Amazon’s data center guru James Hamilton is pretty clear that he sees no reason for most companies to keep constructing new data centers from scratch, but if they have a huge compute load and really have to, they should build way more capacity than they need and sell off the excess a la Amazon itself.

While Hamilton has a vested interest in people moving their compute loads to Amazon’s infrastructure, his build big or don’t build at all mantra resonates with several other IT experts. The consensus: It makes sense for most companies to trust their data center needs to the real experts in data centers — the companies that build and run data centers as a business. More companies will start moving more of their new compute loads — maybe not necessarily all the mission critical stuff — to the big cloud operators. That roster includes the aforementioned players as well as Google, Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle and others that are building out more of their own data center capacity for use by customers.

More of the GigaOM post from Barb Darrow

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Is your internal data center expensive to operate? Forget what’s in the racks. I’m not talking about servers, networking equipment and storage. I’m talking about facilities: your raised floor, your security, your power, your cooling, your telecommunications infrastructure and your fire suppression. How expensive is it to maintain?

Operating a data center in-house is expensive. Real estate floor space costs, raised flooring, reliable air conditioning systems, specialized security and fire protection all drive up the data center capital costs. Small data centers can easily exceed $1 million in capital up front.

Data center power and cooling redundancy is expensive. Multiple UPS systems are fairly common. Dual generators are rare. Rarer still are in-house data centers have two utility feeds. Data center capital costs are high, but the costs of maintaining and operating generators and UPS systems are high as well. N+N data center redundancy (two of everything) is prohibitively expensive for many organizations. You can’t deliver high uptime without power and cooling redundancy, yet uptime requirements continue to rise.

Staffing is expensive. Do you dedicate half an FTE or more to the maintenance of the data center?

Data center compliance and certifications are expensive. SAS70 (Now SSAE 16) data center certification audits start at about $20,000. Other certifications like the Uptime Institute’s Tier IV data center certification can cost more.

Not only are the data center capital and operating costs high, they’re also unpredictable.

How do you control costs?

Wholesale colocation offers an interesting solution. Wholesale data center providers build and operate high-tech real estate. Here are a few of the reasons that organizations choose to outsource the data center facilities.

You can rent the space you need in these giant data centers.

You can still have full control of your IT equipment and telecom infrastructure.

You can benefit from N+N data center redundancy in power, cooling, and telecom to improve uptime.

In a select few outsourced hardened data centers, you can protect your mission critical systems from F5 tornadoes and other regional risks.

Some Midwest colocation providers offer you access to multiple telecommunications providers with no cross connect fees. You can build telecom hubs to better manage the money spent on telecommunications.

You can trade capital costs for operating costs.

You can build a highly predictable cost model that allows for growth and change.

Sick of getting nickel and dimed to death? Call the outsourced data center experts.

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SSAE 16 is one of the most widely known tools for providing assurances to data center customers. It is demanded by customers and there is no substitute for it.

And yet, a myth that the SSAE 16 standard is not applicable to the industry persists. As such, data center providers have no choice but to arm themselves with the following facts about SSAE 16 applicability.

The Technical Basis
The technical guidance for SSAE 16 has two major components which are the SSAE 16 standard itself and the related guide titled “Service Organizations –Applying SSAE No. 16, Reporting on Controls at a Service Organization (SOC 1)”.

The very first paragraph of the SSAE 16 standard states that it is applicable when reporting on “controls at organizations that provide services to user entities [i.e., customers] when those controls are likely to be relevant to user entities internal control over financial reporting.”

More of the SOA World article from Chris Schellman

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Many factors play in to the selection secondary data center and office space locations. A good CIO strategy includes multiple geographies in an evaluation of disaster recovery centers. For some organizations Midwest colocation outside of Chicago might be a better solution.

Standard features that many organizations look for when considering disaster recovery centers include:

Hardened data center facilities – With Midwest colocation, F5 tornado resistant data centers building are important, along with earthquake resistant facilities in some areas.

99.995% uptime or better – This is the uptime level expected from Tier IV data centers. Some IT professionals consider the uptime is a DR center to be less important than in the primary data center. If your organization is doing real-time or near-real time data replication, data center uptime in your disaster recovery center is likely as important as in your primary enterprise data center.

Multiple carriers with no cross-connect fees – Access to multiple telecom carriers ensures diverse and reliable connectivity in the event of a disaster, or on an ongoing basis with real-time replication. Data centers with no monthly cross connect fees significantly reduce ongoing costs.

Data center compliance and certification – Compliance and certifications in the disaster recovery center are just as important as the primary data center.

Data center pricing model – Simple is better. Most organizations seem to prefer to pay for power, cooling and space incrementally as they use it.

Advantages to Midwest data centers located outside of Chicago include:

• Geographic diversity, especially for Chicago-based organizations.
• Overall lower costs, including, lower data center power costs, lower costs of construction labor, and lower data center capital costs.
• A theoretically lower risk from placing the disaster recovery center outside of one of the USA’s five largest cities.

Wholesale colocation providers offer the most flexibility for organizations that prefer to own and control their own telecom connections, network, servers and storage. Some wholesale data centers offer disaster recovery office space. This space can be custom fit by the organization to use for emergency call centers or workspace recovery.

Considering disaster recovery options in Chicago? Consider Midwest colocation providers outside of Chicago in your search.

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Here’s a simple version:

• Cloud computing is a fancy name for software and/or hardware that is available via the Internet.
• Colocation is high-tech real estate, or outsourced data center space, where you can operate your company-owned software and hardware.

Here’s another way to look at it:

• Picture cloud computing as a highly reliable (99.995% uptime) computer room full of network equipment, servers, disk storage, software and connectivity, all ready to use for a monthly fee.
• Picture colocation as an highly reliable computer room that’s empty, waiting for your network equipment, hardware, disk storage, software and connectivity to complete the picture.

Both approaches have value. Smaller companies and startup companies may prefer a cloud computing model because it does not require much internal Information Technology expertise to operate. Startup costs can be low with cloud computing, and the barriers to entry are usually small.

Larger companies and companies with strong Information Technology departments often choose colocation, also known as wholesale colocation or wholesale data centers, to house their computer rooms. These companies value colocation’s flexibility for growth and change. Data center capital costs are enormous, and building your own no longer makes sense for many companies that need high levels of reliability. Many cloud computing data centers are housed in wholesale colocation facilities, because the cloud services vendors appreciate the control and cost management benefits of wholesale colocation.

It is also very common for companies to have both internal data center space and cloud computing services. Many companies use software-as-a-service(SaaS) such as Salesforce.com, LinkedIn.com, and ConstantContact.com in addition to having hardware and software of their own.

Both approaches can solve problems like data center compliance and certification requirements, which are expensive and difficult to maintain. SAS 70 data centers, SSAE 16 data centers, TIA 942 certifications and required by many clients and vendors as a condition for doing business. Wholesale colocation and cloud computing services can meet these compliance requirements with little or no extra work from the client company.

Which solution is right for you? For more information, give us a call at 317.423.2591.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. State of server technology and operating systems
II. State of virtualization and cloud computing
III. State of data center facilities
IV. State of systems management and data center services
V. Survey background and demographics

An overview
In early 2011, SearchDataCenter.com released the Data Center Decisions 2011 survey to gauge trends and understand the factors that influence data center evolution in today’s enterprise. We received more than 1,000 responses from IT professionals spanning numerous roles within the enterprise. In this special report series, we analyze what this data means and take a look at how many of the numbers compare to our 2010 findings. These articles examine several facets of data center design and management to identify interesting trends and surprising revelations about the state of IT operations across many industries.

Article 1: State of server technology and operating systems
After years of economic uncertainty, many companies appear ready to begin spending more on data center hardware. However, the continued emphasis on tight budgets has IT professionals taking a closer look at the hardware they integrate into their data centers. In the first article of this series, we examine what type of server technology IT professionals are choosing for their environments and what factors have influenced IT professionals’ choice of server vendors, including expanded coverage of integrated infrastructures in the data center. The composition of operating system (OS) deployments are also changing in the enterprise, so we’ll look closely at the major OS versions for everyday and mission-critical systems.

More of the SearchDataCenter report

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Data center compliance requirements are increasing. Federal and state requirements are on the rise. Organizations are now faced with clients and vendors who require data center compliance.

Physical compliance can often be the most capital intensive and expensive. Data center security and certification requirements can make outsource colocation facilities more cost effective than doing it in-house .

Colocation facilities focus on many certifications and compliance requirements. Here are a few:

SAS-70 data center compliance
HIPAA
FDA
PCI
FISMA
Sarbanes-Oxley
TIA-942 compliant data center

Do the math. Does it make sense for an outsource computer room to do the compliance and certification work for you?

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Many companies are faced with changes to their computer rooms. Whether they are moving the computer room or trying to expand the space, power and cooling, the choice boils down to spending money on an internal data center or considering outsource data center space, also know as colocation or outsource computer room facilities.

Many factors play into a decision to move a data center off-site. A company’s mission-critical applications must behave well in an off-site data center. The cost of data center downtime affects the decision. Power costs can have great impact. Data center certification and compliance requirements are a factor.

Yet in many businesses, the cost of the data center’s electrical power is rarely assigned to the IT department. Decision makers in the finance and IT departments should consider this hidden cost when evaluating new projects.

For a small business in Indianapolis with:

• one rack of server equipment
• 2 UPS systems
• router
• firewall
• 2 switches
• 30 workstations
• 10 printers

electrical usage is roughly 9 KW/hr. Cooling is another 18 KW/hr for a total of $1167 per month. Approximately $525 per month is for the servers and communications equipment.

Compare this pricing to an outsource data center: $850 per rack per month plus the cost of a telecommunications circuit. Affordable colocation is a reality. By using an outsourcer’s hardened data center, your are protecting your systems from critical downtime. If the provider offers tier IV data center facilities, you’ll also be improving uptime via redundant power and cooling systems.

The idea of using a Midwest colocation provider may be the right choice for your business. Outsource data center facilities offer the advantage of large data center facilities at affordable prices for small business.

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Lifeline Data Centers bought the 40-acre property in May 2008 from a Dallas entity, JTL Capital LLC, that had expected to tear it down. Lifeline said it would instead invest $23 million to turn the 450,000-square-foot vacant retail center into a data hub.

So far, only about $2.5 million has been invested, but if the Indianapolis City-County Council on May 16 approves plans by the city’s Department of Public Safety to lease 76,000 square feet in the building, Lifeline expects to invest about $10 million more through the end of the year, said Lifeline’s owner, Alex Carroll.

“We’ve always assumed we would renovate it into a high-security office environment,” Carroll said. The city lease would lock in that strategy, precluding the use of the building by retailers or other businesses that welcome the public into their space.

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Your data center is probably more important to your business than it was 10 years ago. Organizations of all sizes have come to expect 99.995% uptime (the same level as a Tier IV data center) to keep revenues flowing and to retain customers, and to communicate with key vendors.

But it is shockingly expensive to build an enterprise data center with such requirements. Some of the requirements to meet such high levels of uptime include:

• Hardened data center facilities: In Midwest data centers, F5 tornado resistant data centers are important.
• Data center power redundancy: Can you afford two utility feeds, two generators, and two UPS systems?
• Data center cooling redundancy: You’ll need at least two air conditioning systems with double the air conditioning your require.
• Data center compliance and certifications: Vendors, clients and the government are requiring expensive certifications such as SAS 70 certified data centers and TIA 942 compliant data centers.
• Security: Physical data center security includes the costs, implementation and maintenance of access cards, PIN pads, locking cabinets, and security cameras with staffing to monitor them.

Some companies choose to “get out of the hardware business” and move their critical applications to cloud service providers like Rackspace and Amazon. Many find that the cost of such a move can be expensive, variable, and hard to forecast.

Other companies choose the high-tech landlord route. They search for an outsource data center with key features:

Experience – Companies are choosing outsource colocation facilities that have a track record
Leadership – Are the owners involved in day-to-day operations?
Carrier neutral data center – Multiple telecom providers are available
No cross-connect fees – No monthly fees to remain connected to the telecom carriers
Simple data center pricing model – Easy to understand and easy to forecast
Ability to grow and change – Can you get extra space if you need it?

Do you have the IT expertise you need to make your business successful? Do you need a venue to deliver your mission critical applications? If the answer is yes, contact a high-tech landlord to find out more.

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