Data Centers

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Chapter 17

• Data Centers

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Data Center

• Contains machines that are shared resources
• Put all your eggs in a good / secure basket
• Get in right the first time

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The Essentials

• Environment HVAC
• Location
• Racks
• Disaster Planning
• Wiring
• Access
• Moving equipment into/out of the DC
• Working on equipment
• Providing Customers access
• Security
• No Keys

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Location

• Where in the building
• Consider natural disaster possibilities
• In area prone to flooding dont locate in
  basement
• Strength of floor
• Access to electrical / telecom service
• Location of UPS / ATS / generators
• Raised floor
• Hot Site availability in case of disaster
• Must have all necessary electric, HVAC, flooring,
  Data communications

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Access

• A least two entry / exit points
• Doors wide enough to move equipment thru
• Ramps may be required if raised flooring is used
• Access to an elevator if on upper floors
• Access from the delivery dock

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Security

• Avoid keys
• Easily duplicated
• No logging of who has entered
• Difficult to use if arms full of equipmrnt
• Badges
• Bio-Metric
• For high security installations use two levels
  security
• Voice recognition
• Unique security password
• All business/network critical equipment should
  live in a secure Data Center

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Electrical Power

• Condition circuits
• Little power flucuations
• UPS
• On Line
• Power is conditioned by the unit
• Equipment draws power from UPS all the time
• Off Line
• Equipment draws power from the UPS only when
  external source of electricity has been lost
• UPS have short power cycle
• Back up with Generators
• Automatic Transfer Switch ATS
• Compute the Electrical Load
• All Components, HVAC, UPS charging then add
  some

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Electrical Power

• Overhead power distribution
• Racks with Power Distribution Units (PDU)
• Keep it all within the rack
• Multiple power sources (circuits)
• One goes the data center is not dead

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ATS

• The Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS)
• emergency power system designed to provide an
  alternate source (or sources) of power
• if the primary source fails.
• Key element in the system
• enable an orderly transition from the primary
  source to the alternate source of power

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Environment

• HVAC
• Equipment generates a lot of heat
• Necessary to control
• Temperature cooling
• Humidity
• Need to be on power protected circuits
  UPS/Generators
• Monitoring the environment
• Hot spots
• Water etc.

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Fire Suppression

• Water will kill your data center
• Considerations
• People / environmental safety
• Can equipment continue to operate if triggered
• Alert mechanism
• Train staff what to do in case of a fire
• Procedure to be sure fire does not reactivate

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Racks

• No racks are a disaster
• Rack choice influences
• Floor space needed
• Ease of maintenance
• Air circulation to equipment
• Ease of mounting equipment
• Stability / protection of equipment
• Cable Management
• Open or closed systems
• Vertical and Horizontal Management
• Rails, drawers, etc

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2-Post vs 4-Post Racks
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Network Wiring

• Prewired racks
• Cable identification
• Color coded
• By subnets
• Serial number
• Labels
• Have varying length on hand
• Machine cables should be long enough that it can
  be easily maintatined
• Use latest technology that is affordable
• Keep it simple and flexible
• Punch down blocks or patch panels

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Patch Panel
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Punch Down
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Finally

• Label everything
• Provide for SA communications inside and outside
  the data center
• Console Servers / KVM switches
• Reduce needed equipment to monitor servers
• Some servers allow telnet or web access for
  administration
• Secure authorization must be in place for remote
  administration
• Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy
• All costs big dollars
• Depends on the critical nature of the center

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Work Space

• Carts with tools and common hardware
• Separate room for work space
• Provide parking spaces in DC for workbench carts

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