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DATA CENTER EVALUATION

Introduction

Demand for data processing and storage is ever growing. Enterprises rely more and more on digital information and communication, making the location and way in which those data are housed and maintained critical to business continuity. Here are some items that should be considered as you make this important decision.

Do the following:

Evaluate Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). In the decision whether or not to outsource your data center, always look at the TCO. Compare capex and opex then include qualitative metrics such as disaster recovery plans, security, ease of access, etc. In evaluating whether to outsource your data center, the key considerations often come down to whether a company wants their data center budget expended as capex (in-house) or opex (outsource). There are often hidden operating expenses that aren't always apparent to a company when they decide to build and manage their own data center (electricity is a major one as well as in-house expertise). Outsourcing your data center makes all the sense in the world if your anticipated needs are fairly unpredictable 2-3 years out, you have 3rd party outsource data center space available near your headquarters, cash is at a premium and you don't have multiple IP and telecommunication service providers accessible from your headquarters, not to mention the cost of highly skilled workers needed to staff the facility. Data centers let you take advantage of the economies of scale that are derived from the aggregated use of the facilities by numerous corporations. The benefits of enhanced security, redundancy, scalability, energy efficiency become immediately apparent.

Look for a data center that is energy efficient. Presently, data centers consume close to 3% of the nation's total power consumption and the number is growing as two new data centers come online each day. Data centers, both outsourced and in-house, are coming under more scrutiny for the power that they use. We all want to be energy efficient, right? While more than half the battle to a greener IT world comes from decisions related to equipment type and utilization, one data center can be more efficient than another. A common way to measure the efficiency of a data center is the PUE (Power Usage Efficiency). The lower the PUE, the more efficient one data center is over another. Good numbers are typically in the range of 1.4 – 1.75. Reports indicate that data centers will be placed under federal oversight by agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency. Owner operator's will have to bear the costs of continual upgrades to meet ever tightening federal standards.

Have a disaster recovery or business continuity plan. For public companies this is a requirement, but it can't be stated enough. Businesses need to think about what happens to their employees and data when Force Majeure events occur. Data centers play a large role in offering a more secure location to store your data (from a physical security and seismic perspective to name two). For many organizations it may make sense to have two data centers to replicate data simultaneously. To not be prepared may mean to no longer be in business.

Work only with a "carrier-neutral" data center. When you do select a provider, confirm that a number of carriers have established a point of presence (POP) within the data center. This power of selection is critical for you to be able to access a variety of competing providers. This does two things; allows you to get the best price, and allows you to "multi-home" your traffic on different networks for protection against single provider outages.

Find a data center that can accommodate the airflow you need to run your modern equipment. Data centers built 10 or even 5 years ago don't have the air velocity or force to cool your new hardware. Modern hardware manufacturing has evolved to a point where the manufacturer's recommended operating temperature ranges have increased dramatically. For example, an IBM 3200 rack mounted server is recommended to be operated at temperatures between 50 – 95º F when located in environments below to 3,000 feet where air is most dense, and between 50 – 90º F at elevations between 3,000 ft to 7,000 ft where air becomes thinner. This highlights the importance of the volume of air flow and not just the temperature as most believe.

In fact, some reports indicate that an overly cold data center may actually be harmful to equipment. Most data centers are configured as hot aisle/ cold aisle where the temperatures in the cold aisle can be as low as 55 and up to 95 in the hot aisle. This large delta in temperatures means that the systems are constantly exposed to temperature vacillations that stress solder joints and other critical mechanical interfaces to a point that they can fail.

In summary, when you are selecting a potential data center, don't just assume that if it feels like a meat locker that your equipment is being treated well.

Avoid the following:

Don't wait until you have an emergency to make a data center decision. Many data center decisions are made in haste right after a major outage at an in-house data center. In the case of a fire or major infrastructure failure, most companies can't generate revenue and their employees can no longer be productive. Revenues suffer, but costs remain the same. If your data center doesn't allow for expansion, your business may no longer be able to grow.

Straying from your company's core competency. Building, managing and maintaining a data center are seldom near a company's core competency, yet many companies spend millions of dollars on these projects. Focus on delivering your revenue generating products and services, not things such as data warehousing or when a generator needs to be upgraded or tested.

Don't underestimate the demand for data. The amount of data an average company consumes has increased more than 10-fold since 2003, and it show no signs slowing. Healthcare and medicine are examples where data requirements will dramatically outpace those of other industries. Be aware that you will need constant upgrades and modernizations to your center.

Don't underestimate the effects of new regulations and compliancy requirements. While the nature and extent of the regulatory oversight for data centers is being debated in the halls of several Federal agencies, it is clear that further requirements for items such as energy efficiency and mitigation of environmental contamination are coming. How much these will cost is entirely unpredictable. Agencies and organizations leading this effort include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, the US Green Building Council, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Health and Human Services.