Data Center

Design

Data Center
Design
Data Center
Design
Data Center
Design
Data Center
Design
Data Center
Design
Data Center
Design
Data Center
Design
Data Center
Design
Data Center
Design
Data Center
Design
 Data Center
Design
Data Centers are specialized environments that
safeguard your company's most valuable
equipment and intellectual property. Data
Centers house the devices that do the following:

•Process your business transactions

•Process and store your intellectual property

•Maintain your financial records

•Route your e-mails

•Host your website

 Data Center
Design
Deciding to Outsource
or
build it in-house

Before launching a Data Center project, the decision must be made

whether to outsource the facility, that is rent server environment
space from an outside company, or build it in-house. Outsourced
server environments may go by various names such as Internet
Data Center (IDC) or colocation facility, but the scenario is the
same. Your servers are housed away from your company site, in a
Data Center that is owned and operated by an outside vendor. The
hosting company provides and maintains all of the room's
infrastructure—power, connectivity, cooling, cabinet space, and
protective systems such as fire suppression and temperature
monitoring.
 Data Center
Design
Defining Requirements
•Why is your company building this Data Center?
•What needs must it meet? What specific functions
does it need to perform, and perform well, to be
considered a success?
•What level of availability does your business
require?
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Design
Client Needs

Among the best sources of information you have when

designing a Data Center are your clients. Talk to the
people who work in the room, and find out the following:

•What servers they want it to support

•How much connectivity those devices need
•What their power requirements are
 Data Center
Design
Architecting a Productive Data
Center
 Data Center
Design
Make It Robust

Above all, your Data Center

has to be reliable. Its
overarching reason for
existence is safeguarding your
company's most critical
equipment and applications.
Regardless of what
catastrophes happen outside—
inclement weather, utility
failures, natural disasters, or
something else unforeseen—
you want your Data Center up
and running so your business
continues to operate.
 Data Center
Design
Make It Modular

You want sufficient power, data, and

cooling throughout the room so that
incoming servers can be deployed
according to a logical master plan,
not at the mercy of wherever there
happens to be enough electrical
outlets or data ports to support
them. To achieve this uniform
infrastructure, design the room in
interchangeable segments. Stock
server cabinet locations with
identical infrastructure and then
arrange those locations in identical
rows.
 Data Center
Design
Make It Flexible

Data Centers are not static, so their

infrastructure should not be either. Design
for flexibility. Build infrastructure systems
using components that are easily changed
or moved. This means installation of patch
panels that can house an array of
connector types and pre-wiring electrical
conduits so they can accommodate various
electrical plugs by simply swapping their
receptacle. It also means avoiding items
that inhibit infrastructure mobility. Deploy
fixed cable trays sparingly, and stay away
from proprietary solutions that handcuff you
to a single brand or product.
Data Center
Design
Standardize

Make the Data Center a consistent

environment. This provides stability
for the servers and networking
equipment it houses, and increases
its usability. The room's modularity
provides a good foundation for this,
because once a user understands
how infrastructure is configured at
one cabinet location, he or she will
understand it for the entire room.
Build on this by implementing
uniform labeling practices,
consistent supplies, and standard
procedures for the room.
 Data Center
Design
Promote Good Habits

•Data Center users are busy people. They are looking for the fastest
solution to their problems, especially when they are rushing to bring a
system online and are up against a deadline. Given a choice, most of
them follow the path of least resistance. You want to make sure that path
goes where you want it to go.
•Construct a nearby Build Room where system administrators can unbox
servers to keep the Data Center free of boxes and pallets, for example.
Make primary Data Center aisles larger than those between server rows,
creating an obvious path for users to follow when rolling refrigerator-sized
servers through the room for deployment.
•Install wall-mounted telephones with long receiver cords throughout the
Data Center if you are concerned about interference from cellular phones
and want to reduce their usage. Provide pre-tested patch cords to
promote standardized cabling practices. Design the Data Center so users
can easily exercise good habits and they will.
 Data Center
Design
Ergonomics
•Make things accessible. This means putting items close by that Data
Center users need to perform their job. It also means designing work areas,
say within an electrical panel or where data cabling terminates, to be free of
clutter.

•Choose simple over complex. The more straightforward a Data Center's

details are, the less chance there is for someone to make a mistake and
perhaps cause an outage. Following this principle can influence how you
arrange server equipment and major infrastructure in the room.

•Remove mystery. If there is a chance someone might not understand an

element of a Data Center, add some form of written instructions—signage,
labeling, or even maps.

•Consider human nature. People typically follow the path of least

resistance.
 Data Center
Design
Components
 Data Center
Design
Physical Space: Physical space refers to the footprint that Data
Center-related items occupy. This generally applies to the overall
area of the Data Center and its associated spaces, such as
electrical rooms or storage areas. On a smaller scale this might
refer to key dimensions within the Data Center, such as the
external measurements of a server cabinet or aisle clearances.

Raised Flooring: Raised flooring is an elevated grid system that is

frequently installed in large Data Centers. Cooled air, electrical
whips, and data cabling are routed through the space under the
raised floor, promoting better air flow and enabling easier
management of power and cable runs. Water pipes, fire
suppressant cylinders, moisture detectors, and smoke detectors
may be located here as well.
 Data Center
Design
In-Room Electrical: In-room electrical refers to all power-related
facilities within the Data Center. This normally includes electrical
panels, conduits, and several types of receptacles. Power to this
system usually comes from an outside commercial power source,
namely your local utility company, and is likely conditioned at the
company site. Voltage varies from one country to another.

Standby Power: Standby power includes all backup power

systems responsible for support of the Data Center's electrical load
in the event that normal utility power fails for any reason. This
system traditionally includes large batteries, known as an
uninterruptible power source or uninterruptible power supply, and
one or more generators.
 Data Center
Design
Cabling: The cabling system is all structured cabling within the
Data Center. Copper and fiber cabling are the typical media and
are terminated via several types of connectors. Common
components include fiber housings, patch panels, multimedia
boxes, and data faceplates. Cabinets, raceways, and other items
used to route structured cabling are also considered part of the
cabling system. Users plug servers in to the Data Center's
structured cabling system with pre-terminated patch cords.

Cooling: The cooling system refers to the chillers and air handlers
used to regulate ambient temperature and control humidity within
the Data Center. This system might incorporate the air conditioning
system used to cool regular office space within the same building,
known as house air, or might be independent of it. Individual server
cabinets can also possess their own cooling measures, such as
fans or water-cooling.
 Data Center
Design
Fire Suppression: Fire suppression includes all devices
associated with detecting or extinguishing a fire in the Data
Center. The most obvious components are water-based
sprinklers, gaseous fire suppression systems, and hand-
held fire extinguishers. Others can include devices that
detect smoke or measure air quality.

Other Infrastructure Components: There are also some

infrastructure items that do not strictly fall under the prior
categories but are commonly found in server environments.
These include leak detection devices, seismic mitigation,
and physical security controls such as card readers and
security cameras.
 Data Center
Design
Establishing Data Center Design Criteria

Availability
As stated earlier, the most important aspect of a well-
designed Data Center is its ability to protect a company's
critical equipment and applications. The degree to which Data
Center devices function continuously is known as the room's
availability or its uptime
Level of Availability Percent Downtime per Year
Six Nines 99.9999 32 seconds
Five Nines 99.999 5 minutes, 15 seconds
Four Nines 99.99 52 minutes, 36 seconds
Three Nines 99.9 8 hours, 46 minutes
Two Nines 99 3 days, 15 hours, 40 minutes
 Data Center
Design
Establishing Data Center Design Criteria
.
 Data Center
Design
Infrastructure Tiers

The amount of infrastructure required to support all servers or

networking devices in the Data Center is referred to as N
capacity. Exactly how many infrastructure components are
required to achieve N capacity for your Data Center depends
upon several factors, including the room's size, how many
electrical circuits it contains, and the maximum number of
servers and networking devices the environment can house.

N+1 is the next tier. N+1 infrastructure can support the Data
Center at full server capacity and includes an additional
component, like an automobile with a spare tire. A Data
Center built to this tier can continue functioning normally
while a component is offline, either because of regular
maintenance or a malfunction. Higher tiers of N+2, N+3, and
beyond can be likewise achieved by increasing the number of
redundant components.
 Data Center
Design
One Room or Several?

Depending upon the size of your company, they might be

distributed among several buildings on a single campus or
among several countries around the world. If you have the
ability to choose whether your Data Centers are centralized
within one location or decentralized among many, it is
important to understand the advantages and disadvantages
of each configuration.

One large Data Center is simpler to manage than several

smaller ones. Consistent standards can be applied more
easily to a single, uniform environment, and all of its support
personnel can be located at the site. One large Data Center
is also generally less expensive per square foot or square
meter than several smaller environments because
construction materials cost less per unit when bought in
greater quantities
 Data Center
Design
Life Span
Another factor that helps define the scope of your Data
Center is how long it is expected to support your company's
needs without having to be expanded or retrofitted, or
otherwise undergo major changes. A server environment that
is expected to handle a company's hosting and computing
requirements for one year should be designed differently than
a Data Center to support those functions for 10 years.

When does it make sense to build a Data Center for a shorter

time period? This would be when there is uncertainty
surrounding the room or site, such as if the Data Center is
constructed in a leased building that your company is not
guaranteed to renew in the future. Perhaps your company is
large and has acquired another business, and your mission is
to create a server environment that will serve its needs only
until all of its employees, equipment, and functions are
transferred to a new site.
 Data Center
Design
Budget Decisions
It is understandable to want a utopian Data Center, an
impenetrable bunker with ample floor space, abundant
power, and scorching fast connectivity, capable of
withstanding any catastrophe and meeting all of your
company's hosting needs for decades to come. The deep
infrastructure needed to create that theoretical ideal costs
very real money, however, so it is important to understand
what expenses you are incurring or avoiding based on the
design choices you make. It is no good to spend millions of
dollars on a server environment to protect your company's
assets if that cost drives your business into bankruptcy.
 Data Center
Design
Managing a
Data Center Project
 Data Center
Design
The Design Package

Once decisions are made about the design of your Data

Center, the information must be assembled, documented,
and ultimately given to the contractors tasked with performing
the work. This is done by first creating a design package.
This document can be as minimal as a sketch jotted on a
napkin or as involved as a multimedia package of written
guidelines, blueprint schematics, and videotaped installation
practices. The important thing is that it include clear
instructions about how the Data Center is to be constructed
and what infrastructure it must include. Pay careful attention
to detail and accuracy. The design package is your most
powerful tool for ensuring that your server environment is
built to your specifications. Mistakes or ambiguity in this
document lead to installation errors and can cost your
company hundreds of thousands of dollars to correct.
 Data Center
Design
The facilities manager: This person's specialty includes all
mechanical devices within the Data Center infrastructure,
from air handlers and power distribution units to fire
sprinklers and standby generators. The manager can provide
information about your company's infrastructure-related
standards. These might include preferred vendors or
suppliers, standardized wiring schemes, existing service
contracts, or other design philosophies your company follows
when building Data Centers, labs, or similar specialized
environments. Once the Data Center is online, the facilities
department will provide ongoing maintenance of the
mechanical systems.

The IT manager: This person is responsible for the servers

installed in the Data Center. This manager has insight into the
power and data connectivity requirements of these devices.
Once servers are online, the IT department supports,
monitors, and upgrades them as needed.
 Data Center
Design
The network engineer: This person designs, supports, and
manages the Data Center's network. Just as the IT
department supports servers, so is the Networking group
responsible for all networking devices. Some companies
have multiple networks—perhaps one internal network, a
second external network, and a third dedicated entirely to
backup functions. In that instance, each may be
representated by a different engineer.

The Data Center manager: This person designs, supports,

and manages the Data Center's physical architecture and
oversees the layout and installation of incoming servers. He
or she governs physical access into the room and enforces
its standards of operation. This manager also serves as a
bridge among the facilities, IT, and networking organizations,
ensuring that the Data Center infrastructure meets the needs
of its users.
 Data Center
Design
The project manager: This person manages the Data
Center construction project as a whole, including its budget,
timelines, and supervision of outside contractors. His or her
project might cover an entire building or company site,
making the Data Center only one portion of what he or she
must supervise. Some companies outsource this role, but
most often this person is a facilities manager.

The architectural firm: This outside company ensures that

your Data Center design complies with local building codes.
They are also a conduit to specialized subcontracting work,
such as a structural engineer to confirm the weight bearing
ability of a Data Center floor or a seismic engineer to approve
its proposed earthquake safeguards. After receiving a design
package and other instructions from the client company, the
architectural firm creates formal construction documents that
local municipal officials review and that the project's various
contractors follow when building the Data Center.
 Data Center
Design
The general contractor: This person oversees and acts as a
single point of contact for all other contractors on the project.
Project changes are normally directed in writing to the
contractor rather than through individual contractors.

The electrical contractor: This contractor installs, labels,

and tests all of the Data Center's electrical and standby
equipment.

The mechanical contractor: This contractor installs and

tests all of the Data Center's cooling equipment. Ducting is
typically the contractor's responsibility as well.

The cabling contractor: Not surprisingly, the cabling

contractor installs and tests all of the Data Center's structured
cabling. Its staff also installs any racks or cabinets that
cabling terminates into, and labels the room's cable runs.
 Data Center
Design

Tips for a Successful Project

 Data Center
Design
•Define expectations and communicate them early and
often— It is hard to have a successful project if everyone
involved does not understand what's expected of them.
Establish clear deadlines and provide thorough instruction to
all contractors. The design package is your most powerful
tool for doing this. Also have a formal kickoff meeting early in
the project. Involve all of the principal members of the project
to make sure that the design package is thoroughly read and
that any potential problems are identified and discussed up
front.
•Expect long lead times on infrastructure items— Certain
components used in the construction of a Data Center can
take months to arrive from their manufacturers, so it is
important that the person responsible for obtaining materials,
either the project manager or a particular contractor, order
them early. Call this out directly to the contractors, who often
prefer to wait as long as possible to order infrastructure
components.
 Data Center
Design
•Establish deadline-based incentives for time-sensitive projects— If your
Data Center project absolutely must be completed quickly, include
incentives in your vendor contracts that reward for the timely completion
of key tasks and penalize for delays. Tasks can almost always be
expedited if the right incentives exist. If you take this approach, do not
allow safety to suffer in the rush to meet deadlines. It is better to have a
project take longer than to put workers at risk or skip procedures that
exist to ensure Data Center infrastructure works correctly.

•Document everything— Although the design package is intended to

cover all details of the project, questions inevitably arise during the
course of construction. Can a different product be substituted for the one
specified in the design package? Is it acceptable to route cables along a
different path? Is the wording on a particular sign acceptable? No matter
how minor the clarifications or changes, document them thoroughly. The
Data Center is large and complex and might be only one part of a larger
project. With all of the tasks everyone is trying to accomplish it is easy to
forget or misunderstand a verbal agreement made weeks earlier about a
minor issue.
 Data Center
Design
•Visit the construction site frequently: No matter how
many phone calls are made, e-mails are written, meetings
are held, and documentation is kept in association with the
project, there is no substitute for walking the site to make
sure your Data Center is being built according to the intended
design. If budget or scheduling limitations prohibit regular
visits, arrange to have someone on the site take pictures at
least once a week and send them to the project's key
representatives..
Data Center
Design