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Data Center Management Best Practices
By John Jacobsen
Traditionally, the IT world used a component-based approach to data center management
best practices. However, businesses issued it directives to control costs while still
providing efficient management. This helped evolve an overall integrated cost-controlled
data center management best practices approach based on experience.
The use of an integrated best practices approach to data center management involves
efficient management of resources while still minimizing the costs of all the different
interrelated competing factors that require attention. This approach is also consistent
with the overall goals of businesses, which is to maximize turnover under
tightly-controlled costs without defaulting on server uptime.
Finding the best way out through this approach increases the cost-effective efficiency
of all the subsystems in a data center after weighing all the different interrelated
considerations.
Based on the above considerations, the following best practices have been evolved for
cost-effective data center management.
Using the best practices in managing data centers involves locating data centers in
geographically cold areas to cut air conditioning energy costs. It also involves locating
them near rivers or lakes to cut down on server cooling costs.
It involves use of standard 20 foot rack-based server container or blade-server modules
using the grid-design and cloud computing approach. It involves use of Energy-Star rated
green-power equipment having power factor of more than 0.9. It also involves the use of
energy-efficient UPSs (uniform power supplies).
It involves the use of energy-efficient cooling equipment to pump and circulate the
water for cooling the server racks and environment. It prefers use of kvm (keyboard voice
mouse) switches-over-IP in data centers for networking as they have been found to the most
cost effective while being efficient too.
The best practices management approach to physical and data security of data centers
involves keeping their location completely secret in the first place. Secondly it involves
minimizing direct access of personnel to data centers. This approach also involves the use
of all sorts of sensors and intrusion-detection systems to nip in the bud threats due to
hackers, thieves, dust, viruses, and fire.
This approach also means that predominantly authorized access to data centers for
monitoring is made from remote locations from anywhere in the world using
platform-independent web-based software. It therefore becomes important to ensure fail
proof Internet broadband backbone for minimum server downtime.
The best practices approach also involves utilizing the per unit floor area of data
centers to minimize cost while using the optimal density of servers thereon. It also
involves the use of cost-effective but easily-replaceable and identifiable cable layout.
It also involves the use of all safety precautions and compliance to government
regulations and standards.
The best practices include planning for future expandability in all aspects of systems
and subsystems of data center design. Such capacity planning involves the use of foresight
and accommodation in design while controlling costs of such expansion.
One of the most important aspects of the best practices is to use server virtualization
to effect efficiency and cost saving in server access and hardware. Data center management
best practices also include attention to documentation, training, tools, and maintenance procedures.
John Jacobsen owns and operates
Data Center Management guide
to help you maximize the efficiency and reduce the costs of your data center.
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