Glossary
The terms you will meet in a data center move, IT equipment shipment or decommissioning project, defined from the physical logistics side.
This glossary defines 59 terms buyers meet when planning a data center relocation or IT equipment move, from lift and shift and chain of custody to RTO, ISO 17712 and NIST SP 800-88. Each definition stands on its own, explains the term from the physical logistics side, and links to a deeper guide and, where one exists, the primary source.
DataTech Logistics handles the physical work: de-installation, packing, transport, security escort and installation. Where a term describes data or software work, that work belongs to your IT team, and software wiping or cryptographic erase is performed by a licensed contractor.
Acclimatization is the practice of letting IT equipment rest unpowered in the destination room until it reaches room temperature and humidity before power-on. It prevents condensation forming on cold components after transport in cold weather. Use each manufacturer's published guidance for the rest period, and keep the equipment in its packaging while it warms.
Air-ride transport is trucking in a trailer whose suspension uses air bags instead of steel leaf springs, which reduces the shock and vibration passed to the cargo. It is the usual specification for servers, storage arrays and network gear, where repeated road shock can unseat components or damage spinning drives.
As-built documentation is the record of how an installation actually ended up: rack elevations, device positions, port-to-port cable maps, labels and power feeds as installed, not as designed. After a move it becomes the baseline your IT team and future crews work from, and the evidence that the destination matches the plan.
An asset tag is a durable label, usually a barcode, QR code or RFID tag, fixed to a piece of equipment and tied to a unique record in your inventory. During a move, scanning the tag at each handoff links the physical unit to its custody record, serial number and destination rack position.
A BDF, or building distribution frame, is the telecom room that serves as the main cross-connect point for one building on a multi-building campus. It links the campus MDF to the IDFs on each floor. Before a BDF is relocated, carrier circuits, backbone fiber and labels must be mapped so nothing is disconnected blind.
A cage is a lockable, mesh-walled enclosure inside a colocation facility that holds one customer's racks. The facility controls access, so every move into, out of, or within a cage needs an approved work order, a named crew list and a badge or escort arrangement agreed with the provider in advance.
The Carmack Amendment is the U.S. federal law, codified at 49 U.S.C. 14706, that sets interstate motor carrier liability for loss of or damage to goods. Carriers may limit that liability to a released value the shipper agrees to in writing, so the default recovery for a damaged server can be far below its replacement cost.
A carrier hotel is a building, often a downtown office tower, where many telecom carriers and network providers house equipment and interconnect with each other. Moves there usually involve tight freight elevator schedules, shared loading docks and strict building rules, so access and rigging plans matter as much as the equipment itself.
A certificate of destruction is the signed record that specific storage media were sanitized or physically destroyed. A useful one lists each device serial number, the method used, the standard followed, the date, the location, and who performed and witnessed the work, so it can be matched line by line to your asset records.
A certificate of insurance, or COI, is a document issued by an insurer that summarizes a vendor's policies, coverage types, limits and effective dates. Building managers and colocation providers typically require one, often naming them as additional insured, before a moving crew is allowed onto the loading dock or the data center floor.
Chain of custody is the unbroken, documented record of who held each asset, where, and when, from the moment it leaves the rack until it is installed or destroyed. Every handoff is recorded with serial numbers, signatures and times, so any gap or discrepancy can be found and explained to an auditor.
A chain-of-custody form is the document, paper or electronic, that captures each handoff of an asset: serial number and asset tag, condition, seal numbers, the releasing and receiving parties, signatures, date, time and location. It is the working tool that turns a custody policy into evidence an auditor can check.
Climate-controlled transport is shipping in a trailer that holds temperature, and sometimes humidity, within a set range for the whole trip. It protects equipment from extreme heat, freezing and condensation, and it shortens acclimatization at the destination. Ask for the set points in writing and for a temperature log from the trip.
A CMDB, or configuration management database, is your IT team's system of record for hardware, software and the relationships between them. DataTech Logistics does not administer it. During a move, your team reconciles CMDB entries against the physical inventory, while the physical crew supplies scanned serial numbers and final rack positions.
A cold migration is a move in which systems are fully shut down, de-installed, transported and reinstalled during a planned outage window. It is the simplest approach and usually the least expensive, but every application on the moving equipment stays offline until it is powered on and validated at the destination.
A cold site is a recovery facility with space, power, cooling and network connectivity ready, but no installed production equipment. After a disaster, hardware must be delivered, racked, cabled and configured before services return, so it has the longest recovery time of the three site types. It is the cheapest option and depends on fast equipment logistics.
Colocation is renting space, power, cooling and connectivity for your own servers in a data center operated by a third party. You own the equipment and the provider runs the building. Moves into or out of colocation follow the provider's rules on access, work orders, loading dock booking and cage standards.
A command center is the single coordination point for a move day, physical or virtual, where the move lead, IT owners and vendors track progress against the runbook. It holds the timeline, runs status checkpoints, makes go/no-go and rollback calls, and routes every escalation, so each decision is made once and recorded.
A cross-connect is a physical cable link between two points in a facility, such as between your cage and a carrier's equipment through a colocation meet-me room, or between patch panels in your own telecom room. In colocation, cross-connects are ordered from and installed by the provider, often with a lead time.
Cryptographic erase is a sanitization method that destroys the media encryption key on a self-encrypting drive, leaving the stored data unreadable. NIST SP 800-88 classes it as a purge method when the drive implements it correctly. When DataTech Logistics is involved, cryptographic erase is performed by a licensed contractor and recorded per serial number.
C-TPAT, the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, is a voluntary U.S. Customs and Border Protection program in which importers, carriers and other supply chain companies meet minimum security criteria in exchange for fewer inspections. The criteria cover seals, conveyance checks, personnel vetting and physical access. CBP now writes the name as CTPAT.
Data center relocation is the planned physical move of servers, storage, network gear and supporting infrastructure from one facility to another. It covers planning, de-installation, packing, transport, reinstallation, cabling and post-move checks, while your IT team handles application shutdown and restart. Moves happen all at once or in waves.
Degaussing is exposing magnetic media, such as hard drives and tapes, to a strong magnetic field that scrambles the recorded data. NIST SP 800-88 treats it as a purge method for magnetic media only. It has no effect on solid-state drives, and it usually leaves a hard drive permanently unusable afterward.
De-installation is the physical removal of equipment from production racks after your IT team has shut it down: labeling every cable and port, disconnecting power and network, removing devices and rails, and recording serial numbers and rack positions. Done well, it turns reinstallation at the destination into a matter of following the labels.
ESD, or electrostatic discharge, is the sudden flow of static electricity between two objects at different charge, such as a person and a circuit board. A discharge too small to feel can still damage components. ESD controls during a move include grounded wrist straps, static-shielding bags and handling boards and drives by their edges.
e-Stewards is a certification standard for electronics recyclers and IT asset disposition companies, run by the Basel Action Network. It requires responsible handling of electronic waste, prohibits exporting hazardous e-waste to developing countries, and includes data security requirements. Ask any recycler for its current certificate and the scope it covers.
Floor loading is the weight a floor can safely carry, usually rated in pounds per square foot (psf) as a uniform load spread across an area. A fully populated rack concentrates heavy weight in a small footprint, so a structural engineer should confirm the rating along the delivery route and at each rack position.
Geographic redundancy is placing duplicate infrastructure at a second location far enough away that one regional event, such as a hurricane, flood or grid failure, is unlikely to take both sites down. The physical work is building out and cabling the secondary site; keeping systems synchronized is your IT team's job.
Hot aisle/cold aisle is a rack layout in which rows face alternately front-to-front and back-to-back, so cool supply air enters equipment fronts from one aisle and exhaust leaves into the next. When re-racking at a destination, every device must face the correct way or it will draw in its own hot exhaust.
A hot site is a fully equipped recovery facility with installed, powered and connected equipment that can take over production quickly after a failure. Your IT team keeps the systems there current. It offers the shortest recovery time of the three site types and the highest ongoing cost, because equipment runs in two places.
Hours of service are the federal rules in 49 CFR Part 395 that limit how long commercial truck drivers may drive and stay on duty before mandatory rest. A property-carrying driver may drive 11 hours within a 14-hour window after 10 consecutive hours off duty, so long moves need team drivers or planned stops.
An IDF, or intermediate distribution frame, is a telecom room or closet, usually one per floor or zone, that connects end-user cabling and access switches back to the MDF over backbone cable. Office moves often hinge on IDFs, since nothing works on a new floor until its closet is powered, cabled and patched.
ISO 17712 is the international standard for mechanical freight container seals. It grades seals by strength as indicative, security or high-security, and requires unique numbering and visible tamper evidence. High-security bolt seals meeting ISO 17712 are expected on U.S.-bound ocean containers under CTPAT and are common on sealed truckloads of IT equipment.
ITAD, or IT asset disposition, is the process of retiring IT equipment securely and responsibly: removing it, sanitizing or destroying data-bearing media, then reselling, redeploying or recycling the hardware. Where DataTech Logistics is involved, software wiping is performed by a licensed contractor. Good ITAD ends with serial-level records and certificates of destruction.
Lead time is the gap between placing an order or request and having it fulfilled. In relocations the longest lead times usually sit outside the move itself: carrier circuits, colocation cross-connects, new racks, power whips, custom crates and security escorts. Build the move schedule backward from the longest confirmed lead time.
Lift and shift is a relocation in which equipment moves to the new site as-is, keeping the same hardware, configuration and rack layout rather than being redesigned or replaced. It limits change during the move, which simplifies validation, but it also carries existing problems and aging hardware into the new facility.
An MDF, or main distribution frame, is the primary telecom room in a building, where carrier circuits enter at the demarcation point and connect to the internal backbone that feeds each IDF. Relocating an MDF is usually the critical path of an office or campus move, because every other closet depends on it.
A meet-me room is the secured space in a colocation facility or carrier hotel where carriers and tenants physically interconnect through cross-connects. Tenants rarely enter it, because the provider runs the cabling. Planning a move means ordering new cross-connects early and agreeing cutover times with each carrier and the facility.
A move group, also called a wave, is a set of servers, storage and applications that are shut down, moved and restarted together in one window. Groups are built from dependency mapping so tightly linked systems travel together, and each one is sized to fit the available outage and crew capacity.
NIST SP 800-88 is the U.S. federal guideline for media sanitization. It defines three levels: clear, which protects against simple recovery; purge, which defeats laboratory recovery through methods such as cryptographic erase or degaussing; and destroy, which shreds, disintegrates or incinerates media so it can never be used again.
A patch panel is a rack-mounted panel of ports where permanent horizontal or backbone cables terminate, so equipment connects through short, replaceable patch cords instead of the permanent run. Labeled patch panels let crews disconnect and reconnect devices during a move without disturbing cabling inside walls and trays.
A PDU, or power distribution unit, is the strip or rack-mounted unit that distributes power from a circuit to the devices in a rack. Common types are basic, metered and switched. At the destination, PDU input plugs, voltage and capacity must match the new circuits before equipment arrives, or racks stand dark.
A phased migration is a relocation split into several smaller moves over weeks or months, each carrying one or more move groups. It spreads risk, keeps each outage short and lets lessons from early waves improve later ones, at the cost of a longer project and a period of operating in two locations.
A point load is weight concentrated on a small contact area, such as a rack's leveling feet or casters, a pallet jack wheel or a loaded rack dolly. Floors and raised-floor tiles carry point-load ratings separate from their uniform load rating, and a heavy rack can exceed one while staying within the other.
R2, the Responsible Recycling standard, is a certification for electronics recyclers and refurbishers maintained by SERI, Sustainable Electronics Recycling International. Certified facilities are audited on environmental, health and safety, and data security practices, and on the downstream vendors they use. Confirm the certificate is current and covers the services you need.
Rack and stack is the physical installation of new or relocated equipment: receiving and unboxing, mounting rails, installing devices in their planned rack positions, dressing and labeling cables, and connecting power. The result is equipment that is physically ready for your IT team to power on and configure.
Released value is the limited liability amount, often stated per pound, that a carrier accepts for goods when the shipper agrees to it in writing in exchange for a lower rate. Under the Carmack Amendment this cap can leave a high-value server badly underinsured, so declared value or separate cargo insurance is often needed.
A rollback plan is the pre-agreed procedure for undoing a move step that fails, with defined decision points, go/no-go criteria and the latest time a rollback can start and still finish inside the window. For physical moves it must account for equipment already in transit, which is far harder to reverse than software.
RPO, or recovery point objective, is the maximum amount of data, measured as time, that a business can accept losing after a disruption. For example, an RPO of four hours means systems must be restorable to a point no older than four hours. Your IT team sets and meets it, and it shapes recovery site design.
RTO, or recovery time objective, is the maximum time a system can stay down after a disruption before the business impact becomes unacceptable. It drives the choice between hot, warm and cold sites, and how quickly replacement equipment must be delivered, racked and powered at the recovery location.
A security escort is trained personnel who accompany a shipment, in the truck or a following vehicle, to keep it under continuous physical surveillance from pickup to delivery. Escorts can be armed or unarmed. Their main value is at stops and handoffs, the points where cargo is most exposed to theft.
Seismic bracing is anchoring racks and cabinets to the floor or building structure, and tying rows together, so they do not tip or walk during an earthquake. Requirements depend on the building's seismic design category and local code. At a new site, anchor points must be planned before racks are placed and loaded.
A static-shielding bag is a metallized, usually translucent silver bag that blocks external electrostatic fields from reaching what is inside. It is the right bag for loose drives, memory and circuit boards. Pink anti-static bags only limit charge build-up and do not shield, so they are not a substitute.
Structured cabling is a standards-based system of backbone and horizontal cable runs terminated on patch panels and organized by telecom room, so equipment changes happen at patch cords rather than in the permanent plant. It is designed, installed, labeled and tested to published standards and recorded in as-built documentation.
A tamper-evident seal is a numbered seal, label or bolt that shows visible, irreversible signs if it is removed or interfered with. It does not stop access; it proves whether access happened. Seal numbers are recorded at loading and checked against the custody form at delivery before the doors are opened.
TAPA, the Transported Asset Protection Association, is an industry body of manufacturers and logistics providers that publishes freight security standards. Its Facility Security Requirements (FSR) cover warehouses and its Trucking Security Requirements (TSR) cover road transport, each with graded levels. Buyers use them as a checklist for high-value shipments.
A UPS, or uninterruptible power supply, is a battery-based unit that keeps equipment powered through short outages and conditions incoming power. Moving one means handling its batteries, which are regulated as hazardous materials in transport. Lithium-ion types fall under 49 CFR 173.185, and lead-acid batteries follow separate rules.
A warm site is a recovery facility with some equipment installed and connected, but not fully configured or kept current for immediate takeover. Recovery requires finishing installation, bringing systems current and testing, so a warm site sits between a hot site and a cold site on both recovery time and cost.
White glove delivery is a premium service in which the crew brings equipment inside to its final position, unpacks it and removes the packaging, instead of leaving it at a loading dock. For IT equipment it typically includes padded handling, inside placement and, where agreed, rack installation and cabling.
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