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Total Number of Subscribers: 464 |
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Date:19th June 2009 |
Compiled by Mr. M. Sathya Kumar |
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Data Center The heart and soul of a company Facility
managers not only have to keep pace with new technology demands, but also
have to manage expanding servers and networking equipment in the data center
as efficiently as possible. Shanmugam Ramu shares his learnings about the new
data center built by Network Appliance, which is also the largest in As
corporations seek to streamline business processes and boost profitability,
server rooms are turning into full-fledged data centers with more than just
servers to control. The average data center has grown extremely complex, with
things like new technologies, faster growth, acquisitions, data explosion,
and increased security concerns driving up the complexity and bringing down
the utilization rates. Basic Infrastructure For
a data centre, the most important criteria is the requirement on power
infrastructure. Network Appliances has 200 server racks housed in three
storeys of the building. Since the power requirements goes beyond 1MW, we
have two feeders supplying from two different power stations. Second criteria
is the need to accommodate a chiller space of more than one ton per rack
which will turn out to be 200 tons of chilled air. Combined with the server
weight, the air conditioning units can impose a heavy load on the building.
Structural load on the building has to be calculated and additional
reinforcement given. The third criterion is the space allocation of the
batteries for uninterrupted power supply systems. There
is a need to estimate the provision for additional capacity for the future.
Provisions are given for space expansion, but don’t build the energies. Right now we are building this
centre where one lab has 200
server racks for 300 people which turns out to be 0.75 racks per employee. So
the moment we touch the three hundred staff mark, we start working on
building extra capacity. Equipment Specifications The
number of server equipment stacked together, the ventilation & cooling
and the continuous power generation, are some of the factors which need to be
considered for an efficient functioning of a data center. Two
post and four post racks are the two types of server racks available. Two
post racks are open racks and cooling is more efficient. Since our equipments
are very power intensive, they generate a lot of heat and this open rack
system brings in a better cooling effect. But for instance, if the equipment
is designed to suck cold air from the front, then four post racks can be
considered. But certain machines which don’t
have that facility get heated up rather fast. So even if the data centre is cool, the equipment could shut down
because of poor air circulation.
Another
concern is the power generation needed for the lab. There is a need for an
array of diesel generators with backup units totaling to 4 X 2250 KV. In
winter, power supply from the electricity board is quite stable with only
8-10 outages of two hour duration a month. This is excluding the shorter
duration power failures which also necessitate the running of gensets. With
increase in demand for better gensets from all over the world particularly Service
level reliability is the most crucial aspect in choosing a genset vendor. The
vendor should give assurances of regular service checks preventing any
downtime and also minimize the downtime when it occurs. One
major concern is the structural load built on pillars of the building due to
the lab. The exhaust shafts of the gensets have to be properly planned to
minimise noise and vibration. The location of the UPS and its connection to
the generators and the main supply has to be provisioned. Smaller Setup People
tend to think in an adhoc manner without realizing that even a smaller setup
needs the same kind of backup, and the design of the data center layout is
quite the same. Provisions have to be created for cooling, power backup,
continuous monitoring and even further expansion. There is no difference
whether it is a ten rack server room or a 200 rack one, since it is all a
matter of sizing. Unlike
earlier days we get the right kind of equipment available now, with the government
allowing all types of imports. Builders are not living up to their own
standards, could be one possible short coming. Since leasing of the property
has become a trend, the building might crop up with some unforeseen problems
later. So depending on the company’s
business plan, having a campus built to your own specifications could be a better solution. With
builders becoming quite professional in their approach, there is no need to
rigorously supervise their work. An independent project manager working in
synch with the architect, the builder and the client would ensure a proper
execution as per the plan. If there is any drastic deviation from the plan,
than there is a need for intervention. Since Netapp is now working on four
projects simultaneously allover the world, the best practices are shared from
one site to another. Article by Shanmugam Ramu ,The
author has 17 years of experience in facility management working in Daimler
Chrysler, Network Appliance and also as a freelance consultant. |
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