| Datacenter
Infrastructure Solution:
A
Data center is a facility used for housing a
large amount of electronic equipment, typically
computers and communications equipment. As the
name implies, a data center is usually
maintained by an organization for the purpose of
handling the data necessary for its operations.
A bank for example may have a data center, where
all its customers' account information is
maintained and transactions involving these data
are carried out. Practically every company that
is mid-sized or larger has some kind of data
center with the larger companies often having
dozens of data centers. Most large cities have
many purpose-built data center buildings in
secure locations close to telecommunications
services. Most colocation centers and Internet
peering points are located in these kinds of
facilities.
As
data is a crucial aspect of most organizational
operations, organizations tend to be very
protective of their data. A data center must
therefore keep high standards for assuring the
integrity and functionality of its hosted
computer environment. This is depicted in its
physical and logical layout.
Before
the dot com crash, millions of square meters of
general-purpose data centers were built in the
hope of filling them with servers for web
hosting and application service providers.
However this demand never materialized.
Physical
layout
A
data center can occupy one room of a building,
one or more floors, or an entire building. Most
of the equipment is often in the form of servers
racked up into 19 inch rack cabinets, which are
usually placed in single rows forming corridors
between them.
Servers
differ greatly in size from 1U servers to huge
storage silos which occupy many tiles on the
floor. This allows people access to the front
and rear of each cabinet. Some equipment such as
mainframe computers and storage devices are
often as big as the racks themselves, and are
placed alongside them. 1U represents one rack
unit of space. A Rack Unit is 1.75 inches in
height (44.49 mm).
The
physical environment of the data center is
usually under strict control:
§
Air
conditioning is
used to keep the room cool and humidity control.
Generally, temperature is kept around 20-22
degrees Celsius (about 68-72 degrees
Fahrenheit). The primary goal of data center air
conditioning systems is to keep the server
components at the board level within the
manufacturer's specified temperature/humidity
range. This is crucial since electronic
equipment in a confined space generates much
excess heat, and tends to malfunction if not
adequately cooled. Air conditioning systems also
help keep humidity within acceptable parameters.
The humidity parameters are kept between 35% and
65 % Relative Humidity. Too such humidity and
water may begin to condense on internal
components; too little and static electricity
may damage components.
§
Backup
power is
catered for via one or more uninterruptible
power supplies and/or diesel generators.
§
To
prevent single points of failure, all elements
of the electrical systems, including backup
system, are typically fully duplicated, and
critical servers are connected to both the
"A-side" and "B-side" power feeds.
§
Data
centers typically have raised flooring made up
of 60 cm (2 ft) removable square tiles. These
provide a plenum for air to circulate below the
floor, as part of the air conditioning system,
as well as providing space for power cabling.
Data cabling is typically routed through
overhead cable trays in modern data centers.
§
Data
centers often have elaborate fire prevention and
fire extinguishing systems. Modern data centers
tend to have two kinds of fire alarm systems; a
first system designed to spot the slightest sign
of particles being given off by hot components,
so a potential fire can be investigated and
extinguished locally before it takes hold
(sometimes, just by turning smoldering equipment
off), and a second system designed to take
full-scale action if the fire takes hold. Fire
prevention and detection systems are also
typically zoned, and high-quality fire-doors and
other physical fire-breaks used, so that even if
a fire does break out it can be contained and
extinguished within a small part of the
facility.
§
Using
conventional water sprinkler systems on
operational electrical equipment can do just as
much damage as a fire. Originally Halon gas, a
halogenated organic compound that chemically
stops combustion, was used to extinguish flames.
However, the use of Halon has been banned by the
Montreal Protocol because of the danger Halon
poses the ozone layer. Unlike fire extinguishing
agents that displace oxygen, Halon did not pose
a great risk to people caught in the data center
when it was discharged. More
environmentally-friendly alternatives include
Argonite and FM-200, and even systems based on
mists of tiny particles of ultra-pure water.
§
Physical
security also plays a large role with data
centers. Physical access to the site is usually
restricted to selected personnel. Video camera
surveillance and permanent security guards are
almost always present if the data center is
large or contains sensitive information on any
of the systems within.
§
Configure
your datacenter “
OptimizeIT”
For
product info please write to us at hanmant.pujari@emerson.com or
call us at 1800-209-6070 (toll
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