Data management implementation operation and maintenance have begun to be recognized as important parts of a Data Center at design and engineering phases. The complex and robust nature of data center technologies allows for improved fault tolerance and simultaneous maintenance capabilities. This highlights the importance of integrating equally robust Data Center implementation and maintenance practices to manage these technologies efficiently and profitably.
In order for this undertaking to be a success, the required staff and process needed to support seamless operations should be in place from day one. The results are only going to be as good as the team that is working, and if your networking team isn’t already Cisco Certified, the organization needs to look into getting them Cisco certification training.
It is critical when integrating a seamless data center implementation and maintenance, that the planning process begins well before operations. This, ideally, is during the requirements definition and site programming stage. For your understanding let’s go through the various stages of data center implementation.
Data center design
During the data center design stage, there is an intense need of faculties that facilitate complex schemes such as 2(N+1)/3 or 2N configurations. This is implemented with the expectation that if critical systems or equipment fails, there is enough redundancy to support operations without interruption.
The profound requisites for sustaining seamless operations over the entire life of the infrastructure and technology invested must be considered in the design and construction stage, well before the operations begin. This is known as designing for maintainability. In the entire infrastructure, the affected piece of equipment must have the capability to be isolated, so the repairs and replacement can be conducted without having to stop the entire operation.
Infrastructure and startup
The best designed and engineered facilities will be no better than they are designed during the design stage. There is a strict need to provide quality control and oversight during the construction process, frequent field inspections should also be expected during the construction phase. Furthermore, comprehensive startup & testing needs to be conducted by Cisco Certified technicians to prepare for formal compliance overview before the setup can be deemed ready to begin operations.
This is known as commissioning, which also ensures that this undertaking is adequately staffed and that they are being provided specific training, and they, in turn, provide an accurate build documentation on day one. Formal commissioning of the project begins in the design stage if not earlier, it provides information regarding constructability of the infrastructure, it’s maintainability and design intent to meet organizational goals. It also entails verification and testing on various levels, including receiving requirements, shipping, factory acceptance test, progress inspections, integration test, and finally performance tests.
The Datacenter management staff must play a part on the commissioning stage as well as throughout the infrastructure build, startup and acceptance tests. This sometimes provides valuable and unique opportunities for the management to have an under the hood look of the technologies they will be working on, and the tasks they’d be responsible for during operation processes. This stage is perhaps the management's best opportunity, provided its network development team with hands-on-training while giving them an in-depth understanding of new technologies.
Staff and organization
The networking team assigned to work on the data centers need just as must attention, consideration and foresight to operate and maintain these critical facilities effectively. Talented staff members should be identified and trained before your center goes up. Some consideration to include would be which skills are required to maintain and operate the website. To whom would the department report? What will the roles of the staff? And what are the service level agreements?
One of the first questions you should ask apart from those, Would the staff be split when it comes to activities that are critical in nature for the infrastructure and those that are not? Ideally, staff needs to be divided between non-critical and critical infrastructure as both these areas have different tempo at which the work is conducted. However, if it is continuous operations you are after, you will need to remain vigilant and will need to focus on your critical systems 24/7. You can merge both critical and non-critical teams to carry out each other’s tasks in an even of an emergency, just remember to establish clear guidelines so that no confusion appears.
Implementation and Maintenance Processes
Implementation and maintenance of data center isn’t simply a set of procedures to follow. It’s a strategy that includes clear objectives and goals, well defined responsibilities and roles, a company that focuses on seamless operations and abundant resources to meet organizational milestones.
If you provide business solutions during regular business hours of the week, the answer would be you are most vulnerable during business hours. However, if your site operates on the other part of the world, the time difference could make all the difference in when you are most vulnerable and susceptible to an attack.
For the purpose of maintenance, consider which spare parts are critical for the preservation of your Data center and must be maintained on site. What inventory, equipment and tools are necessary? Which computerized system will be used and once selected who is going to configure and maintain it.
It is paramount that every aspect of data center facility implementation and maintenance are considered and provided for early in the design and development of the site requirements. If you fail to, you might not get the chance to avail opportunities of which a well-thought-out infrastructure is a requisite to conduct good business. With extremely massive capital investment in this area of your business, equal consideration must also be given to the staff that is going to be managing it. Providing training in areas such as Data Center Unified Computing Design and DCACIF can assist with greater awareness and understanding of modern data center concepts.