Data centers are notoriously high-cost energy-hogs. A growing number of information technology servers now power a large range of organizations from major corporations to small businesses. Companies hire data center facilities to independently house their information technology systems as well as telecommunications and storage systems.
In some cases, company chief executives and chief information officers prefer to hire data-center management consultants to design their proprietary data center facilities.
According to the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, data-center operations management standards should include:
Data centers 101
Learn as much as you can about data-center operations management services and data-center design standards from reliable sources.
I recommend: Hewlett-Packard offers their online video guided tou
r of a well-designed data center. InformationWeek presents primarily corporate examples of best practices in data center design. Sun Microsystems has an extensive white paper on
Data Center Design Philosophy with guidelines for users. The
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has its own study of data center design standards, as does the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Read case examples of data centers
Data network services offer case studies that may determine what elements to include or exclude in data center facilities design.
I recommend: The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory also offers their study (PDF file) of retrofitting an existing mainframe facility to meet technology trends.
IBM TV shows several high-profile case studies of data center design at companies like RackForce.
Silicon.com has a slide show article illustrating the step-by-step case study design of a data center.
Sun Microsystems is a major information resource for data center design and data center management, including case studies.
Find consulting services to help you design your own data network center
Data center services specializing in design consulting may include major high-technology corporations like IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) or smaller independent companies.
I recommend: IBM's one-day
New Enterprise Data Center Innovations Workshop is free for companies with IBM sponsorship. IBM experts advise businesses on data center design.
IBM's Project Big Green helps companies design energy-efficient data centers. American Power Conversion (APC) offers its web-based
Trade-Off data center design tool where companies can view a Flash-animated data network center adjusted to its specific business design parameters. See
Digital Realty Trust's build-to-suit services and video.
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