Design a Data Center: Best Practices for Designing a Data Center

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Design a Data Center Best Practices for
Designing a Data Center
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Design 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.

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Design a Data Center

• 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

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Design a Data Center

• 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.

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Design a Data Center

• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.

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Design a Data Center

• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.

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Design a Data Center

• 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.
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• 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.

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About the Author

• Arnie W. Evdokimo is Chief Executive Officer of
  DP Air Corporation, a leading provider of data
  center design, build and maintenance services
  based in Phoenix, Arizona.
• For more information about how to design a data
  center, visit http//www.dpair.com/design-data-cen
  ter/ today.