FEATURE: DATA CENTRE COMMISSIONING
Data centre
commissioning: What
CIOs need to know
The world is increasingly consuming more data and there is a trend for businesses and
service providers to outsource their data centres rather than owning and managing them. By
outsourcing services instead of building, hosting, maintaining and upgrading data centres,
tenants can potentially realise significant operating and capital expenditure savings.
By leasing third-party
data centre white space,
enterprises can remain
focused on their core
businesses while enjoying
optimal data centre
availability, reliability and
cost control. To address
the shift in the market we
asked two industry experts
for advice about what a
CIO looking to commission
the services of a data
centre needs to consider.
ADRIAN JONES, TECHNICAL ARCHITECT,
CNET TRAINING
What are the most important factors
in determining a data centre’s
critical load?
When determining the factors to
calculate the data centre’s load
potential a clear appreciation of all
the key load demands (present and
future) of the cooling system, critical
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INTELLIGENTCIO
IT environments, UPS systems and
supporting building management
systems (BMS) need to be understood.
Once a baseline requirement has
been calculated the business needs
to undertake a detailed evaluation to
assess the projected availability to meet
the business requirements, commonly
referred to as a ‘needs assessment’ (i.e.
N, N+1, 2N or 2(N+1) configuration).
This process leads to many calculations
and assumptions often resulting in
excessive projects. The modular build
out option does provide a more accurate
right sizing of the required load but does
need to be well planned and controlled
as the data centre matures. All business
and operational factors should be
evaluated in depth to understand
potential changes and demands.
How can businesses determine the
amount of space required for a
data centre?
There are a number of significant
calculations that need to be undertaken
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