By Saleh Tousi
When designing a new data center or renovating your old one, there is more to do then simply placing some racks and servers in a room. The following are some steps you must take in order to ensure that your data center is designed well and runs efficiently.
1. You must plan ahead. Failing to plan ahead at the beginning could result in major mistakes later. Instead of just assuming that everything will work out, consider the possibilities of what could go wrong. Even if everything runs smoothly, planning for different outcomes will keep you on the right track.
2. You must keep it simple. Simple designs work best in data centers. They are much easier to support, administer and use. This way, if a problem should occur somewhere in the data center, you'll be able to fix it much faster.
3. You must be flexible. Flexibility allows you room to expand when technology changes and when upgrades take place. When your data center has room for flexibility, you'll be able to adapt to the changing technological climate and stay ahead of the game.
4. You must think modularly. Using standardized units or sections will make it much easier for you to construct your data center. Additionally whenever you need to add more servers or do an upgrade, you'll know exactly what you need and how everything fits together.
5. You must use RLSs. Use RLUs as your unit of measure instead of square feet. This is a much better way to define capacity because it allows you to make the data center scalable.
6. You must worry about weight. Servers are heavy and you need to prepare for that. Don't assume that your floor will be able to support any amount of weight that you put on it. Make sure your flooring is strong enough and of the proper type to support the weight of the servers and racks. Failing to consider the weight of your servers will only come to haunt you in the end when your floor cracks or even caves in!
7. You must use aluminum tiles if using a raised floor. Aluminum is strong and therefore will be able to handle the weight of your servers better than ceramic or plastic tiles. If you use other materials you run the risk of them not being strong enough to support the weight of your servers. By using aluminum you decrease your chances of having your flooring buckle under the weight.
8. You must label everything. This is an important aspect of design that many people over look when designing a data center. Cables are particularly important to label because if you don't, you'll end up having to pull up the entire floor just to find out where that yellow cable is plugged into. Taking a little extra time at the beginning will only help you in the end.
9. You must keep things covered and out of sight. Keeping your data center clutter free is the best way to prevent accidents. People won't mess with something that they don't know is there and this will prevent many headaches for you and your customers.
10. You must plan for the worst. No one wants anything to go wrong, but inevitably something will go wrong. Planning ahead for the worst case scenario will eliminate many headaches when something does go wrong. However, don't be too pessimistic either and still hope for everything to work out according to plan.
Saleh Tousi is the CEO of SmarttNet, a Vancouver IT company offering comprehensive business Internet services including Canada Colocation since 1995.
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