Design A Data Center: Best Practices For Designing A Data Center
How companies design a data center will have a direct impact on two major performance metrics: downtime and energy consumption
. Both of these features impact the long-term viability of a data center.
Any system downtime in a data center can have detrimental effects for businesses. Therefore, reliability tops the list for companies designing an in-house data center or outsourcing to a data center provider. In the latter situation, service providers must guarantee system uptime of 100 percent to remain competitive in todays market.
In terms of energy usage, efficiency is the primary goal. Since power contributes most to overall operating costs, companies must
design a data center with the lowest possible energy consumption. Efficient use of power not only lowers costs, but helps achieve the green initiatives of the data center operator. The data center will also be better positioned to comply with any future energy regulation.
So how can a company design a data center to ensure the highest levels of systems availability and energy efficiency? Several practices can affect these two vital design components:
Forming the Team. The company should assemble a multi-disciplined team of architects, technical consultants, mechanical engineers and electrical engineers to design a data center. The team should have hundreds of data center projects under its belt. In addition, this group of professionals should remain in force throughout construction and beyond to ensure ongoing performance at peak levels.
The design team must be able to handle the complete project scope, including the permitting process. As a complex infrastructure, a data center must meet many local, state and federal regulatory requirements. Understanding these codes, laws and statutes requires specific knowledge and research skills.
Planning the Design. During the planning process, a company has the greatest potential to affect the data centers performance levels. The first considerations involve how the data center will operate, the types of equipment to be housed and what future operations may be required.
The design must integrate complex components such as power, cooling, security, monitoring, fire suppression, mechanical and electrical systems, equipment specifications and more. The design team must balance performance and cost factors to design a data center that meets current and long-term strategic goals.
Finally, companies that design a data center must think past their immediate needs. They must design all components with expansion in mind. Not considering and designing for future requirements can lead to unnecessary and excessive costs down the road.
Selecting the Site. Site selection is a crucial decision during data center design. Once the project begins at a location, its often difficult, if not impossible, to move. Therefore, careful consideration and thorough research must be conducted to ensure the proper site selection. Companies must consider at a minimum the associated site cost, accessibility, risks and construction factors.
Remote monitoring technologies make it easy to locate data centers away from other company facilities. As a result, companies can take advantage of cheaper real estate costs. However, they need to balance the cost of accessing a remote site versus the acquisition cost.
Risk factors include natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and more. Political climates can jeopardize security and increase the need for monitoring and other preventive measures.
Determining a Total Cost of Ownership. When companies design a data center, they must go beyond the building costs. They must also factor in the cost of operating and maintaining the data center to arrive at a total cost of ownership figure. The cost and budgeting analysis should consider the initial build-out, infrastructure, equipment, power, maintenance and any other costs associated with operating the data center now and well into the future.
When businesses properly design a data center, they can minimize associated costs and maximize efficiencies. And, most importantly, they can quickly adapt to changing requirements and meet future expansion needs more economically.
by: Arnie W. Evdokimo
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