Data Center Definition and Solutions

• What is a data center?
• How are data centers managed?
• What is a green data center?
• What are some top stakeholder concerns about data centers?
• What options are available when I'm running out of power, space or cooling?
• What are some data center measurements and benchmarks and where can I find them?
• Is the federal government involved in data centers?
• What should I consider when moving my data center?
• What data center technologies should I be aware of?

What options are available when I'm running out of power, space or cooling?

Optimize: The quickest way to address this problem and increase available power, space and cooling is to optimize an existing facility. The biggest gains in optimization can be achieved by reducing overall server power load (through virtualization) and by improving the efficiency of the facility. For example, up to 70% of the power required to cool and humidify the data center environment can be conserved with currently available technologies such as outside air economizers, ultrasonic humidification, high efficiency transformers and variable frequency drive units (VFDs). Using these techniques when combined with new, higher density IT systems will allow many facilities to increase IT capacity while simultaneously decreasing facility overhead.

Move: If your existing data center can no longer be upgraded to support today's more efficient (but hotter running and more energy-thirsty) higher-density deployments, there may be nothing you can do except to move to a new space. This move will likely begin with a needs assessment/site selection process and will conclude with an eventual build-out of your existing facility or a move to a new building and site.

Outsource: Besides moving forward with your own new facility, there are two other options worth consideration:

• Colocation: This means moving your data center into space in a shared facility managed by an appropriate service provider. As there are a broad range of business models for how these services can be provided (including business liability), it is important to make sure the specific agreement terms match your short-and-long term needs and (always) take into account the flexibility you require so that your data center can evolve over its lifespan.

• Cloud computing: The practice of leveraging shared computing and storage resources — and not just the physical infrastructure of a colocation provider — has been growing rapidly for certain niche-based applications. While cloud computing has significant quality-of-service, security and compliance concerns that to date have delayed full enterprise-wide deployment, it can offer compelling advantages in reducing startup costs, expenses and complexity.

What are some data center measurements and benchmarks and where can I find them?

PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness): Created by members of the Green Grid, PUE is a metric used to determine a data center's energy efficiency. A data center's PUE is arrived at by dividing the amount of power entering it by the power used to run the computer infrastructure within it. Expressed as a ratio, with efficiency improving as the ratio approaches 1, data center PUE typically range from about 1.3 (good) to 3.0 (bad), with an average of 2.5 (not so good).

DCiE (Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency): Created by members of the Green Grid, DCiE is another metric used to determine the energy efficiency of a data center, and it is the reciprocal of PUE. It is expressed as a percentage and is calculated by dividing IT equipment power by total facility power. Efficiency improves as the DCiE approaches 100%. A data center's DCiE typically ranges from about 33% (bad) to 77% (good), with an average DCiE of 40% (not so good).

LEED Certified: Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system. It provides third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emission reduction, the quality of the indoor environment, the stewardship of resources and the sensitivity to their impact on the general environment. For more information on LEED, go to www.usgbc.org.

The Green Grid: A not-for-profit global consortium of companies, government agencies and educational institutions dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems. The Green Grid does not endorse vendor-specific products or solutions, and instead seeks to provide industry-wide recommendations on best practices, metrics and technologies that will improve overall data center energy efficiencies. For more on the Green Grid, go to www.thegreengrid.org.

Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA): TIA is the leading trade association representing the global information and communications technology (ICT) industries. It helps develop standards, gives ICT a voice in government, provides market intelligence, certification and promotes business opportunities and world-wide environmental regulatory compliance. With support from its 600 members, TIA enhances the business environment for companies involved in telecommunications, broadband, mobile wireless, information technology, networks, cable, satellite, unified communications, emergency communications and the greening of technology. TIA is accredited by ANSI.

TIA-942: Published in 2005, the Telecommunications Infrastructure Standards for Data Centers was the first standard to specifically address data center infrastructure and was intended to be used by data center designers early in the building development process. TIA-942 covers:

• Site space and layout
• Cabling infrastructure
• Tiered reliability
• Environmental considerations

Tiered Reliability — The TIA-942 standard for tiered reliability has been adopted by ANSI based on its usefulness in evaluating the general redundancy and availability of a data center design.

Tier 1 Basic — no redundant components (N): 99.671% availability

• Susceptible to disruptions from planned and unplanned activity
• Single path for power and cooling
• Must be shut down completely to perform preventive maintenance
• Annual downtime of 28.8 hours

Tier 2 — Redundant Components (limited N+1): 99.741% availability

• Less susceptible to disruptions from planned and unplanned activity
• Single path for power and cooling includes redundant components (N+1)
• Includes raised floor, UPS and generator
• Annual downtime of 22.0 hours

Tier 3 — Concurrently Maintainable (N+1): 99.982% availability

• Enables planned activity (such as scheduled preventative maintenance) without disrupting computer hardware operation (unplanned events can still cause disruption)
• Multiple power and cooling paths (one active path), redundant components (N+1)
• Annual downtime of 1.6 hours

Tier 4 — Fault Tolerant (2N+1): 99.995% availability

• Planned activity will not disrupt critical operations and can sustain at least one worst-case unplanned event with no critical load impact
• Multiple active power and cooling paths
• Annual downtime of 0.4 hours

Due to the doubling of infrastructure (and space) over Tier 3 facilities, a Tier 4 facility will cost significantly more to build and operate. Consequently, many organizations prefer to operate at the more economical Tier 3 level as it strikes a reasonable balance between CAPEX, OPEX and availability.

Uptime Institute: This is a for profit organization formed to achieve consistency in the data center industry. The Uptime Institute provides education, publications, consulting, research, and stages conferences for the enterprise data center industry. The Uptime Institute is one example of a company that has adopted the TIA-942 tier rating standard as a framework for formal data center certification. However, it is important to remember that a data center does not need to be certified by the Uptime Institute in order to be compliant with TIA-942.

Continue Reading