Data Center Checklist for Infrastructure Best Practices (SlideShare)

Data Center Checklist for
Infrastructure Best Practices
Sponsored by
DataCenterLeadGen.com

Expectations of data centers
are focused on the five ‘pillars’
Sponsored by DataCenterLeadGen.com

of availability, cost-effectiveness,
flexibility, manageability, and
security

These pillars let us make
a data center checklist of
best practices for the
DC infrastructure

Availability

Data centers need to be organized
to prevent such problems or at
least to detect them at the earliest
possible moment, including:

• Resilient data center design
with fire barriers and robust
building architecture

• Multiple connections to power
providers, preferably entering
the data center at different
points

• Uninterruptible power supply
with battery backup and
generators in case of power
cuts

• Redundant servers and storage
with failover provisions at
hardware and software levels

• Multiple high-speed network
links entering and exiting at
different points

• Sufficient air conditioning
for all of the equipment being
operated in the data center

• Smoke, fire, humidity and flood
detection, including underneath
data center raised floors

Cost-Effectiveness

Data center operations need to be
high-quality, yet also be efficient
and avoid unnecessarily high
levels of expenditure

• Tiered data storage according
to needs for every day,
occasional, or archival use

• Virtualization to maximize
physical server productivity via
virtual machines (VMs)

• Automation of systems
administration routines

• Power and cooling analysis to
prevent excessively hot or cold
spots from forming

• Ergonomic shipping and
installation facilities, including
weather-proof receiving docks

• Proximity to access routes and
fuel storage, while avoiding
hazards like airports and oil
refineries

Flexibility

Even if data center buildings
seldom scale physically,

their internal organization
must facilitate scaling in
power and storage capacity
with new systems,

as well as handling
peak user demands

• Ability of the data center to
accommodate new technology
with different power and
cooling needs

• Ease of switching to new
operational procedures or ways
to meet new safety
requirements

• Modularity in floor layout,
electrical and mechanical
design to adapt to market
requirements

• Management of requests for
very popular information via
overflow servers

Manageability

‘Lights-out’ operations may be
possible, but at the very least,

data center teams and customers
must be kept appraised of
performance and possible
problems via:

• Service level agreements with
customers, including service
response time and escalation
paths

• Overall and specific (per
customer for multi-customer
DCs) monitoring of service
levels

• Speedy registration and
resolution of support requests,
trouble tickets, and alarms

• Coordinated computing
equipment refresh process
with roadmap for customers

• Standards compliance and
certification now and into
the future (e.g. PCI, TIA-942,
SAS 70)

Security

Both in terms of staff and site
safety, and customer data
confidentiality,

security looms large in the data
center checklist for infrastructure
best practices including:

• Full compliance with safety
regulations including fire exits

• Physical security with protection
of power and networking links,
and cable vaults

• Video surveillance and motion
detectors, badges, ‘mantrap’
entrances, data center guards

• Data encryption, SSL certificates,
firewalls and also virtual
firewalls (for VMs)

• Locked cages with ceilings
for customer systems,
locked cabinets as an option

• Intrusion detection and
prevention systems, behavioral
analysis, and alerts to staff

• Protected and tested data
backup and disaster recovery
procedures

• Reliable and complete
data destruction procedures
(old hard drives, contract
terminations)

This data center checklist
is naturally a general one

Do you have an additional best
practice for your own data center?

Tell us about it in the
Comments section below

Recommended Reading
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Data Center Checklist for Infrastructure Best Practices (SlideShare)

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