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General Information
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August 13, 2010
• Vol.32 Issue 17
Page(s) 27 in print issue
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Efficient Equipment Setup & Installation
Track & Manage Equipment Before & After It’s Installed
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| Key Points
• Data centers operate more efficiently when IT and data center managers understand how the current data center is being run in order to determine the best location for new equipment.
• Data center managers should have the environment professionally cleaned before turning on any equipment in a new or expanded data center space.
• It is a good idea to use management tools and performance metrics to ensure that new equipment is properly installed and monitored in order to meet efficiency objectives and comply with SLAs. | | There’s a way around mountains of cable, dust, and data center clutter. Verbs such as tracking, measuring, establishing, and ensuring are the key to a well-organized data center. When you get down to the foundation of such a data center, you find equipment setup and installation among the main pillars. But being set up, installed, and organized all at the same time has its challenges. Here are a few tips to help you achieve your organizational goals.
 Track The Data Center’s Configuration
 Traci Yarbrough, director of product marketing for data center software solutions at Emerson Network Power (www.emerson.com), says that amid ever-changing business demands, data center managers are constantly dealing with the need to add equipment to improve the networks, servers, power infrastructures, or cooling systems while simultaneously optimizing efficiency. But Yarbrough says that before a data center can operate efficiently, IT and facility managers—both of whom are heavily involved in data center management—must first understand how the current data center is being run in order to determine the best location for new equipment.
“To receive a full, comprehensive view of how the data center operates, IT and facility managers must be able to effectively track the data center’s configuration to analyze the interconnections and relationships between the data center components,” she explains. “This holistic view of the data center is essential to determining the optimal location of the new equipment, so as not to negatively impact systems already in place, and to maximize the efficiency and performance of new deployments.”
Keep It Clean
Kevin Vickery, president of ProSource Mission Critical Services (www.team-prosource.com), says that before turning on any equipment in a new or expanded data center space, data center and IT managers should ensure that the environment is cleaned by a professional data center cleaning contractor that can safely and effectively remove contamination that could adversely affect hardware performance.
Vickery says this includes cleaning below and above the raised floor. “Take care to ensure that the concrete subfloor plenum surface has been encapsulated to provide for a clean environment for your equipment to operate,” he says. “Data center cleaning professionals can provide this service during the construction phase prior to equipment and cabling installation. Dust created by unsealed concrete is one of the major sources of contamination in raised-floor data centers.”
He continues, “Ensure that all openings in the raised floor have been sealed to ensure that all cooling comes through airflow panels to prevent bypass airflow and properly cool your equipment. This will ensure that your cooling system operates as effectively and efficiently as possible, thereby saving energy.”
Vickery says it also helps to ask the cleaning professional to provide an ongoing maintenance plan to help ensure that your critical environment maintains the appropriate level of cleanliness for your hardware to operate effectively and efficiently over time.
Enforce Policies With Management Tools
When it is time to conduct equipment installation, data center management will have already determined whether it is best to implement changes as an independent solution or as a synergistic one that incorporates other systems in the IT service management domain, such as finance, Yarbrough says. “A well-organized data center will have a process management tool in place for both types of solutions,” she says. “Process management tools are generally configurable and directly notify the appropriate people and management staff responsible for specific tasks at appropriate times during the equipment installation.”
Yarbrough says the process management tool should also help to reduce the risks associated with new equipment changes. “By automating the equipment installation process, the amount of time spent per installation will be significantly reduced, saving money,” she says.
Measure & Track Key SLA Metrics
In Yarbrough’s opinion, today’s data centers are evaluated based on their ability to execute company objectives, keep pace with changing technology, and meet the demands for greater efficiency. She says a well-organized data center will have a way to track its progress against the specific SLA metrics outlined for that data center. “Before the installation process begins and immediately after it is complete, present ideal times for the data center manager to note the status of the data center and document the progress, as well as compare it to the SLA metrics,” she says. “The results of the installation should reaffirm the initial goals and aid the organization in their everyday operations.”
Yarbrough says that even without the act of a new installation, data center managers should also have a system in place to look for ways to maintain and improve IT service quality through a constant cycle of aggregating, monitoring, and reporting system information. Equally important, she says, each data center should set its own schedule of evaluation to optimize performance. 
by Chris A. MacKinnon
Top Tip: Define A Process For Installing Equipment
According to Traci Yarbrough, director of product marketing for data center software solutions at Emerson Network Power (www.emerson.com), once IT and facility managers have assembled a complete view of the data center to determine the optimal placement for the new equipment, it’s important to coordinate the installation process while working to reduce the impact of any related incidents that could adversely impact the productivity of the organization.
“To ensure that standardized methods and procedures are used for efficient and prompt handling of all changes in the data center, organizations should create a document that outlines best practices for the installation of equipment,” she explains. “This document will guide those involved in the installation on how best to decrease back-out activities, diminish the disruption of services, and utilize the economic resources involved with the new installation.” |
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