As technology evolves, your data center should too. Whether you’re starting from scratch or planning updates to your existing server room, floor markings make your preparation and installation easier, and durable, versatile gaffer tape and industrial floor signage improve safety and organization in the area. Before beginning your data center project, consider how our visual cues can help you effectively communicate information, hazards, protocols, and navigational cues in IT rooms, from start to finish.
Explore this guide to learn how critical data center labeling solutions, including premade floor signs, floor marking tape, gaffer tape, and custom signs and tape work together to effectively highlight:
- Emergency Power Off (EPO) button locations
- Wiring systems
- Aisles or doorways that must be kept clear
- Ventilation or clearance requirements
- Cooling system locations
- Emergency exits and egress
- Fire alarms and extinguishers
- Electrical panels and circuits
- Safety and organization notices
1. Plan a Data Center Layout
Marking the floor to show placement of servers, racks, cooling equipment, and support infrastructure, as well as aisles to help planners visualize the space and create more meaningful walkthroughs. Choose a tape that adheres well, but is removable—such as gaffer tape—and use a selection of colors to add meaning to your plan to lay out:
- Aisles and walkways
- Servers and racking outlines
- Ventilation, fans, and cooling equipment
- Raised floor tile locations, steps, and ramps
- Future phases and expansion opportunities
Gaffer tape peels up easily and new strips do not require any time to set, so these markers can be placed and adjusted on-the-fly without needing to scrub away residual lines or worry about foot traffic. The matte surface also allows stakeholders or engineers to write directly on the tape to provide extra details or notes instantly on-site.
2. Create Visual Cues for Installation
The team responsible for physically building your server room and setting up the equipment will benefit from floor markings. Save time by leaving any relevant cues from planning in place, and add gaffer tape to racking and hardware to coordinate with CAD layouts and your floor plan to reduce errors and confusion.
Use warning stripes or Do Not Block messages to tape off areas that must be kept clear so exits and aisles are accessible and ventilation isn’t inadvertently blocked. Because our Superior Mark® floor signs and tape feature beveled edges that resist dragging damage from equipment, carts, and dollies, your floor markings will last throughout the installation phase, whether they were added months in advance or at the last second. When installation is complete, temporary markings can be removed without leaving behind residue or damage, yet safety messages, such as caution tape or electrical panel markers can remain when opening the location to staff.
3. Implement Color-Coding With Marking Tapes
Among the popular uses of gaffer tape is labeling and bundling cables and cords. Make identifying power cords, equipment, and hardware locations easier with a color-coding system. Gaffer tape is designed to adhere directly to cables, equipment, and flooring—use various colors to communicate the purpose of elements in your server room. Plan and document your color standards to improve communication for those moving, adding, or changing equipment setup, then use the same coding system for in-use supplies to keep storage tidy and make items easier for IT to locate.
4. Label Equipment & Locations Within a Data Center
Labeling server cabinets, aisles, and rows in your data center can improve staff efficiency when troubleshooting or setting up new networks. These identifiers can be as simple as our concise letter/number signs to lay out your IT room grid, or you may prefer more specific, personalized signs noting cabinet contents or below-surface cable routings. Our gaffer tape offers a writable surface, which allows you to add context to a color-coded labeling system.
Floor markings can also strengthen security to safeguard assets and protect sensitive equipment in designated areas. Specialized floor markings, such as anti-static and ESD caution tapes remind staff to adhere to PPE or entry requirements to keep hardware safe from magnetic or static charges. Our custom floor sign design tool allows you to use icons, colors, and your own in-house verbiage to clearly communicate access restrictions and permissions.
5. Improve Safety With Floor Tape & Signage
Implement visual cues using tape and safety floor signs within the data center to improve staff awareness and mitigate potential hazards. Choose the right floor markings and wire management solutions to suit the space. Floor signs, floor marking tape, and gaffer tape are ideal solutions here.
- Gaffer tape printed with warning stripes improves visibility of secured cables to help prevent tripping. The heavy-duty adhesive and durable tape surface are flexible enough to hold individual or bundles wires, it provides a strong, protective layer to prevent foot traffic, carts, or equipment from damaging them.
- Outline walkways in a bright floor tape, and if traffic flow is a concern, add a dashed line or pre-cut arrow floor markings to partition aisles. In tiered server rooms or low-light areas, applying glow-in-the-dark or striped caution tape to steps, ramps, and access points prevent trip and fall injuries.
- Sticky duct tape doesn’t belong in data centers: Choose floor tape that removes easily so implemented markings can be peeled up and adjusted without wasting time scrubbing off old adhesive.
- Whether you have a robust data center or a simple server room, repeated message floor tape and floor signs can highlight climate control, power supplies, and clearances to improve staff safety and prevent damage to hardware. Choose from permanent or removable floor signs for safety solutions that last as long as you need.
Every department—from the warehouse to IT—can benefit from a safe organized workplace. Our industrial signs and floor tape provide clear labels and messaging to reduce confusion, prevent injury, and keep expensive equipment protected from damage in any area of your business. Find more ideas to improve safety in your facility in our Resource Center.
