Are you wasting time and resources on your data center?

If your company relies on your computer systems to generate revenue, deliver services, or manufacture your product, your computer room facilities can be a source or worry. You spend lots of money on power, cooling, equipment and labor to keep your most important computer systems up, running and reliable.

But are you wasting time and resources on your data center when you could be spending less money for more reliability?

If you care about uptime, you probably have a generator for your computer room. You may have one or more power conditioning systems with battery backup to protect from a power outage. If you are in the Midwest, you probably have a hardened data center that can withstand an F5 tornado. Your company has likely spent significant capital dollars on your computer room, all to improve the reliability (data center uptime) of your key computer systems.

But is it enough? The answer is another question. How many minutes, hours or days can your systems be down? 99.995% uptime is 28 minutes of downtime per year or less. But it takes two of everything (N+N data center redundancy) to deliver 99.995% uptime. That means TWO electrical feeds from the power company, TWO generators, TWO power conditioning systems, and two air conditioners, to start.

Companies uptime requirements have changed. Even small companies “bet their business” on their computer systems. Will your company spend the money to build a 99.995% level of reliability?

If your company needs 99.995% uptime, or anything close to that level, consider affordable colocation providers: carrier neutral, outsource data center facilities with shared space, private cages, and no cross connect fees. The cost per month may be less than your spending now. The reliability and data center uptime will likely be higher than what you can build. Lifeline Data Centers is at 317.423.2591. Email us if you’d like more information on improving your data center uptime.

The stuff you can’t (or won’t) build into your data center could be the cause of a future outage.

What stuff am I talking about?

• Data center power redundancy – dual utility power feeds, dual generators, and dual UPS systems for every cabinet of equipment in the data center.
• Data center cooling redundancy – dual cooling systems
• Hardened data center facilities – F5 tornado resistant buildings, engineered to withstand regional disasters
• Multiple telecommunications carriers – two or more choices for telecom circuits so you can pick the best carrier for your bandwidth and transport needs

You might be surprised at how rare it is, both in internal and outsource data centers, to have true N+N data center power redundancy. True power and cooling redundancy in the data center provides for 99.995% uptime (27 minutes of downtime per year or less). That is the same level of uptime as a tier IV data center. That’s because N+N data center redundancy (also known as 2N redundancy) allows for failures of equipment and for concurrent maintainability with no data center down time.

Why can’t you build these features into your data center? Or why won’t you? Data center capital costs are the number one reason. Generators cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. A second utility power feed into a facility can easily cost a quarter of a million dollars. Will the CFO sign off on such large capital expenditures when he knows your company can rent better facilities for less money?

Lifeline Data Centers provides affordable colocation facilities to keep uptime high and costs under control. And Lifeline is a carrier neutral data center with no cross connect fees. Need data center? Call Lifeline at 317.423.2591.

CIOs are reducing risks by employing outsource data centers to solve their compliance problems. CIO strategy now includes leveraging outsource data centers and the certifications and compliance they maintain to help the enterprise meet government regulations.

CIOs have used outsource data centers for years to drive higher uptime and reap the benefits of lower data center capital costs. Now, many companies are using outsource data center facilities to keep compliance costs under control.

Physical security is one of the main data center compliance benefits that outsource data centers provide. Outsource data center facilities employ multiple levels of physical security to meet state and federal regulations. It’s usually less costly to “rent” the physical security than to build physical security and managing the ongoing physical security costs in-house.

Some data center compliance centers around service levels, or uptime. High reliability for enterprise computer systems can only be achieved in “mission critical facilities” that employ N+1 data center power redundancy and other tier IV data center characteristics. Service levels of 99.995% uptime (27 minutes of downtime per year or less) can be be found in affordable colocation facilities. The cost of building an enterprise data center with similar levels of data center uptime usually reaches into the millions, even for a small facility.

Data center compliance pressures are coming from vendors and clients as well. Many companies now require that vendors and clients operate SAS 70 data centers, TIA 942 compliant data centers, tier III or tier IV data centers. The cost of maintaining these certifications alone can pay for outsource colocation facilities.

Would it make more sense for your organization to use compliance-centered outsource data center facilities rather than building and maintaining your own? Call the data center compliance experts to learn more.

Late last year a high-street financial institution experienced a power failure at an IT centre in Yorkshire, shutting down cash machines for a few hours, as well as undermining retail transactions and online banking. This incident was only the latest in a telling series of power failures affecting UK organizations including ISPs, hospitals and financial trading firms, highlighting the growing need for effective assessment of risks and disaster scenarios. This encompasses effective IT infrastructure planning, provision of power supplies and environmental concerns influencing organizations’ daily operations.

The scope for knock-on effects such as system failure and critical data loss has been intensified in recent years by the expansion, complexity and power constraints on ICT infrastructures as ‘UK plc’ migrates an increasing proportion of business processes and systems online. In 2008 Gartner made a global prediction that half of data centres will start to run out of effective power supplies. However, local conditions often present more immediate difficulties.

more of the Continuity Central article from Chris Smith

New year, new data center strategy: The coming of the new year offers a time for both reflection and for planning. Data center strategy is changing for many organizations. What changes do you envision for your data center in the coming years?

Your customers, staff and vendors expect your information technology applications to be available immediately and always. Expectations aside, if your company depends on your computer systems for your business processes, you need to assess your cost of downtime. In 2008, Amazon’s cost of downtime was $122,260 per hour. Downtime calculators are out there; every business is different. Assign a dollar figure to your cost of downtime so you can determine how much to spend on high availability, also known as data center uptime.

Your cost of downtime helps you determine what your uptime levels need to be. Data center industry people talk in terms like 99.995% uptime (also known as 4-1/2 9′s), which translates to 36 minutes of downtime per year or less. Is 99.995% uptime what your company needs?

Large and small companies are using outsource data center facilities (colocation) as a higher uptime alternative to the computer room at their headquarters. If the cost of downtime means lost revenue, lost credibility, and lost clients, using outsource data center facilities offers an easy way to improve uptime. Data center outsourcing takes care of mission critical facilities details like N+1 data center redundancy, security, HVAC and fire suppression, so you can concentrate on your mission critical applications and executing your business processes.

Companies who are required to maintain regulatory compliance can greatly benefit rom outsource computer room facilities. SAS 70 data center facilities can offer many tiers data center compliance. Data center compliance experts can help determine how your regulatory requirements affect your data center.

Affordable colocation has also been an incentive for many companies to move their main computers out of their headquarters. Prices are very competitive for midwest colocation. Outsource data center pricing models can offer both incremental grown and a drastic reduction in data center capital costs.

Check with outsource data center facilities experts to learn more about data center strategy.

Can you build enough data center redundancy?  Most businesses today have little or no tolerance for downtime.  The cost of downtime is lost revenues, lost credibility and lost clients.  And the first step to avoid data center downtime is to house your critical systems  in a computer room with multiple power feeds, generators, UPS systems and cooling.  These so-called mission critical facilities are engineered to provide power and connectivity to your critical computer systems with no interruption in power or cooling. 

How does this work?  N+1 data center redundancy is when a data center has at least 2 of everything, including power feeds, generators, UPS systems and cooling units.  Using this model, a data center can have a failure in a piece of equipment without downtime.  This model also supports periodic maintenance of the power and cooling systems without any data center downtime.

But the question is, can you afford to build this sort of data center redundancy?  The capital
costs of generators, UPS systems, and computer room cooling systems are very high.  Many companies will spend the money for a single generator, but not for two.  What’s the solution for reducing or eliminating data center downtime?  It may be using an outsource data center to house your critical systems.  These outsource computer rooms offer a range of data center redundancy to suit your requirements.  

If downtime costs you big, consider outsource data center facilities to reduce your risks.

Can you build enough data center redundancy?  Most businesses today have little or no tolerance for downtime.  The cost of downtime is lost revenues, lost credibility and lost clients.  And the first step to avoid data center downtime is to house your critical systems  in a computer room with multiple power feeds, generators, UPS systems and cooling.  These so-called mission critical facilities are engineered to provide power and connectivity to your critical computer systems with no interruption in power or cooling. 

How does this work?  N+1 data center redundancy is when a data center has at least 2 of everything, including power feeds, generators, UPS systems and cooling units.  Using this model, a data center can have a failure in a piece of equipment without downtime.  This model also supports periodic maintenance of the power and cooling systems without any data center downtime.

But the question is, can you afford to build this sort of data center redundancy?  The capital
costs of generators, UPS systems, and computer room cooling systems are very high.  Many companies will spend the money for a single generator, but not for two.  What’s the solution for reducing or eliminating data center downtime?  It may be using an outsource data center to house your critical systems.  These outsource computer rooms offer a range of data center redundancy to suit your requirements.  

If downtime costs you big, consider outsource data center facilities to reduce your risks.

In part 1 of this series, I talked about how pricing models for outsource data center and colocation providers vary greatly.  To recap, a colocation facility typically provides

1. hardened building
2. redundant power
3. redundant cooling
4. rack space, private cages, or both
5. security
6. access to telecommunications services
7. professional services

From this list of seven services, the first five relate to facilities, or physical plant.  It’s pretty easy to compare building quality, power and cooling infrastructures.  But outsource data center providers differ greatly on how they offer up space to clients.  And security can also vary greatly.

Some outsource data centers offer space in their shared racks only.  Others allow you to bring your racks/cabinets into shared spaces. Others provide private cages or suites.  Private cages or suites give you additional security and a "branch office," in the data center. Pricing is usually per cabinet or by floor space, or both.

Since security will vary greatly, make sure that the data center provider matches up with any regulatory issues that govern your business, along with any company-specific concerns.  More sophisticated security often carries a higher cost.

Prices and add-on charges also vary greatly for telecommunications services.  Some data centers offer their own bandwidth and point-to-point circuits to clients.  These circuits are typically telecom carrier circuits that are being resold to you at a markup.  Watch for multiple add-on fees like port charges and maintenance charges.  Other data centers offer access directly to the carriers, but charge a monthly fee for the privilege of remaining connected.  This add-on fee is called a cross-connect fee and they usually run $50 to $200 per month.  Carrier neutral data centers offer bandwidth from many carriers.  Many do not charge monthly cross-connect fees.  More choices and less add-on fees are better when it comes to telecom.  Carrier neutral data centers provide more competitive pricing,  and that benefits you, the client.

Power is another area where add-on fees are rampant.  Many outsource data centers provide a base level of power per cabinet and charge add-on fees for additional power used over that base level.  While this makes sense (power is one of the biggest overhead items), some charge by circuit size rather than by actual power draw, which may penalizes you greatly depending on your power usage.  Some colocation providers charge by amps, some charge by KW.  You should do the conversions so you clearly understand what your additional power may cost in comparison to other providers.  The provider should be able to help you estimate what your actual power draws will be based on the equipment you have.

Pricing for tier IV data centers would seem to be higher than lower tiers, but this is often not the case.  Tier IV facilities are hardened data centers and have redundant "AB" power and redundant cooling systems that are concurrently maintainable.  Tier IV data centers provide the highest levels of uptime, which is one of the the main reasons you should consider an outsource data center.  Strongly weigh the tier level in your selection.

Finally professional services pricing varies greatly as well.  Some data centers charge hourly based on usage, some force you to buy block hours, and some require you to use their professional services for certain tasks.  Ask yourself if the rules match your needs and if the pricing seems reasonable compared to your other choices.

If you have a hard time understanding the outsource data center’s pricing model, you may want to consider that to be a red flag.  Simple pricing models often are indicators of how easy it will be to do business with an enterprise data center provider.