You are preparing to wheel a fully populated 42-U server cabinet onto a 600 mm × 600 mm (24 in × 24 in) raised-access floor in an existing server room. The cabinet's loaded weight is 1 800 kg (≈3 970 lb) distributed across four casters that will rest near the corners of a single floor panel. The access-floor vendor rates each panel for a static load of 1 000 lb (≈454 kg). Which action would BEST ensure the installation stays within the floor's load limitation before the rack is moved into place?
Install the heaviest servers in the upper U-spaces to balance the cabinet's vertical weight distribution.
Replace the solid tile under the rack with a high-flow perforated tile to improve cooling beneath the cabinet.
Anchor the rack frame through the raised floor directly into the concrete slab with seismic bolts.
Place a heavy-gauge steel load-spreader plate or raised-floor support platform so the rack's casters rest across two or more floor panels.
Each caster will impose about 450 kg (≈1 000 lb) on the tile it touches (1 800 kg ÷ 4). That equals the panel's maximum static rating and leaves no safety margin. Placing the casters on a steel load-spreader plate or purpose-built equipment support platform bridges the load over two or more adjacent panels (and the underlying stringers or pedestals), cutting the point and static load seen by any one tile roughly in half and bringing the installation safely below the rating.
Swapping in a perforated airflow tile does nothing to increase the tile's load capacity. Bolting the rack through the access floor anchors it but still concentrates the full weight on the tiles (and can damage the raised-floor system). Loading heavier servers higher in the cabinet changes the centre of gravity but has no effect on the force each caster applies to the floor.