Redundant Systems
Systems used in colocation servers hould be redundant and at every point of working they should have proper capacity. Many people get confused with multiple units considering them as redundancy. Ideal configuration for systems used in colocation facilities should be n+1, which means that if there are two units they should run at 50% capacity, and in any case if one fails other will handle the load. Same if there are three units working capacity should be 66%.

Best Connectivity

Major points which decides the Internet Connectivity of a colocation services are as follows:

• Total Bandwidth available for usage
• Accessible Internet backbones
• Uptime guarantee
• Packet loss, jitter and Latency

Carrier-neutral access and Tier -1 carriers, tier-2 carriers all get access to internet using Colocation data centers. Carrier-neutral can be used by any service from any carrier but customers are requested to configure their own routing. Also customers are should maintain their own connections to Internet backbones. Tier-1 is used by Internet giants like AT&T for direct access. Tier-2 is used for routing traffic amongst the multiple Tier-1 providers. In these kind of tiers speed and reliability depends on how effectively traffic is routed. Tier-2 is preferred by most of the clients since routing is configured by the Colocation facility. Also it is more reliable because of the presence of backbones, these backbones network performance and uptime.

Control on Climate

Design of the Colocation Services India itself affects the performance of the systems used in the colocation facility. Air flow between rack rows should be controlled by the server rooms. Hot air generated due to the heat produced by the servers should be blown in one direction and cool air to keep the servers cool should exit from another direction. Only dedicated hot and cols air flow can save the servers from overheating and finally burning down. Cold sir and humidity is controlled by correctly sized and redundant climate control units. As we all know climate requirements for the server are strict and they only work properly when they are installed under suitable working environment. Servers need 50% humidity and 70 degrees of temperature. Both CRAC units and chillers for the server rooms should be included in a Colocation facility. Cooling capacity is calculated by total tonnage by the square footage.

Power Required

Power to the colocation is like oxygen to the humans, if it fails to perform then you are in deep trouble. UPS and generators should be used for backup and they are necessary to keep the network online. UPS are used when power is shifted from regular to the generators. Generators should be there 24X7 for immediate backup power. Power system of a colocation facility should be properly working and should have following features for perfection:

• Redundant and multiple UPS because of the reason UPS fails very oftenly.
• Generator which can handle at least 1.5 time the total building load

Equal Distribution of Traffic

Both hardware and logic of distribution has an important effect on connectivity. The way traffic is divided plays an important role in the performance of routing. If your distribution covers three below given points than it is perfect:

• In order to continually adjusting routes to find the most effective one Performance based distribution is should be used. Performance based concentrates on performance rather then price.

• Switches and routers should be redundant and be working on full working for the customers.

• Distributions should be done between more than 4-5 clients.

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• Improve physical space in Data center and also reduce server sprawl.
• Hardware maintenance cost is reduced since number of physical servers are  also reduced.
• Speed up the network thus making provision for new services.
• Performance and resource utilization is improved.
• Applications are quickly developed and organized and downtime is avoided due to maintenance windows.
• Flawlessly mange and scale the infrastructure based on various industrial demands.

There are many software which helps in organizing server virtualization. Some of the most famous and most conveniently applied virtualization servers are:

Windows Virtual Server

Windows virtual server is loved by those who only want to have Microsoft type of environment, using Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 operating systems. There are two versions provided by Microsoft for its Windows Virtual Server 2005 Standard and Enterprise Edition. Enterprise Edition supports can host a server with as much as 32 processors. Standard on the other hand support server with only 4 processors. The enterprise edition can be downloaded free of charge.

XenSource

It is launched almost three years ago. XenSource is based on a open source project sponsored by Linux and known as Xen. It is a good option for those who like open source products then proprietary ones. XenSource proved itself in cost effectiveness but it still has to prove itself in quality service.

VMWare

It is the leading software of the virtualization process. Launched in 1998 it was VMWare which bought virtualization to the mainstream through  X86 computing platform. There are option for everyone from small to big business and at the wide range of price points. Features of VMWare are never ending and it benefit’s the host for every server environment.

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Whenever IT always need to add capabilities or increase capacity without investing in a new infrastructure, licensing new software, or training new staff first word that came to your mind is Cloud Computing. Any subscription based or pay-per-use service over the Internet is included in Cloud Computing, it helps in extending IT limits. You may have come across various analysts, IT customers and vendors talking cloud hosting and its features. Based on the various discussions here is in rough what really means:

Utility Computing

A comparatively new but well acquired form of Cloud Computing. It is major support is from industry giants like Sun, IBM and Amazon.com, and various others who are offering virtual and storage servers which can be accessed by clients on demand. Newbie’s use Cloud Computing for non-mission critical, supplemental needs but it will be soon be replaced parts of data center. Other providers are offering solutions that will help in creating virtual data centers from commodity servers. These virtualized servers enable users to stitch up storage, I/O computational capacity and memory.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

In this kind of Cloud Computing a single application is delivered through browsers to thousands of customers using a multi tenant architecture. From the customers point iof view it means no extra investment in software of server licensing. From the vendors side only a single application to maintain and costs are way low as compared to conventional hosting.

Web Services in Cloud Computing

This is closed related to SaaS and Web service providers offers APIs. These APIs in place of delivering full-blown applications allows developers to develop functionality over the Internet. Full range of APIs offered are ADP payroll, Google Maps, Bloomberg, U.S. Postal Service and may other credit card processing companies. Small time API vendors include Xignite and Strike Iron.

Platform as a service

This is another variation of SaaS, it delivers development environments as a service. Application is build by you which will run on the provider’s infrastructure and later delivered to your users through Internet from the server of the provider. These services do not offer you complete freedom as they are controlled from vendors end, but instead they offer pre-integration and inevitability.

Managed Service Providers (MSP)

This is one of the oldest form of cloud computing. Managed service is basically an application which is directly exposed to IT Companies instead of end users. Best example is application monitoring service or virus scanning service for e-mail. Some of the most famous managed security services are delivered by IBM, SecureWorks and Verizon. Other famous offering include CenterBeam’s and Everdream’s desktop management services.

Commerce Platform Services

This is a hybrid of SaaS and MSP. Its basically work is to provide service hub that can be used by users to interact with each other. Most commonly they are used in trading business like expense management system that allows users to order secretarial services or travel from common platform and then organizing the service delivery and pricing inside the specifications set by the user. You can also call it as automated service bureau.

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Client server networking or computing helps in partitioning tasks or distributing work load between service providers and service requester’s, who are known as clients. Client Server is a distributed application architecture. It is seen that frequently servers and clients operate on a computer network on separate hardware. Server machines which share its resources with its clients, are high-performance host running one or many server programs. On the other hand a client does not have to share any of its resources, but on the other hand requests a servers service function. As a result clients begin communication sessions with servers which listen to incoming requests. There are many advantages associated with client servers, like:

• Data is stored on the servers, thus providing the clients a greater security than client machines. Also Servers control the access and resources in a more proper way only appropriate clients are allowed to access and change data.

• Client server technologies are available for the use which were initially designed for friendliness and security of the user interface.

• Can function with multiple clients of each with different capabilities.

• Client server architecture allow the responsibilities of computing system to be spread amongst many independent computers which are connected to each other with network. It makes it more easy to be maintained, for an instance it is possible to upgrade, relocate or repair servers with clients remain unaffected and unaware of the process.

• Update in the data is easier to control then the P2P pattern, since the data is centralized .

Everything has brighter and darker sides, client server with lost of advantages got a lot of disadvantages too like:

• Client server lacks robustness of P2P network. Like under the circumstances of critical server fail clients requested cannot completed.

• Traffic jamming on the network is one of the most common issue since the beginning of client server pattern. Server can become overload if client requests to a given server increases.

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Green is the new word for the generation of 21st century and it is the only word which can save the world from a large catastrophe. Every business is adding something green to their working process, so that CO2 level of atmosphere can be reduced and global warming can be controlled. Now the business associated with Data Centers, i.e. building and managing data center is also adapting to the same procedure. However applying green to the business in data center is a bit tougher and you have to follow few points. Before applying the green fundaments to your business, go through the below given points, so that it won’t cause any problems:

Weigh up your Current Infrastructure – everything needs to be analyzed including electricity consumption, energy bills, devices used in data centers like switches, routers, air conditioning systems, computers and cooling fans. Analyzing these parts of your data center will help you in generate a baseline of the costs you will have to face and where you will have to invest before implementing the idea of Green Data Center.

Evaluate Future needs – find out what is required for to build a Green Data Center or changing the traditional data center to a green data center. Find out what will be the requirements in your data centers possible growth so that your data center can be compatible with not just present but also with future.

Placements of Racks – planning the layout plan is one of the most important part of a data center. The arrangement of racks in the format of hot and cold aisle will help in accepting the green grid for the data center. As this arrangement of  hot and cold aisle helps in the flow of air, it indirectly lead to control of the temperature of the server rooms and thus less energy is consumed making your data center more greener and environmentally friendly.

Combine The Servers -  You can make your servers running on one single piece of hardware, instead of running it on, multiple hardware boxes. This will effect you in two ways, first of all concentrating your servers on one single hardware will save you a lot of energy and it will also help you in reducing power consumption needed for cooling of the various boxes.

Reduce the Unwanted – fins out every single area where you can reduce currently used equipments or hardware. For an instance if you have two 26 port switches an they are using only 18 of them, merge them and close down one of the switch. This will not look happening for small companies, but for larger companies using huge data centers it can save a lot of money and energy.

Use of Rated Appliance - when choosing air conditioning systems and cooling systems, always choose Star Rated appliances. Those appliances which carry energy star save almost 25% to 45 % of energy. These energy star rated appliances cost a bit more than the usual appliances, but investing in these machines will help you in the end. Overall running cost and power consumption is much lesser than the non rated appliances. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will issue ratings for the equipments used in the data centers till 2010.

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• Make it Simple – best design for a data center is simple and sober. It sounds funny but it’s a fact. Simple designs have a lot of advantages over a complex design like it will be easier to support, use and administrator. If somehow a problem occurs, it can be fixed much faster.

• Plan in Advance – if you are not planning in advance it can cost you later. Hope for the best and plan for the worst. Instead of thinking that everything will workout, think about the problems that can occur. Planning will help you to be on the right track.

• Act an administrator – if you will use standardized sections will make your work easier. Also in the future if there is a need for some upgrade or adding more server, you will know how and where everything will work perfectly.

• Allow Flexibility – expansion is directly proportional to flexibility. Flexibility will allow space for your data center whenever technology changes or some upgrade takes place. Also if your data center will have room for change, it will help you to adapt in the changing environment of the technology.

• Care for Weight – server are heavy and be prepared for that. Assuming that your floor can support the weight of the server can result in heavy loss. Make sure floor is of the correct type and is strong enough to support the servers.

• Use Aluminum tile for Raised floor – aluminum can handle the weight of the servers and racks more properly than plastic or ceramic tiles. Using some other material you are risking server and all the other equipments. Aluminum decreases the chances of buckling your floor under its own weight.

• Use of RLUs -  RLU (rack location unit) can define your capacity more properly than squarer feet.

• Labeling – most of the people overlook this step when they built Data Center. Labeling will help you to remember things more easily. Specially cables need to be labeled, because if you don’t do that even to find out a single cable can make you pulling out the whole floor. It will take some extra time but will help in the end.

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Later during the 80’s computer industry experienced the boom of microcomputer era. Flowing in the excitement of this new technology nobody thought about controlled environment required and machines were installed everywhere. Organizing the machines grew complex with time and lost of data became a major worry, and this lead to the development of information technology teams. Work for these teams was to install and maintain early microcomputers. However this was not the final and permanent solution and Data Centers were created. As computers were shifted to dedicated rooms and more and more teams were set up for the maintenance, hierarchical designs were also suggested for these rooms. And for the first time the word Data Center was coined. Importance of the Data Center grew as the dot com bubble evolved and companies began to understand the significance of having Internet. In order to have fast and reliable communication and connectivity. Internet also gave companies to have the capability of 24×7 presence. These requirements resulted in the construction of large data facilities and initially these facilities were called as “Internet Data Centers.” These facilities were used to operate computer systems and install new systems within the company. However some points made these data centers extremely expensive like equipment requirement, physical space and skilled staff. Not all companies were able to operate a large data center. Today’s Scenario is different and now even small companies can enjoy the services of Data Center. Constructing and operating a data center is a extensively recognized industry. Disaster recovery plans helped in enhancing the reliability and uptime guarantee of the companies.

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Companies which are using 10GbE network are reported to shown growth in their business. Cables which are used to transfer data at rate of 1 gigabit per second, used by most of the companies are becoming slowed down because of the increased demands of the advanced network systems they are associated with. Server which operate with the technology of virtualization technology previously required the use of many independent machine are also demanding faster data transfer rates. Not only at the corporate level, but also at the desktop level 10GbE network is gaining importance because of the options like video sharing and business applications organized by the server at the user end. More faster more cleaner making your company greener and more environmentally friendly, 10GbE Ethernet connection save you a lot of money as slower networks can cause system inefficiencies and downtime thus costing your company some extra cost. Using latest technology allows companies to be updated and work more efficiently than their competitors and for many years. Using 10GbE Ethernet Connection can easily provide you an upper hand in business. Before integrating the 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) in your existing network architecture, there are few points to be cared of:

• First of all analyze your existing network architecture whether it will be compatible with 10GbE or not.

• Find out the hardware to be reconfigured for the network upgrade and what hardware to be replaced.

• In phrases find out all the changes to be done in related to server virtualization, cabling, network storage, and server hardware in the data center to organize the reduced power demands of the 10GbE and also minimize server sprawl.

• Relate the changes that will occur with your current and future business growth.

• Finally execute the step on the collected information and properly communicate with your management team.

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Cut View of Portable Data Center

Portable Data Center inside Shipping Container

Portable Container Open

A Server  rack in portable Data Center

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There are four important steps inn Equipment Mounting:

Fastening – mounting equipments starts from the process of fastening. In order to receive particular type of threaded bolt mounting holes are tapped. However this hole tapped kind of racks are only used for the hardware that really changes like relay racks and network or telephone cabling panels. Hardware which is frequently changed is mounted on racks which are provided with slide rails, since there is a possibility that the frequent movement can break of a bolt or damaging a thread making mounting hole unusable.

Structural Support – mounting of the equipment is confirmed by clipping equipment’s front panel to the rack. One of the disadvantage of the process is that all the structural support is centered only to one side of the edge, so heavier equipment is designed to mounted on a second pair of mounting strips located at the back of the equipment. A variety of spacings are used between front and back strips, with 31.5 inches being the most common one. Equipment mounted is deigned to manage a range of depths and 39.4 is the most common used space because of the reason is more depth permit more space for to route cables at the back of the rack. Racks are commonly secured to the adjacent wall or floor so that it will not fall over. This process is done specially with 2 post racks.

Slides -  heavy equipment which is continuously used for servicing an in the process all the four corners are detached concurrently can cause a threat of damage. To avoid damage heavy equipment is either mounted via rails or mounted directly. A rail is mounted directly onto the rack equipment is then slides into the rack along with the rails which supports it. When the equipment reaches the place it is then bolted back to the rack. Rails also support the equipment in a position where it is clear of the rack and maintenance and inspection can be done easily.

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