Data center site selection dilemmas? Read this |
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By Jasmine Desai, Principal Correspondent
15 Jan 2010 | www.searchdatacenter.in |
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Setting up a data center from scratch is like building a house. Several
factors such as site selection to costs, safety and fulfillment of long
term requirements have to be taken into consideration. The most
important factor to consider here is researching the cost, considering
the budgets
set aside for this venture.
Saji P K, the senior vice-president of global infrastructure
operations for Sify Technologies, points out that the key cost elements
are power and cooling, apart from the data center's physical aspects.
However, some of these could be optimized with selection of the right
site, coupled with availability and access to data
center
facilities. Beside this, several other elements also play an
important role, which we will analyze in this story.
Making a checklist
A major portion of the data center's physical costs is on the
servers. The infrastructure cost typically includes purchase (or lease)
of the building, UPS,
cooling systems, generator, electric supply and systems. As Navin
Agrawal, the executive director of advisory services for KPMG in India
advises, "When setting up a large data center, it's essential to
understand the building's construction cost and quality."
While the above factors are important, summing up the costs is
security, which include both the physical and logical aspects. The
security aspect also comes into play while selecting the data center
site.
The most obvious data center site is one that is least likely to be
affected by natural disasters. But there are unnatural factors too.
Shiva Shankar, vice-president & head - IT Infrastructure &
Security - Ops & Engg, Reliance Tech Services suggests, "From my
experience of working on data center projects, I think one should
consider locations away from major highways and railroads in order to
reduce evacuation risks from toxic spills. Also, the location should
not be close to hazardous production facilities and aircraft flight
corridors." A kilometer away from a highway is a good choice, as one
should consider the commuting comfort of employees as well.
In the wake of terrorism, it has become a vital factor to look for
sites that are not targets of terrorist attacks. Disasters
like
internet security threats (denial of service attacks, etc) should also
be kept in mind.
It would be wise to keep a checklist before scouting for a data
center site. Organizations can use the TIA-942
(Telecommunications Industry Association) checklist which has pointers
that one needs to consider, such as telecom & equipment,
architectural, and electrical & mechanical requirements.
Shiva adds some more interesting points, "Is the local telephone
exchange capable of delivering the required communications services?
And is there a second exchange? Is the location notorious for
disruptions in utility services?"
It makes sense to ensure aspects like sufficient area for parking,
water and fuel storage; space for delivery truck access and so on.
Facing up to the challenge
It's interesting to note that Indian CIOs are likely to face more
barriers in selecting a data center site compared to their global
counterparts. As Agrawal says, "The CIO and team may face challenges in
terms of availability of multiple communication channels (leased
circuits, satellite connectivity, etc), dedicated power supply,
availability of skilled labor, availability and maintenance support for
servers and infrastructure components."
Uninterrupted power supply is another major problem. Saji has his
views on this aspect. "This is a constant debate in India. Most states
in India suffer power outages, not to mention the quality of power and
its distribution. Data center players get ready with alternate sources
of power like diesel generators that escalates your CAPEX by 15-20% and
OPEX by more than 20%."
Alternate sources of energy like solar power can always be explored.
Shiva says, "Adding a large photovoltaic array to the roof of a data
center raises its profile, and adds a reliable source of clean power."
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