rather than just aiming a direct flow of cooling at
the hottest spots.
Redundancy: Know the steps your colocation center
will take in case of an outage, from uninterruptible power
supply systems to extra equipment. Involta, for example,
follows the n+1 redundancy rule when designing data
centers – the company maintains at least one backup for
components like diesel generators in case one fails.
“We have two sources for everything down to the customer plug-in for the server,” Thorsteinson notes. “We
also ask our customers to use dual power supplies. On
the cooling side, we have 10 units available to serve the
load but only seven are operating all the time. We also
have redundancy with respect to connectivity so that
if somebody were to chop a wire, we wouldn’t be dead
in the water – you want to have two feeds instead of
one. We have folks that can lose $7,500 a minute when
they’re offline.”
Security features: How are each organization’s racks
protected? Locks on cabinets and private cages keep
unauthorized visitors from accessing equipment, notes
Rodeffer.
“We started out with lockable racks and then found
out that customers wanted to have private cages so that
only they could access that cage,” Thorsteinson says.
“Now we even have private suites where a whole section
of the building is dedicated to one customer who wants
that security and privacy but doesn’t want to build its
own data center.
“One big difference in our newer data centers is that
all of the electrical gear, such as the CRAC units, are in
the center spine of the building so customers never see
it,” adds Thorsteinson. “That way we don’t have to have
service personnel anywhere near your protected data –
they’d only need to get into the spine instead. It’s a little
thing, but little things add up and mean a lot.”
2) Policies and Protocol
How is the data center managed? Make sure your
colocation center has sensible access policies. Involta
provides 24/7 access, but only people who have been
pre-approved are allowed to enter the data center floor
unescorted – everyone else must be accompanied by a
staff member. In addition, entrances are monitored so
that no one can take in food, drink, or combustibles like
a piece of equipment in a cardboard box.
“The number one cause for data center outages
is this little thing called a human. The fewer times
that people touch things, the better off we are,”
Thorsteinson notes. “Contrast that with a corporate
data center – accommodations get made because
maybe it’s easier to take a shortcut through the data
center to get somewhere and people allow that, or
maybe executives like to show off the data center so
someone who doesn’t work in it has access. Sometimes
people are stationed in the data center so they have to
have a microwave and refrigerator – people come with
their own space and have to have their coffee or soda
THE PHYSICAL FACILITY is the first line of defense protecting data from moisture,
seismic activity, outages and malintent. Know how your data center protects its
equipment from the elements, from construction materials to security systems.
continued
IN
VOLTA
