E-Guide BEST PRACTICES FOR MODERNIZING YOUR...

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BEST PRACTICESFOR MODERNIZINGYOURINFRASTRUCTURE

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Five data center upgrade strategies to modernize your facility

Data center mod-ernization starts with cloud, SDN and virtualization

Don’t let new tech and early adoption pride damage your data center

BEST PRACTICES FOR MODERNIZING YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE

odernizing your facility does not neces-sarily require building new facilities. In this e-guide, brought to you by Search-DataCenter.com, our experts explore how

data center upgrade strategies such as consolidation and adjusting the layout of the server rack can help data centers remain viable in today’s advancing market. Also, learn how cloud computing, virtu-alization, flash storage and SDN are just a few of the forces behind data center modernization.

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FIVE DATA CENTER UPGRADE STRATEGIES TO MODERNIZE YOUR FACILITY

An aging data center may no longer be able to meet the power, cooling and struc-tural demands of advancing technologies, but few businesses have the time or the capital to build new facilities.

Fortunately, organizations can extend the working life of their data center by renovating the facility by making changes that cost little to nothing. Data center upgrades allow a business to adopt new standards and improve existing infrastructures to introduce new technologies with better performance and more efficiency.

There are five fixes and data center design changes that can extend the life of an aging facility.

ELEVATE YOUR DATA CENTER OPERATING TEMPERATURE

The data center›s working temperature has long been a subject of myth and legend, but research and initiatives from industry organizations such as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers


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(ASHRAE) have found that data centers don›t need to be cooled like meat lock-ers. Modern servers and other computing equipment can operate reliably at elevated temperatures.

A 2008 ASHRAE document recommended a temperature range from 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit for Class 1 data center equipment. Recommendations in 2011 broadened the allowable temperature range from 59 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit for enterprise-class servers and 41 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit for appropriately designed servers and other equipment.

It costs nothing to turn up the data center’s temperature and higher oper-ating temperatures within ASHRAE standards. There are considerable wear and energy cost savings for existing mechanical cooling systems. In addition, the extended temperature range also makes it possible to adopt alternative or supplemental cooling schemes (at least during certain parts of the day), such as free air or air/water economizers -- cooling technologies that might not have even been considered when your data center was first built.

UPGRADE SERVERS AND SYSTEMS FOR BETTER CONSOLIDATION AND EFFI-

CIENCY

Servers consume the majority of energy in a data center -- primarily in the


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processors and memory components. Organizations can gain significant en-ergy efficiency by upgrading servers to more efficient models during normal technology refresh cycles where capital is already budgeted, or even by adopt-ing integrated infrastructures like Cisco’s Unified Computing System(UCS).

“Vendors have made major strides in power consumption and operating parameters for blades, UCS and other infrastructure systems,” said Chris Stef-fen, principal technical architect at Kroll Factual Data. “And nearly all [new servers] are significantly easier to manage than standalone pizza boxes of the early days of rackmount systems.”

For example, an older server using an Intel Corp.’s dual-core Xeon 7130M will dissipate 150 W, but a server using a Xeon L7455 six-core processor will dissipate only up to 65 W. By upgrading the server, a data center gains four processor cores for more computing power, yet slashes processor power use by more than half. Newer servers also provide improved cooling parts such as variable-speed fans, and incorporate superior power-saving modes that reduce energy use and heating even further.

And there are other considerations. The newer server may also provide greater amounts of memory, allowing a virtualized server to provide much higher levels of consolidation than earlier servers. This means the same


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amount of computing work can be done with far fewer servers, saving equip-ment capital and generating only a fraction of the heat for a data center’s cool-ing system to contend with.

CHANGE THE SYSTEM LAYOUT AND RACK LAYOUT FOR POWER AND COOLING

EFFICIENCY

Take a close look at the layout of your data center equipment and look for ways to improve power and cooling efficiency.

Suppose you had a traditional data center where a large computer room air-conditioning unit (CRAC) cooled the room. Now imagine that a server refresh and consolidation project slashed the number of servers by 75%. With just a quarter of the original server count in this example, it may be possible to rearrange the remaining servers in far fewer racks and use containment to enclose the remaining servers. This limits the air volume that must be cooled, significantly reducing the amount of mechanical cooling needed and allowing for alternative cooling technologies.

“There is more use of in-row solutions,” said Robert McFarlane, principal at Shen Milsom and Wilke LLC, a consulting and technology design firm based in New York. “The cooling can be located where the problem actually is, [which]


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helps ensure that the renovation will end up doing what was intended.”In other cases, under-floor cooling may be more effective by reworking the

electrical cabling, network cabling and water lines that cross below the floor.A poorly designed and haphazard layout can obstruct cooling air distribu-

tion, making more work for the mechanical cooling unit. In addition, any water distribution increases the potential for damage to electrical and network wir-ing, so many organizations opt to route electrical and network wiring overhead -- leaving water lines under-floor -- and may even upgrade network cabling to allow for future bandwidth improvements.

Don’t overlook the rack space itself. For example, fully populating racks can concentrate more equipment in less space, making any containment -- and associated cooling -- more effective. And some racks may not be deep enough to accommodate new generations of computing equipment. This can lead to wiring congestion and airflow problems.

“Many of the messes in data centers are because deeper equipment with far more cable connections just doesn’t fit in the cabinets anymore,” McFarlane said. “So the doors are open, cables are hanging out and airflow is blocked.”


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CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTAL OR ALTERNATIVE COOLING SCHEMES

Mechanical heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are a staple of the modern data center, but they are also costly, energy-hungry and a potential single-point of failure in data center availability. If the cooling system fails, a data center can overheat in a matter of minutes.

Data center renovations often focus on ways to supplement or replace traditional mechanical cooling with alternative equipment or methods that are enabled by higher operating temperatures, better containment and less equipment.

Popular alternative cooling approaches include chilled water heat exchang-ers (water economizers), evaporative cooling and even free air cooling (air economizers).

PTS Data Center Solutions Inc. is renovating its cooling method to a more efficient system.

«We›re upgrading the cooling system to a very efficient chilled-water, in-row approach, said Peter Sacco, president of PTS.

These methods, however, require affordable environmental resources that are suited to the task and available for much of the day. For example, using cold lake water to drive a water economizer requires a nearby lake. In many cases,


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these alternative methods are added to supplement traditional HVAC, lowering run times and power needs.

Organizations that must continue using HVAC are taking a fresh look at the cooling system’s capacity and efficiency. The potential problem is that a large, aging HVAC system runs even less efficiently if it is used infrequently; easing the cooling load on your legacy HVAC system might actually cost more and be harder on the mechanical system.

This means that raising operating temperatures and reducing the amount of computing equipment may justify a smaller cooling system.

“That usually means upgrading CRAC or [computer room air handler] to units with variable speed fans, and probably with electronically commutated motors and plug fans instead of centrifugal fans,” McFarlane said. “Those will all make big improvements in energy efficiency and probably in cooling effec-tiveness as well.”

CONSIDER AVAILABILITY AND RELIABILITY ISSUES IN POWER DISTRIBUTION

Data centers run the business and they must always be available, so consider backup power systems and the capacity of backup power equipment.

Upgrading the uninterruptable power supply (UPS) systems to a newer

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model can improve UPS energy efficiency and provide more intelligent power monitoring/measurement capabilities that complement a data center infra-structure management scheme.

“When a UPS is replaced, it is hopefully with a higher efficiency system, and may also become a redundant [N+1] configuration and possibly even a modular or incremental capacity solution,” McFarlane said. He cautioned that power equipment upgrades may spawn broader wiring and distribution upgrades in older buildings.

It is also a common practice to upgrade in-rack power distribution units (PDUs) to add intelligent power management, along with rack temperature and humidity monitoring. With UPS and PDU upgrades together, an organization can gather energy use data and make more informed decisions about power costs in the data center.

Finally, consider the availability of data center power.

Organizations with aging, unreliable or overtaxed power grids may con-sider local cogeneration options to ensure uninterrupted power. Traditional diesel generators are quickly giving way to more efficient and environmentally


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friendly alternatives, including solid oxide fuel cells such asBloom Energy Servers or solar arrays to produce some amount of local electricity. If it’s not possible to install local cogeneration on-site, it may be possible to contract with regional cogeneration providers for supplemental electricity.

These are just a few of the most popular tactics available to renovate your aging data center, but there are countless other considerations, depending on your particular circumstances and business goals. Perhaps the most important (and overlooked) bit of advice for any data center renovation is to consider the services of a consultant with proven experience in extending the life of current IT facilities. Such experts can help you identify initiatives that will provide the greatest benefit for your business -- and navigate the even-more-complicated issues of permitting, code compliance and inspections during the renovation process.


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DATA CENTER MODERNIZATION STARTS WITH CLOUD, SDN AND VIRTUALIZATION

Mobile computing and other trends have dramatically altered how enterprises work, requiring data centers to find new ways to meet computing demands.

Cloud computing, flash storage, software-defined networks (SDN), virtual-ization and new data center management tools will help data center managers deliver the data their customers or end users need.

Those technologies will also lead to data center modernization.

CLOUD COMPUTING ENHANCES DATA ACCESS

Cloud computing represents the most transformative technology for data cen-ters, as it offers a way to provide data access to any type of Internet-connected device.

More and more services, whether they are applications or business as a ser-vice, are going to the cloud, resulting in data centers and carriers re-architect-ing themselves, said Brian Lillie, CIO of Equinix, a global data center provider.


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While enterprises have begun to incorporate the use of public, private and hybrid clouds into their business model, adoption isn’t widespread just yet.

To date, less than a quarter of businesses say they use private cloud, and even fewer have adopted public cloud services, according to the 625 respon-dents of a 2013 TechTarget data center survey (see sidebar).

Part of the reason companies consider the cloud is cost savings; in some cases, cloud services are cheaper than investing in infrastructure, software and maintenance for on-premises IT.

“By virtue of scale, focus and innovation, cloud operators drive the costs for their delivery platform,” said Andrew Lawrence, an analyst at 451 Research, a New York-based IT research firm.

The cloud may also result in more use of low-power, low-cost blade servers and microservers that offer more computing power in less space.

“Everyone is creating a new cloud stack and moving toward the blade server,” said Vishal Sharma, vice president of IT at Earthlink, which operates colocation data centers throughout the U.S.

FLASH STORAGE IMPROVES DATA CENTER PERFORMANCE

The advent of flash storage arrays will impact data centers by providing faster


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data access, reduced storage array space and power savings.The new storage technology stems from startups such as Pure Storage,

Nimbus Data, Violin Memory, WhipTail Technologies and a host of others.Flash will be primarily relevant for high-performance computing applica-

tions used by the financial-services industry. Having a millisecond advantage for a transaction can be worth millions of dollars in the fast-paced financial sector.

Equinix has begun incorporating flash storage arrays in its data centers to optimize performance, Lillie said. There is a whole suite of applications served by flash storage arrays that fits in a smaller footprint, and can serve in a distrib-uted mode all over the world, he added.

To date, the cost for flash storage arrays is still high and a more likely model is a hybrid scenario where certain applications use flash and others use tradi-tional spinning disks and tape drives.

“How fast and how far [flash] will go will depends on the manufacturing costs and the pricing of it,” said 451 Research’s Lawrence.

He predicted that by 2018, flash will become cheaper than high-end disks.“If flash comes down in price … then it will have a dramatic effect on data

centers in the future, but we doubt we will see all-flash data centers,” he said.


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SOFTWARE-DEFINED NETWORKING TO IMPROVE DATA ROUTING

SDN is expected to impact data centers by enabling more efficient data routing.“If you look at the data center itself, [the network is] one of the most ex-

pensive real estate in all of computing,” said Prakash Sinha, vice president of Radware’s application delivery controller business. Radware is based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

SDN promises to deliver more efficient data routing throughout the net-work and may provide a return on investment not only for data center opera-tors, but for enterprise customers, as well.

With SDN, IT administrators can use a centralized control console with-out manually configuring hardware. Network administrators set up rules and prioritize when data packets will get sent throughout the network to improve service.

SDN also helps data centers secure the data being routed to end users. It can provide different security layers against issues such as denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. IT can also secure the data pipe and ensure data is encrypted so a malicious attacker cannot see stolen data if it is retrieved.


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VIRTUALIZATION TO INCREASE DATA CENTER EFFICIENCY

Server virtualization is a mainstream technology that has given way to network virtualization, which can add to data center efficiency by creating smaller sub-sets of networks within one network infrastructure. This way, multiple virtual-ized networks can coexist on one physical network.

Beyond networks, virtualization in general continues to make an impact in the data center among enterprise users.

“We think virtualization is really important and it’s in the middle of trans-forming data centers dramatically,” Lawrence said.

Others say that virtualization will continue to be particularly important for data center efficiency.

“We are trying to leverage the inherent efficiencies that come with virtual technologies and looking at the cloud,” said Edmund Oca, a data center con-sultant in Long Beach, Calif. Oca works with the data centers of large corpo-rations in the health care and entertainment industry. “From a facilities and operational perspective, we are pretty efficient. Anything we would change to our operations [to reduce cost] is an initial value add,” he said.


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DATA CENTER MANAGEMENT TOOLS

Data center management tools are becoming more mature with better moni-toring and provisioning of physical hardware, said Glenn Ford, senior analyst covering multi-tenant data center research at 451 Research.

The market research firm recently forecasted the global multi-tenant data center market growing at 18.85% CAGR from 2010 to 2014, with the North America MTDC market growing at 18.65% CAGR over the same period.

Self-healing in storage and large UPS management devices have built-in diagnostic tools that notice when something goes wrong and send out an elec-tronic notification to the vendor to take steps, he noted.


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DON’T LET NEW TECH AND EARLY ADOPTION PRIDE DAMAGE YOUR DATA CENTER

When it comes to modernizing IT strategies and infrastructure, the first, worst and most common pitfall is being distracted by early adoption of shiny new gear and ignoring the need to rethink how that new gear is sourced, organized, managed and used.

It’s easy to just keep doing what you were doing. But that leaves most of the potential value on the table. Modern infrastructure isn’t about having the lat-est and greatest gear. If it were, everyone would just buy it, and things would be ducky. The real opportunity is improving IT’s attributes and outcomes: How fast it provides answers. How fast it moves, changes and adapts. How much it costs. How well it supports and grows business opportunity. Changing those things requires re-architecting the data center -- and indeed, the greater IT supply chain.

We saw this, for example, with the first generations of blade servers. They provided a cool new form factor with exceptional compute density and great plug-and-go flexibility. But many blade adopters didn’t focus on making a


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fundamental shift toward modularity and flexibility. They kept putting local storage on every blade, and some insisted on managing each blade individu-ally. By conforming to the legacy of rack servers, it was almost as though they weren’t blades, and certainly not part of a shared infrastructure. Then, a half dozen or so years later, the use of virtualization, shared I/O and shared storage started picking up steam. As a result, blades finally came into their own: they started providing, in broad practice, the modularity and effectiveness they had been capable of years before.

Not everyone had to wait five years, though. Some early adopters got it long before the mainstream because they shifted approaches, rather than simply re-fighting old battles on fresh fields.

Modern IT infrastructure and practices -- cloud, blades, virtualization, scale-out, agile development, converged equipment, everything as a service, DevOps, etc. -- combine to make a very different landscape and set of capabili-ties than what IT has had before. Using those tools and technologies effectively requires different ways of working. Not everyone is comfortable with those new approaches (or with new approaches in general). Thus we have a wide built-in chasm between most peoples’ thinking, practices and expectations and what’s needed for a truly flexible, network-savvy operation.


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MINDING -- AND BRIDGING -- THE GAP

I’m often asked to do gap analysis. After discussing what a client’s already do-ing, plans to do or wonders whether it should be doing, we get to “So, what are we missing?”

“What are we missing?” is the best question because most organizations already do a reasonable-to-good job in most areas. We can tweak -- occasionally, outright fix -- things that could be done better. But the most interesting risks, dysfunctions, weaknesses and opportunities tend to lie in the things they’re not doing; frequently, in things they’re not even thinking about.

When it comes to modernizing data center strategies and operations, here are some common gaps I’ve encountered:

Static data. The failure to rethink the data layer -- the combination of storage, databases and transactions -- with the same vigor and depth as or-ganizations rethink servers, insourcing (INSERT LINK to “ The benefits of insourcing data center operations”), outsourcing and other issues. Virtualiza-tion’s buildout over the past decade showed that getting the data layer right is at least as important as getting servers and other infrastructure right. IT is data processing, after all—and even more so in the age of analytics, real-time updates and big data.


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Management inertia. Too many shops continue an equipment-centric view of how things are -- and should be -- managed, rather than a service- and application-centric view. A similar gap is continuing to think of development and operations as separate, ne’er-the-twain-shall-meet activities. That “throw it over the wall” mentality eventually stymied progress in manufacturing, and it doesn’t work in IT. You can’t be efficient if you can’t share, and you can’t be agile if you don’t eagerly cooperate.

Failure to automate. As IT deals with much more flexible and varied un-derpinnings -- thanks, virtualization and cloud! -- and is called upon to ramp services up and down rapidly, it needs to move away from building everything by hand to building recipes. Shops on the forward edge of scale-out IT are al-ready deeply into deployment automation, because there’s no real alternative. It’s time for the rest of IT to move in the same direction.

Modern infrastructure isn’t a synonym for early adoption. Late-model equipment nicely advances performance, integration and efficiency. But re-balancing how we use IT to take advantage of the leverage that virtualization, cloud and convergence gives us is a critical companion to upgrading the gear. When you’re modernizing, don’t just focus on “New! Shiny!” Getting the full benefits requires at least equal attention to, “How do we need to change how


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we’re doing things?” and bridging the gap between how you used to work and the new way.


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