Data centers are considered as complex systems, which are now encompassing a variety of technologies evolving at a constant pace. The design and maintenance of a successful data center network require both knowledge and skills ranging from switching and routing to security and load balancing. Not only this, but the extensive knowledge on applications and servers can also ensure the establishment of a reliable data center network.
Data Center Fundamentals - Overview
For most organizations, developing a data center network is an internal process that can be taken care of by the current IT team. However, with additional IT Ops training and certifications such as CCNA Data Center training and Cisco data center unified computing, the team becomes completely equipped with the fundamentals required to implement and maintain the process seamlessly. The IT team is in better control of data centers, which are responsible for housing critical computing resources. These include application and web servers mainframes, print and file servers, application software, messaging servers, storage subsystems, operating systems, and network infrastructure.
The key is to attain maximum goals by implementing data center fundamentals in your enterprise. These could be the traditional business goals like reducing the operational cost, minimizing maintenance for business sustenance, consolidation of computing resources, rapid deployment of applications, or supporting the operations without creating any gap.
The trained team ensures that goals are aligned with the IT initiatives. These include:
- Storage consolidation
- Increased data center security
- Business continuance
- Server and application consolidation, integration of apps
- Data center consolidation
- Web services-related apps
The above-mentioned IT initiatives are set by the IT team to establish long-term data center networking strategies as well as to address short-term problems. The idea is to create stability in the data center while also creating the flexibility to allow the network to expand and accommodate future changes.
The design criteria include:
- Manageability
- Security
- Availability
- Performance
- Scalability
Implementing Power-Efficient Data Center
Whether you have already embarked on your journey to make your data center networking more powerful or you are clueless about where to begin, we have got you covered.
Here's everything you want to know about implementing a power-efficient data center:
Discover Data Center Functional Requirements
While this could be subjective based on the specific requirements of your enterprise, the functional requirements of a data center for most organizations include:
- Secure and safe locations for computer, networking devices, and storage devices
- Maintenance of a temperature-controlled environment within parameters to ensure the devices run smoothly
- Maintenance of reliable connectivity to all the devices both internal and external to the data center
- Maintenance of the required power for device maintenance.
Measure to Control
As an old adage says, 'you cannot control what you cannot measure'. The first step you need to take is to ensure you are able to measure the efficiency to be able to control it. The key is to start with the baseline measurements to reach a higher level of power efficiency. If you fail to identify where your power is utilized, you cannot decide where to focus your attention. The best way to measure for better control, break it down into multiple categories, such as UPS, IT systems, lighting and air conditioning
Keep the Design Simple
The simpler you keep your approach with the data center networking design, the easier it will be to manage and understand it. While you will have your trained employees on board, a simple system can keep the entire organization on the same page. For instance, instead of using tech jargons, if you just label everything like power outlets, ports, network, circuit breaker, and cables, and also put their location on the floor, it can reduce the guesswork and chances for risks and mistakes. Maintaining the data center operations will become easier.
Improve Reliability
Make your data center robust to increase its reliability. The reason for its existence is to safeguard your company, your customers, and your most critical applications and equipment. Your data center is nothing less than life and blood for your business and regardless of the catastrophes - including data security threats, utility failure, natural disasters, inclement weather, or any unforeseeable incident - your data center should be up and smoothly running for the business to continue its operations. A trained IT team will also ensure redundancy in the architecture and design of your data center to eliminate all possible Single Point of Failure (SPOF).
Increased Flexibility
With the pace at which the technology is growing, it's difficult to predict how evolved it would be in the next five years. However, there are definitely positive guesses as far as the tech of the future is concerned. And naturally, that calls for major changes in the system. A flexible design that could be easily upgraded can ease down the overall procedure in the long run. By creating those margins in the design, it also makes the system design more cost-effective.
Scalability
A successful data center design should be scalable and should have the capacity to work around the massive square foot of data.
Establish a Modular Design
As mentioned earlier, data centers can become very complex, especially for a large organization with many systems. This is where it can become unmanageable if not taken care of. A modular design enables you to create a highly complex system become easier and more manageable like a stack of building blocks. When the design is broken down into several small units, it becomes easier to replicate it.
With IT ops training, an organization can address and implement data center fundamentals, including all the protocols required by the routers and switches. With the information and skills that the IT team learns through the online IT technical training, they become more aware of the use of protocols in the application environments, as well as the ways through which data center infrastructure can be built and altered to scale, secure, and manage the application environments.