How to Remodel Your Data Center
By David Strom
The Strominator gets off on data center architecture, implementation and cost savings.
I have to
come clean: I am a data center geek.
I love visiting them, and talking to the people who design and run them. Maybe it was because I worked around mainframes at the beginning of my IT career. Maybe it is all that power coursing through all those wires, and those big, greasy generators. Or the thrill of getting access to the inner sanctum of IT after passing through various security checkpoints and 'man traps.'
There is just something about a hyper-cooled
raised floor that gets me excited.
Take a look at what Sun did last year, when they brought up a new
datacenter in
And lest
you think this is just a one-shot deal, Sun's goal is to have no datacenters by
the year 2015, at least according to this blog by Brian Cinque, Sun's data
center architect.
Now, an
unkind response to this notion might be the reason they will have zero data
centers is because the company might be out of business by then, but let's give
Sun the benefit of the doubt and credit for their achievements, nonetheless.
So, how
did they do this? Several ways: server consolidation, server virtualization,
replacing older units, and increasing rack densities.
They started by grouping a bunch of racks, servers, and other equipment together in what they called pods that would be designed with the same requirements and could easily be scaled up in the future.
Didn't I say they were
downsizing? Yes, but they are doing so by cramming more gear into smaller
spaces, and replacing older space-hogging hardware with newer gear that is more
compact. The racks in each pod were also designed to handle at least 5 kW now,
and be scalable to 18 to 30 kW in the future to allow for even higher density
deployments per rack.
The pods
allow Sun to deploy modular solutions for cooling, cabling, monitoring, and
power, and to do so independent of the vendors needed for the gear in each pod.
They took advantage of
Sun ended
up tossing about 5,000 servers and switches as a result of the move. Well, they
didn't actually toss all of this – they tried to recycle as much as they could.
But their approach is worth taking a closer look, especially if you are in the
market for a new data center, or want to start exploring ways that you can cut
your own costs and make your operations more efficient.
Next week, I will talk some more about what