Data Center Strategy Survey Results

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Data Center StrategySurvey Results

• Common Solutions Group Meeting
• May 10th 2006
• Bill Clebsch

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Agenda

• Survey Purpose
• Participation Rates
• Survey Overview
• Results Overview
• What the Results Mean
• Next Steps

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Survey Purposes

• Establish baseline for existing Data Centers
• Understand drivers for Data Center expansions,
  upgrades and/or replacements
• Inform short and long term strategies and plans

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Who Participated

• 100 Participation by CSG Member Schools

• Stanford University
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Chicago
• University of Colorado
• University of Delaware
• University of Michigan
• University of Minnesota
• University of Southern California
• University of Texas, Austin
• University of Virginia
• University of Washington
• UW-Madison
• Virginia Tech
• Yale University

• Brown University
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Dartmouth College
• Duke University
• Georgetown University
• Harvard University
• Harvard, FAS
• Indiana University
• MIT
• New York University
• Penn State University
• Princeton

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Overview of Three Survey Areas
Current Baseline Age of Data Center Data Center Specifications Standards and Service Level Agreements
Data Center Expansion Motivation for Expansion Future Requirements Planning Assumptions
Research Academic Computing Current Allocations Future Capacity Support and Location Models
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Current Baseline What Did We Ask?
Age of Data Center How long have you occupied your current Data Center? Are you expecting to do Data Center expansion or improvement in the next 1-4 years?
Data Center Specifications What is your Data Centers density specifications? What is the size of your current Data Center(s) machine usable space? What network bandwidth do you have into your Data Center?
Standards and Service Level Agreements How do you charge Data Center clients for use of the facilities? What standards are in place for Data Center equipment? What Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are there for the Data Center?
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Current Baseline Our Response (s)

• Age of Data Center

• 60 of Data Centers are older than 20 years
• 36 answered their facilities are 11-20 years old

• Data Center Specifications

• 39 have 10,000-20,000 sq ft of usable space
• 36 have 5,000-10,000 sq ft of usable space
• 46 have less than 1 gbps of network bandwidth
• 57 have 10 gbps of network bandwidth

• 5050 split on whether facilities are centrally
  funded vs have rates for usage
• Some discounts or exemptions for research and
  academic computing
• Majority have no required standards in place for
  Data Center equipment
• 57 report using SLAs
• 43 using none at all (SLAs)

• Standards and Service Level Agreements

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Baseline Bottom Line
Nearly everyone is expecting to expand or improve
their facilities within the next 4 years89
answered yes
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Data Center Expansion What Did We Ask?
Motivation for Expansion If you have Data Center plans, what is the motivation?
Future Requirements If you are expanding, what size is your planned expansion? What is your planned Data Center density specification? Do you expect to use water-cooled racks for your planned space? What excess capacity are you planning for power and cooling beyond your new Data Center needs?
Planning Assumptions What is your expectation for number of years you can use new or expanded Data Center space? If you have Data Center plans, who is doing the planning and design work? When thinking of your current and future plans, which of the following do they include?
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Data Center Expansion Our Response

• Top motivator is to get more (floor space,
  power, etc)
• Research computing and disaster recovery needs
  are equally large drivers
• 71 confirm Disaster Recovery Planning is a
  factor
• 71 state Research Computing is a top motivator
• 64 report Data Center facilities are worn out

Motivation for Expansion

• Future Requirements

• 89 plan for campus Data Center(s) and a remote
  disaster recovery site
• 50 plan expansions of 51-75 more floor space
• 57 plan excess capacity of 26-50 for power,
  cooling

Planning Assumptions

• Expect 11-20 years of use from expanded/new
  facilities
• Most of us are using more than one model,
  including using consultants, to support planning
• 2/3rd looking to retrofit and expand existing
  spaces
• 1/3rd planning for off-site or co-location

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Research Academic Computing What Did We Ask?
Current Allocations What percentage of your current space is for Research Computing and Academic Computing (storage, grid, course management, etc.)?
Future Capacity If you are expanding, what percentage of your total planned space will be for Research Computing and Academic Computing?
Support and Location Models What is the model for Research Computing with your faculty in your Data Center? Who provides system administration within the (research computing) Data Center?
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Research Academic ComputingOur Response

• Current space allocation for these needs are low
• 64 allocate 0-25 of existing space
• 36 allocate 26-50 of existing space

Current Allocations

• Future Capacity

• Future plans include more space for these needs
• 36 plan to allocate 26-50 in the future
• 29 plan to allocate 51-75 in the future

Support and Location Models

• Location Models vary
• Solo 2/3rd have faculty house their own
• Colo 2/3rd have some level of co-lo
• Condo 1/3rd have faculty buy into large
  clusters
• Various approaches to System Administration
• 2/3rd use distributed or mixed model of suppport
• 1/3rd provide central sys admin support

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Discussion

• Expanding Data Center capacity and redundancy
  are common challenges
• Space, service and business recovery are all
  motivatingfactors
• No predominant business model, standards or
  system admin
• How can we best leverage the fact that most of us
  have large scale Data Center plans underway?

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Discussion

• Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery
  Opportunities
• Emergency web site relationships
• DNS Ring
• Like-for-like exchange
• Research Computing Planning and Support Models
• Inter-school condominium models
• Co-location with system administration help
• Others
• SLA development opportunities
• Configuration management

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Discussion

• If you want better news, go out and make some of
  your own

Scoop Nisker
CSG Meeting May 2006
Bill Clebsch
End