White Papers
Drivers of Data Center Growth: Virtualization, Part 2
Virtualization is a major contributor to the rise of cloud computing. This paper examines the present and future state of cloud computing including implementation considerations and answering the question of whether every application is suitable for being “cloud delivered”. It will also look at how both technologies will impact data center demand and operations in the coming years.
Drivers of Data Center Growth: Virtualization
New technologies continue to emerge to facilitate new capabilities and applications that are driving increased data center growth. As it grows in popularity some industry pundits have taken the position that virtualization will have a negative impact on the data center market. In this new white paper from Digital Realty Trust you’ll see why virtualization software is actually a powerful complementary tool that can increase the efficiency of your existing and future data centers. The paper also explores the different modes of virtualization and how they are used by users just like you to support the seemingly never ending new applications that your facilities need to support.
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European Data Centre Market Demand Study
Bernard Geoghegan, Senior Vice President of International Operations presents this study based on a detailed survey of senior decision makers directly responsible for Data Centres, or who influence significant decisions related to Data Centre operations at large European organisations.
In the study we examine expansion plans, the drivers for expansion, and the implications in terms of real estate and location. We also make comparisons with the previous year.
Importance of Level 5 Commissioning
The importance of applications housed within corporate data centers only continues to increase. In this white paper, we highlight how critical it is for your data center facility’s systems to perform as required under maximum load. However, we point out that even as all data center providers perform some level of commissioning, not all data center constructs cannot perform the necessary level of testing.
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Also known as the “integration phase”, Level 5 commissioning is the most important component of the commissioning process. In this phase, every aspect of the data center is tested while it is running at its maximum capacity. In other words, every component and system of the facility must prove its ability to perform when the data center is operating in its most stressful environment. During Level 5 commissioning, all failure modes are tested and resiliency is validated, including scenarios such as:
- How do the back-up systems perform in the event of a dropped utility line?
- How do the redundant units respond when a CRAC fails?
- Does the facility’s power architecture switch over upon the failure of a UPS?
The Real Data Center Timeline
Digital Realty Trust’s Senior Vice President, Chris Crosby, articulates alternatives available to you in designing and constructing your new data center facility. This white paper defines the tasks that are associated with acquiring, designing and constructing a data center facility and the issues associated with each of them. It addresses the degree of risk inherent in each of these options to help assist you in choosing the alternative that best addresses your corporate needs.
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Building a data center is a non-trivial exercise with a great deal of inherent risk if each of the elements that are associated with its development are not fully understood and administered by experienced personnel. The basic components that characterize any data center development timeline fall into five (5) specific areas:Site Selection and Acquisition
In this portion of the timeline companies must determine their requirements, and identify and procure the physical site.Design
During the design phase of the timeline, firms must quantify their level of risk tolerance and determine if they want to build the required resiliency into the site. This period also focuses on developing the master plan, schedules, budgets, hiring consultants, contractors and obtaining necessary permits.Construction
The construction portion of the timeline is the longest of the entire development process. It is also the area most prone to cost overruns and contingency payments due to equipment delays and use of non-standard components and processes.Commissioning
Throughout the five (5) levels of commissioning all of the systems components are tested at their maximum load volumes and the inter-operability between systems must also be verified.Close-Out
During close-out all punch list items must be identified and corrected. All operational procedures and processes must be documented and in place, and all support personnel trained and certified.
Getting the Data Center You Want in Today’s Economy
Digital Realty Trust provides perspectives that incorporate aspects from financing and Total Cost of Ownership to the most efficient methodology to identify and obtain space under increasingly more stringent time constraints.
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Although any large expenditure has always received a good deal of financial scrutiny within organizations, the current economy can be expected to elevate this review process to even higher levels within the corporate hierarchy. This may manifest itself in different ways such as added levels of sign-off required before project approval. What is undeniable is that more diligence will be required in developing the business case for a new data center than ever before. This is understandable for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that the cost of the data center is typically only about a third of the total project cost with migration and infrastructure costs making up the other two-thirds. In order to surmount the added financial hurdles that will face data center executives in gaining project approval, business cases will require an intense focus on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
kW of IT Load. The New Chargeback Mechanism.
Digital Realty Trust explores the use of kW of IT Load as the new chargeback mechanism for top IT executives.
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Chargeback Systems—A Brief Definition
Although they vary between companies and departments, at their core, Chargeback Systems, as their name implies, are the collection of applications, algorithms and processes that are used by CIO’s and their organizations to recharge the lines of business or departments that they support for their portion of IT’s operational costs. More succinctly, a chargeback system is the internal billing system of the IT organization. The challenge that IT has traditionally faced in implementing these systems, either through internal development or the use of “off the shelf” packages” is crafting them to reflect the unique needs of their clients. This has traditionally been true in the area defining the systems’ basic “chargeable” unit.
Understanding the Special Forces of the Data Center
Digital Realty Trust shares insight into the four dynamic forces that exist in every data center.
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Balancing the Special Forces: A Practical Example
Achieving a balance between the four “special forces” begins with determining the customer’s level of risk adversity and then identifying the most cost efficient solution to be incorporated into its data center. The sum of this process is typically based on the customer’s answers to five essential questions:
- What risk am I concerned with and what is its likelihood?
- How can I design my facility to mitigate these risks?
- How can facility operations mitigate that risk?
- What are the capital and operating costs of the various approaches?
- Which investment is the business prepared to make to mitigate that risk?