Data Center Infrastructure refers to all the resources and components that make up a data center, such as its IT network and infrastructure and all the devices, equipment, and technologies that are part of it. A data center usually comprises of different servers, routers, storage and security systems. Its purpose is to store and share applications and data. A data center is an integral work environment for cloud-based developers and managed service providers. It doesn’t matter whether you are trying to develop a data center for your own business or trying to identify whether another company’s data center infrastructure makes it a suitable IT partner for you, here are certain criteria you can use to assess a data center –
- Power Density Provided – Data center cabinets of yesteryear were designed to support low power densities than the server capacities used today. Data centers need to be able to make efficient use of the power made available. The more the power used, the better cooling equipment the data center will require. Data centers can sometimes brag about high-density server deployments but not know how to use them to their maximum potential. Outdated and low-performance cooling systems could prevent these servers from functioning optimally. Smart cooling solutions for your data center will ensure that your software and equipment housed on premises do not fail due to overheating.
- Data Center Redundancy – Data Center Redundancy is often used in correlation to a data center’s power backup capabilities. If you’re looking for a prospective business tie-up with another company and surveying their data center for redundancy, check the presence of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems. Data centers utilize either high availability or fault tolerance strategies. Fault tolerance offer less downtime lag but can be quite expensive. High availability are more affordable and not as vulnerable to software issues, but they do register greater downtime lag.
- Visibility – If you are planning to establish a data center for enabling greater services via its infrastructure, you need to stay on top of all activity at your data center. A data center infrastructure management software (DCIM) can extend this information to you conveniently and also monitor your data center’s assets, verifying that everything is in its right place.
You could be building a data center for your business or reviewing one of a potential partner – either way, the facilities a data center makes possible are important aspects of its infrastructure. Check for the above when making your development/tie-up decision, it will impact the scope of growth your business will be provided in the future.
