Networks Europe Mar-Apr 2016 | Page 23

OPINION Plan the test and test to succeed... Trying to measure the size of a data centre will provoke a range of opinions and stimulate debate, but when a data centre is 6.3 million square feet, it’s large by any measure. At roughly the size of 116 football pitches the Range International Information Group data centre in Langfang, China is likely to be the largest in the world when complete. But size isn’t everything and adequate testing is. The growing popularity of cloud computing and regulations regarding data sovereignty are a significant driving force behind the new and technically advanced data centres appearing globally. With increasing investment in the safe and reliable housing of data, there is a growing need for stringent and extensive data centre load testing: which must be done properly. The test phase Traditionally, load testing of data centres comprised of testing individual syst V