Includes central rooms housing a computer or computers (e.g., large mainframe, server farms, etc.), peripheral input (e.g., data entry terminals, tape or disk drives, data reading equipment, monitors, etc.), and output devices (e.g., printers, output tape or disk drives, etc.). This category also includes spaces in a central computer complex that are primarily or exclusively dedicated to data or program code entry or job submissions through one or more terminals. Computer-based telecommunications equipment rooms, ranging from micro-driven LAN (local area) to the larger PBX (private branch) network centers and hubs, including central spaces housing satellite signal reception or transmission equipment, should be assigned the 710 code. This equipment may be dedicated to data, audio or telephone, video, or any combination of these electronic transmissions.

Limitations: Does not include Office (310) space assigned to programmers, analysts, engineers, data entry personnel, and other technical staff, even though these spaces usually contain an access terminal. Also does not include instructional laboratories and study spaces equipped with personal computers or terminals (see Class Laboratory-210, Open Laboratory-220, Study Room-410), or Offices (310) with data processing equipment used as office tools. Personal computer or terminal work spaces and printer rooms that serve an office area should be coded Office Service (315). Small closet areas housing telecommunications equipment and wiring that are not used by technical or support staff on a regular basis (i.e., repair or modification only) should be classified as nonassignable mechanical space (see Utility/Mechanical Space-Y04).