How to build your own data center. Cost assessment: price/functionality ratio

Today, no one is surprised by the fact that this or that company has its own data center. Only a few employees of this organization know what this is, but in reality, such equipment is required by any business that wants to achieve real stability. In other words, if there is a real need to ensure uninterrupted, scalable and managed operation of the company, when the stability of the business directly depends on the IT infrastructure, a data center is used.

What is this?

Thus, with the passage of time and the development of information technology, almost any organization that is somehow connected with information has its own data center. What is it? A data processing center, which in professional specialized literature is often called a data center. From the name you can understand that in such equipment various operations are carried out that directly relate to the processing of any information, that is, the creation or generation of data, subsequent archiving and storage of files, as well as their subsequent provision at the user’s request. At the same time, special attention should be paid to the fact that in addition to the above functions, there is also secure data destruction, for which the data center is responsible. What is it? Deleting certain files without harming other data and, possibly, without the possibility of recovery, if really important information is deleted that should not fall into third hands.

Where can they be used?

Today there are enough large number funds, including land registries, the Pension Fund and various libraries that are directly involved in collecting and storing various information. It is worth noting that there is also information that generates business in itself, for example, information that is used by various help desks. There is also information that does not take any part in business processes, but is necessary for their implementation. Such data includes files personnel services, as well as databases of user accounts in various information systems.

Industrial holdings create specialized electronic archives to perform calculation tasks, store documents, and automate business processes. Thus, different organizations use different types information, as well as tasks related to its processing. It is to solve such problems that a data center is created. What it is, only the system administrator knows, on whose shoulders the equipment falls.

When is the data center used?

Tasks related to different times were solved using various technical means. In the twentieth century, electronic computing devices became the basis modern business, since they took on the vast majority of computing tasks, and the emergence of devices that store information provided the opportunity to completely get rid of paper archives, replacing them with more compact, yet accessible electronic and tape media. Already in order to accommodate the first electronic computers, it was necessary to allocate specialized computer rooms in which the required climatic conditions were maintained so that the equipment did not overheat during operation and at the same time worked stably.

Server rooms and their features

With the beginning of the era of development of personal computers and small servers, the computing equipment of almost any company began to be located in special server rooms. In the vast majority of cases, under such a room there is a certain room in which a household air conditioner is installed, as well as an uninterruptible power supply in order to ensure the continuous operation of the equipment in normal condition. However, these days, this option is only suitable for those enterprises in which business processes are very dependent on the information used and the available computing resources.

What is the difference between a data center and a server room?

By and large, a modern data center is an expanded copy of a traditional server room, because in fact they have a lot in common - the use of engineering systems that support the continuous operation of equipment, the need to provide the required microclimate, as well as an appropriate level of security. But at the same time, there are a number of differences that are decisive.

The data processing center is equipped with a full set of various engineering systems, as well as specialized components that ensure normal and stable operation information infrastructure company in the mode required for business operation.

Where is this equipment used?

In Russia, data processing using such centers has become in demand since 2000, when various banking structures began to order such equipment, government bodies, as well as enterprises in the field oil industry. It is worth noting that the data center first appeared back in 1999, when it began to be used to process declarations and income certificates for all residents of Moscow and the region.

Also, one of the first large data centers was the equipment that was used in the Sberbank center. In 2003, with the support of Rostelecom, the first republican data processing center was organized in Chuvashia, used to systematize archival data. Such devices were provided by various organs local authorities, and in 2006 a center was also opened in which data from the Kurchatov Institute center was processed. IN next year VTB-24 and Yandex companies also began to use their own data center. Moscow, therefore, quickly came to the use of such equipment, as did other large cities in Russia.

Where should you install a data center?

Nowadays, almost every large geographically distributed company uses its own data center, especially if the business is very dependent on the IT organization. Examples include telecom operators, retail companies, travel and transport companies, medical institutions, industrial holdings and much more.

A data center may be designed to operate specific enterprise or used as multi-user equipment. A multi-tenant data center provides a wide range of services, including business continuity, as well as hosting, server rental and hosting, and many other elements. Data center services are the most relevant for small and medium-sized businesses, since with its help you can eliminate the need to modernize the IT infrastructure, and ultimately receive a guarantee of reliability and service of the highest quality.

The key to a successful data center is competent design

Proper design of a data center allows you to eliminate the occurrence of serious problems during the operation of equipment, as well as reduce costs during operation. In general, the structure of such a center is divided into four main elements - engineering infrastructure, building, software and specialized equipment. At the same time, the construction of buildings and premises for the installation of such equipment is carried out in a variety of standards, the main purpose of which is to ensure safety and reliability. In Western countries, extremely serious and sometimes very unique requirements for data centers are often established - in particular, it is worth highlighting that the building must be located at least 90 meters from the highest point to which water reached during a flood over the past 100 years, which achieving this is far from being as easy as it might seem at first glance.

Today we decided to pay attention to the topic “ life cycle» data centers, talk about what it is and how proper management of it allows companies to reduce not only operating but also capital costs. Considering current trends to the implementation of ever new solutions (including hyperconverged systems) and services, significant difficulties in this process may be associated with changes and adaptation of the physical infrastructure of data centers.

The life cycle of a data center includes a step-by-step process of development of engineering infrastructure in accordance with business objectives and IT processes and can be divided into several stages:

1. Preparatory: understanding the goals of creation, forming a solution concept, choosing a site;
2. Design in accordance with the chosen concept and characteristics of the site;
3. Construction;
4. Operation;
5. Conformity assessment and performance analysis.

Business requirements for IT services are constantly changing, and the compliance assessment that completes this cycle helps to understand how effectively the data center can solve current problems, and whether it is able to cope with new ones, and whether it is ready for growth. This is followed by planning for refining or modernizing the site for new tasks and all subsequent stages - the circle closes.

Design and construction

The Russian market has accumulated solid competence in the field of design and construction of data centers, there are specialists with appropriate qualifications, but it is not always possible to complete the project in accordance with the KPIs specified by the client. Already during the implementation of the project, business requirements may change and are subsequently incorrectly formulated and reflected in the terms of reference. As a result, the construction of the site is carried out with high quality, but the main difficulty at the design stage is to understand what tasks the facility faces and how exactly the data center should be designed and equipped to meet all business requirements, which is not always possible.

Today it is necessary to clearly formulate technical specifications, describing in it correct and optimal solutions that meet business objectives in the future for at least 5-8 years. The training center of a vendor with the appropriate competence can help in training competent specialists. Thus, the task of the Schneider Electric Training Center is to familiarize partners and customers with the company’s technically complex products, the features of their application, installation and operation in real conditions.
A data center, as a rule, is not physically connected to the consumers of its services, however, it is important to consider that placing it in an unsuitable building radically increases the cost of the site infrastructure. It is also worth remembering that the data center environment can affect its reliability.

Typical mistakes made at the preparatory stage:

1. Designing a data center as an office, while it is an industrial facility;
2. Errors in redundancy of systems, components, communications;
3. Errors in calculating the size of the allocated area for engineering systems and auxiliary premises, with estimating the weight of equipment and its dimensions, ensuring the autonomy of the facility.

It is important to understand the key metrics of the data center and the prospects for its development, since engineering systems must “survive” 2-3 generations of IT equipment. The operations service is rarely involved in the project during the construction phase. Meanwhile, specialists in power supply and cooling systems should be involved at the stage design work and attend working groups.

Operation

No matter how well the project is thought out and competently implemented, many problems arise during the operation phase. One of them is organizational in nature and concerns the interaction between the administrative, economic and IT departments. When there is no such connection, the solution as a whole may work ineffectively or not function at all.
In practice, administrative and business units are sometimes extremely far from understanding what a data center is and what the requirements are for it, and sometimes they simply become an insurmountable bureaucratic barrier, so it is advisable to show this service the concept of building a data center at their facility and explain the principles of operation engineering systems and approximate equipment parameters.

The IT department may also have its own internal problems. When different IT departments are responsible for different components (servers, storage systems, network equipment, cooling systems, etc.) and do not have clear regulations and division of areas of responsibility, chaos arises on the site.

In this case, it is easier to “move” to new site than to carry out a deep modernization of the old one, and only then remodel the existing data center, without disrupting the work of IT services operating at the new location. Another option is to rent space in a commercial data center during the “overhaul.” The optimal solution is selected in each specific case.
In modern data centers, a separate team of specialists is usually responsible for the continuous and efficient operation of the infrastructure. To automate monitoring, management, reporting, movement management and performance control, tools are used that are usually referred to by the abbreviation DCIM (Data Center Infrastructure Management).

The tasks of monitoring events, the state of equipment and the environment are often solved first - tools such as NetBotz controllers and the Data Center Expert monitoring system are used for this. But now the most pressing tasks are effective use resources - from electricity to space in machine rooms. Timely implementation of effective regulations and control of energy use allows not only to reduce very significant operating costs and return investments earlier, but also to plan new acquisitions or construction taking into account the assessment of the real, and not the “paper” efficiency of equipment. As a platform for organizing this approach, you can use Data Center Operation - a modular solution with a set of all the necessary functions.

This Schneider Electric solution allows data center operators to monitor and more effectively manage data centers and perform routine tasks, and the integration of third-party IT services allows the exchange of relevant information between systems of different vendors, resulting in a more complete understanding of the performance and availability of the data center to improve its reliability and operational efficiency.

Evaluation and optimization

Optimization - improving the parameters of data center subsystems - requires a preliminary assessment stage - audit, analysis of the efficiency of their operation, creation mathematical model site and eliminating problem areas based on monitoring data.
A high-quality monitoring system created specifically to solve the problems of operating a data center, a system for modeling the operation of equipment, which allows you to obtain a clear model of the functioning of the data center, are important tools thanks to which operation specialists can track the condition of the data center in real time.

Various improvements, such as the construction of air corridor isolation systems, the reorganization of raised floor slabs, the elimination of places in the racks with improper air circulation, followed by the reconfiguration of air conditioning systems, can reduce data center energy consumption in real projects by 10-20%. Such optimization pays off (if we take into account only energy consumption) in 3-3.5 years.

Another optimization effect is improved performance of cooling systems, when previously installed equipment is used more efficiently, for example, it becomes possible to install more servers in a rack. “Data center utilization rate” can be increased from 70-75% to 90-95%. This optimization pays for itself in about six months.

Data analytics helps to find a specific solution to reduce the cost of operating devices at the customer’s site, select the most energy-efficient mode, or optimize the use of resources. Or understand that the time has come for modernization.

Data center modernization does not always mean installing new equipment and, first of all, represents an increase in the efficiency of systems and the efficiency of their use.

Assessing the situation helps you understand what needs to be done to get the data center running efficiently again. One of the customers solved this problem by creating closed cold aisles and blocking air flows where they reduced the efficiency of heat removal. Moreover, the work was carried out without stopping the data center systems.

In many projects, work is carried out at the junction of the operational and evaluation phases. Today, many customers have new IT tasks, informatization and digitalization of business are underway, and they have to solve various operational problems. Help from experts at the assessment stage and conducting an audit of the data center helps to cope with them. The Regional Application Center created by Schneider Electric in Russia deals with complex solutions for data centers. Its main task is to create and support sustainable and efficient operation of the data center at all stages of its life cycle.

Schneider Electric specialists take part in the design, construction, comprehensive testing and commissioning of facilities, as well as subsequent support and modernization of the data center. At each stage, the customer is provided with fault tolerance and efficiency of the data center. With the growing scale and speed of digital technologies, the solutions we offer will help companies, cloud providers, telecommunications services and commercial platforms face the future with confidence.

In the modern sense, a data center, or data processing center (DPC), is a comprehensive organizational and technical solution designed to create a high-performance and fault-tolerant information infrastructure. In a narrower sense, a data center is a room designed to house equipment for processing and storing data and providing connection to fast communication channels. In order to more fully reveal the essence of the concept of a data center, let's start with the history of its origin.

In principle, computer centers, familiar to many from EC machines, which became widespread in our country 30 years ago, are in a certain sense the ancestors of modern data centers. Common to current data centers and old data centers is the idea of ​​resource consolidation. At the same time, computer centers had quite complex subsystems for providing the environment necessary for computing technology, which consisted of cooling, power supply, security, etc. subsystems, many of which are used in modern data centers.

With the rise of the PC in the mid-1980s, there was a trend towards dispersal of computing resources - desktop computers did not require special conditions, and consequently, less and less attention was paid to the issues of providing a special environment for computing technology. However, with the development of client-server architecture in the late 90s, the need arose to install servers in special premises - server rooms. It often happened that servers were placed in the area of ​​old computer centers. Around this time, the term “data center” emerged, applied to specially designed computer rooms.

The heyday of data centers occurred during the dot-com boom. Companies that needed fast Internet access and business continuity began to design special rooms, providing increased security of data processing and transmission - Internet Data Centers. Since all modern data centers provide Internet access, the first word in the name has been eliminated. Over time, a separate scientific direction, which deals with optimization of the construction and operation of data centers.

At the beginning of the 21st century, many large companies, both abroad and in our country, came to the need to implement a data center - for some, ensuring business continuity became paramount, for others, data center solutions turned out to be very effective due to savings in operating costs. Many large companies have found that a centralized computing model provides the best TCO.

Over the past decade, many large IT companies have acquired an entire network of data centers. For example, the oldest global operator Cable & Wireless bought an American company in 2002 Digital company Island is the owner of 40 data centers around the world, and the European operator Interoute acquired the operator and hosting provider PSINet in 2005, connecting 24 data centers to its pan-European network.

The practice of applying risk-based approaches to doing business stimulates the use of data centers. Companies have begun to realize that investing in the uninterrupted operation of critical IT systems is much cheaper for many types of businesses than the possible damage from data loss as a result of a failure. The implementation of data centers is also facilitated by the adoption of laws requiring mandatory backup of IT systems, the emergence of recommendations for the use of an IT infrastructure outsourcing model, and the need to protect businesses from natural and man-made disasters.

Separate data centers began to occupy all b O larger territories. For example, information recently appeared that Google intends to build a large data center in Iowa with an area of ​​22.3 hectares, spending $600 million on it, which will start operating in the spring of 2009.

In Russia, the construction of data centers (in the modern sense of the term) began at the end of the last century - the beginning of the new century. One of the first large Russian data centers was the Sberbank Center. Today, many commercial structures have their own data centers (primarily financial organizations and large telecom operators).

At the same time, reputable Russian Internet companies already have several data centers. For example, in September of this year, a message appeared that Yandex had opened a new (already the fourth) data center with 3 thousand servers (occupied area - 2 thousand sq.m, supplied power - 2 MW). New complex equipped with precision cooling systems that allow you to remove up to 10 kW from the rack, uninterruptible power supplies and diesel generators. The data center is connected to the Moscow optical ring of Yandex, which connects other data centers and Yandex offices, as well as to M9 and M10 - traditional traffic exchange points with providers.

At the same time, the Russian operator Synterra announced the beginning of one of the most major projects(not only by Russian, but also by European standards) - the construction of a national network of own data centers. The project was called “40x40”. Having created large data centers in broadband network nodes in most regions of Russia, the operator intends to turn them into points for localizing customers and selling the entire range of services.

By mid-2009, newly created data centers will be opened in 44 centers of the constituent entities of the Federation. The first will be Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Samara and Chelyabinsk. The operator plans that the first 20 sites will be put into operation by the end of 2008, the rest by mid-2009. The integrators of the project are Croc, Technoserv A/S and Integrated Service Group (ISG).

The area of ​​each data center, depending on the needs of the region, will vary from 500 to 1000 sq.m. on a raised floor and accommodate 200-300 technological racks. Two rings of a common network must be connected to the data center throughput 4x10 Gbit/s channels, which will provide customers with a high level of redundancy and availability of services.

The “40x40” project is aimed at a wide range of clients who need to outsource IT infrastructure throughout the country - telecom operators, “network” corporate clients, content and application developers, IP-TV operators and television companies, as well as government agencies responsible for the implementation of national ICT programs.

In our country, not only commercial but also government agencies, such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Federal Tax Service, have their own data centers.

According to IDC, the number of data centers in the United States will reach 7 thousand by 2009 as companies transfer distributed computing systems to centralized ones.

Along with the construction of new data centers, the problem of modernizing old ones is on the agenda. According to Gartner, by 2009, 70% of data center equipment will no longer meet operational and performance requirements unless appropriate upgrades are made. The average time to update computer equipment in a data center is approximately three years. The data center infrastructure is designed taking into account a service life of about 15 years.

Purpose and structure of the data center

Depending on their purpose, modern data centers can be divided into corporate ones, which operate within a specific company, and data centers that provide services to third-party users.

For example, a bank may have a data center where information on transactions of its users is stored - it usually does not provide services to third-party users. Even if the data center does not provide such services, it can be separated into a separate organizational structure company and provide it with services for access to information services based on SLA. Many large companies have data centers of one kind or another, and international companies may have dozens of data centers.

The data center can also be used to provide professional IT outsourcing services for IT solutions on commercial terms.

All data center systems consist of the IT infrastructure itself and the engineering infrastructure that is responsible for maintaining optimal conditions for the functioning of the system.

IT infrastructure

A modern data processing center (DPC) includes a server complex, a data storage system, an operation system and a information security, which are integrated with each other and connected by a high-performance LAN (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. IT infrastructure of a modern data center

Let's consider the organization of a server complex and data storage system.

Server complex data center

The most promising model of a server complex is a model with a multi-level architecture, in which several groups of servers are distinguished (see Fig. 1):

• resource servers, or servers information resources, are responsible for storing and providing data to application servers; for example, file servers;
• application servers perform data processing in accordance with the business logic of the system; for example, servers running SAP R/3 modules;
• information presentation servers provide the interface between users and application servers; for example, web servers;
• service servers ensure the operation of other data center subsystems; for example, backup system management servers.

To servers different groups There are different requirements depending on their operating conditions. In particular, presentation servers are characterized by a large flow of short requests from users, so they must scale well horizontally (increasing the number of servers) to ensure load distribution.

For application servers, the requirement for horizontal scalability remains, but it is not critical. They require sufficient vertical scalability (the ability to increase the number of processors, volumes RAM and input/output channels) for processing multiplexed requests from users and executing the business logic of the tasks being solved.

Storage systems

The most promising solution for organizing a data storage system (SDS) is SAN (Storage Area Network) technology, which provides fault-tolerant server access to storage resources and allows reducing the total cost of ownership of IT infrastructure due to the possibility of optimal online management of server access to storage resources.

The storage system consists of information storage devices, servers, a management system and communication infrastructure that provides physical communication between the elements of the storage network (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. Data storage system based on SAN technology

This architecture allows for uninterrupted and secure data storage and data exchange between storage network elements.

The SAN concept is based on the ability to connect any server to any data storage device running via the Fiber Channel (FC) protocol. The technical basis of the SAN is made up of fiber optic connections, FC-HBAs and FC switches, currently providing transfer rates of 200 MB/s.

The use of SAN as the transport basis of a data storage system allows for dynamic reconfiguration (adding new devices, changing the configurations of existing ones and their maintenance) without stopping the system, and also ensures rapid regrouping of devices in accordance with changing requirements and rational use of production space.

The high speed of data transfer over the SAN (200 MB/s) allows you to replicate changing data in real time to a backup center or to remote storage. Convenient SAN administration tools make it possible to reduce the number of service personnel, which reduces the cost of maintaining the data storage subsystem.

Adaptive engineering infrastructure of the data center

In addition to the hardware and software complex itself, the data center must provide external conditions for its operation. Equipment located in the data center must operate around the clock under certain parameters environment, which require a range of reliable support systems to support.

A modern data center has more than a dozen different subsystems, including main and backup power, low-current, power and other types of wiring, climate control systems, fire safety, physical security, etc.

It is quite difficult to ensure optimal climatic conditions for equipment. It is necessary to remove a large amount of heat generated computer equipment, and its volume increases as the power of the systems and the density of their arrangement increases. All this requires optimization of air flows, as well as the use of cooling equipment. According to IDC, this year the cost of supplying data centers with electricity and cooling will exceed the cost of computer equipment itself.

The listed systems are interconnected, so the optimal solution can only be found if, when constructing it, we consider not individual components, but the infrastructure as a whole.

Design, construction and operation of a data center is a very complex and labor-intensive process. There are many companies offering necessary equipment- both computer and auxiliary, but to build an individual solution you cannot do without the help of integrators. A number of large domestic system integrators, such as IBS Croc OpenTechnologies, as well as specialized companies: DataDome, IntelinePro, etc., are engaged in the creation of data centers in Russia.

Data center and IT outsourcing

According to IDC, the global market for data center hosting services alone is growing very quickly and will reach $22-23 billion by 2009.

The most comprehensive IT outsourcing service is information systems outsourcing. It is provided under a long-term agreement under which the service provider receives full control the entire IT infrastructure of the client or a significant part of it, including equipment and software installed on it. These are projects with broad involvement of the contractor, which assume responsibility for systems, network and individual applications included in the IT infrastructure. Typically, IT infrastructure outsourcing is formalized through long-term contracts that last more than a year.

To create their own IT infrastructure from scratch, companies need large funds and highly paid specialists. Renting data center infrastructure allows you to reduce TCO by sharing resources between clients and provides access to the latest technologies, makes it possible to quickly deploy offices with the ability to expand resources. For many companies, the reliability of the uninterrupted operation of equipment and network infrastructure today is becoming a critical factor for the functioning of the business. Outsourcing of IT infrastructure allows you to ensure a high level of data reliability at a limited cost, providing clients with the opportunity to rent server racks and rack space to accommodate customer equipment (co-location), rent a dedicated server, licensed software, data transmission channels, and also receiving technical support.

The customer is freed from many procedures: technical support and administration of equipment, organizing round-the-clock security of premises, monitoring network connections, data backup, anti-virus software scanning, etc.

The data center can also provide outsourced application management services. This allows customers to use certified specialists, which guarantees a high level of service software products and provides an easy transition from one software to another with minimal financial costs.

In application outsourcing mode, data center clients can obtain outsourcing of email systems, Internet resources, data storage systems or databases.

By outsourcing their corporate systems for backup, customers reduce the risk of losing critical information by using professional systems restoration of the functionality of IT systems, and in the event of an accident, they receive the opportunity to insure information risks.

Typically, data center customers are offered multiple levels of business continuity. In the simplest case, this is the placement of backup systems in a data center with proper protection. In addition, there may be an option in which the client is also provided with the rental of software and hardware systems for reservation. The most complete version of the service involves the development of a full-scale system recovery plan in the event of a disaster (Disaster Recovery Plan, DRP), which involves an audit of the customer’s information systems, risk analysis, development of a disaster recovery plan, creation and maintenance backup copy systems, as well as the provision of equipped office space to continue work in the event of an accident in the main office.

Examples of commercial data centers

Stack Data Network Data Centers

The Stack Data Network unites three data centers built taking into account foreign experience.

Two of them (Stack data center and M1 data center) with a total capacity of 700 racks are located in Moscow, and the third (PSN data center) with a capacity of 100 racks is 100 km from the capital.

There are partnership agreements with a number of European data centers on the possibility of using their resources through the Stack Data Network.

Stack Data Network data centers provide a business continuity service - disaster recovery, as well as high-quality hosting: a collocation service - server placement (Fig. 3) and a dedicated server service (Fig. 4).

Rice. 3. Data Center Stack: server placement
(server collocation)

Rice. 4. Data center Stack: dedicated server rental

Data centers have autonomous power supply systems with uninterruptible power supplies and powerful diesel generator sets (Fig. 5), climate control and air conditioning systems (Fig. 6), round-the-clock monitoring systems for the condition of infrastructure elements and gas fire extinguishing systems. To ensure the reliability of life support systems, all systems are reserved according to the N+1 scheme. A special security regime is achieved through several access perimeters using individual plastic magnetic cards, a biometric access control system, a video surveillance system and motion sensors.

Rice. 5. Data Center Stack: Diesel Generator

Rice. 6. Data Center Stack: Liebert air conditioner

The Stack Data Network data center network has a 24-hour operation service (on-duty operators and specialists), including life support systems. There are round-the-clock monitoring systems for life support systems, telecommunications and server equipment, networks and the state of communication channels. Data centers are connected to the main telecommunications hubs in Moscow and interconnected by their own redundant fiber-optic communication lines.

Sun Microsystems Introduces New Data Center in a Box Concept The process of creating traditional data centers is very expensive and lengthy. To speed it up, Sun Microsystems proposed a solution called Blackbox. The Blackbox system is mounted in a standard-length shipping container that can accommodate up to 120 SunFire T2000 servers or up to 250 SunFire T1000 servers (2 thousand cores in total) or up to 250 SunFire x64 servers (1 thousand cores), as well as storage systems, capacity which can reach up to 1.5 PB on hard drives and up to 2 PB on tapes. Up to 30 thousand Sun Ray terminals can be connected to the container. The system runs Solaris 10. The equipment is placed very tightly in the container; there is simply no room for air circulation. Because of this, air cooling is extremely ineffective, so water cooling is used. According to SUN, placing equipment inside a shipping container can reduce the unit cost of computing power per unit area by five times compared to a conventional data center. The Blackbox solution is at least an order of magnitude cheaper than a traditional data center organization, while it provides multiple acceleration of the installation process. It should be noted that such a center cannot be implemented everywhere, since not every building can accommodate such a container. Sales of the ball's solution began this year.

Data center IBS DataFort

In 2001, IBS and Cable & Wireless announced the start of providing Russian and foreign companies comprehensive services according to the ASP scheme within the framework of the joint project DATA FORT based on the data center. A little later, DATA FORT began to live on its own, and in 2003, IBS announced the launch of its own DC, which belongs to a subsidiary of IBS - IBS DataFort. The IBS DataFort data center is focused on serving clients with critical requirements for confidentiality and data protection, provides a high degree of data availability, modern hardware and software, reliable power supply, high-speed data transmission channels and a high level of technical support. The perimeter has enhanced security (Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. Protected area of ​​the IBS DataFort data center

Inside the building there is a technical module with an area of ​​more than 130 sq.m., a two-story reserve office with an area of ​​about 150 sq.m., and an operator station. To prevent the risk of floods and fires, the technical module of the data center is built from steel sandwich panels and raised half a meter above the floor level (Fig. 8).

Rice. 8. Technical module IBS DataFort data center

The technical module is a fireproof, earthquake-resistant structure, equipped with a high-strength raised floor, waterproofing and grounding systems. The module is designed for 1500 Rack servers placed in 19-inch industrial APC racks.

The data center is equipped with an automatic gas fire extinguishing system, consisting of Fire Eater, Shrack and Inergen GOS equipment, light and sound alarms (warning about the release of gas and requiring you to leave the premises of the data center), as well as effective system smoke removal (Fig. 9).

Rice. 9. Data center fire extinguishing systems
IBS DataFort

The climate control system (Fig. 10) consists of industrial air conditioners with automatic maintenance of a set temperature in the region of 22±0.5 °C and humidity at 50±5%, switched on according to the N+1 scheme (if one of the air conditioners fails, the calculated the parameters of the entire system are not violated). The flow of fresh air from the street is carried out using a special installation that prevents dust from penetrating into the data center.

Rice. 10. Climate control system
IBS DataFort data center

IBS DataFort specializes in comprehensive IT outsourcing services, taking over all functions of the customer’s IT departments, and offers the following types of services:

• outsourcing of IT infrastructure - hosting the customer’s equipment or leasing data center infrastructure, ensuring the functionality of corporate information systems;
• application management - skilled administration and management of various applications;
• outsourcing of IT personnel - provision of qualified specialists to solve various IT problems;
• ensuring business continuity - organizing fault-tolerant solutions for restoring information systems after accidents and failures;
• IT consulting and audit - audit and inventory services in the field of IT, as well as the construction of industrial technologies for operating IT systems;
• functional outsourcing - management of individual IT functions according to agreed standards and approved service levels.

To begin with, let’s determine that the idea to build a data center not only came to the client, but also took hold, and the IT director, who needs to ensure the reliable functioning of business applications, understands that the time has come. Businesses understand that the risks of loss of profit are very high, reliable functioning of IT is required and they need to invest in a normal data center. Therefore, next we will talk about the process of creating a data center, not from a technical point of view, but from an organizational one.

So where to start? From an idea. And why not? The integrator here must play the role of a psychologist: come to the client and talk about what he ultimately wants to get from the data center. Two things are important here: do not formalize the process and do not get bogged down in details. Formalizing the process usually comes down to sending the client a bunch of questionnaires and tables. Of course, this should be done, but not at the first or second meeting. Therefore, it is better to break a large questionnaire into several small ones and transfer them to specialized specialists of the client company. Intensive questionnaires with a lot of technical details are usually simply not filled out, and the human factor is to blame. Alas, facts are stubborn things, and from my own experience I will say that a universal questionnaire, which includes everything, everything, everything, is filled out by no more than 1-3% of clients. Usually it looks like this: you send, a week or two of wasted time, you come and start talking. Live communication allows you to significantly save time, which usually doesn’t exist anyway: for some reason, the decision to build a data center is made “yesterday,” and the client usually spends a year thinking about how to build a data center in two months :).

Preliminary work with the client

The introductory meeting took place, and then - the work of the pre-sale specialists and key specialists of the client. It is important that the presale can speak two languages ​​- the language of financiers and the language of technical personnel. A presale is a kind of translator who is able to understand the client’s needs and assess how much the project will cost and whether it will be beneficial to the client. Moreover, such a specialist solves the dilemma by helping the client's team defend the budget of a calculated decision to the CFO. Calculation of indicators such as return on investment (ROI), total cost of ownership (TCO), internal norm profitability (IRR), payback period (PP), will allow top managers to justify why exactly 1 million is needed and 200 thousand is not enough, “so that the IT specialists calm down and play enough,” as well as take into account the peculiarities of financing and the stages of investment. Ideally, here the client needs to be presented with at least an enlarged investment plan to understand the finite costs of a data center and choose a model for its use: whether it will be your own data center, a rented commercial or cloud service. Usually for corporate client it will be some kind of hybrid, in which there will be all three types. In this case, the top manager understands the meaning of the whole idea, financial director— the finality of the costs, and the CIO — how much the data center will meet the needs of the business.

Another important detail at this stage is that you should not get too carried away with redundancy and the reliability factor. It often happens like this: the construction department chooses to duplicate sources of power supply and air conditioning. The IT department duplicates communication lines and IT equipment, business application specialists do synchronous replication and “hot duplication” of working nodes... As a result, the price goes through the roof, although each department individually did the right thing and worked out its area to the maximum extent possible responsibility. Therefore, when comparing budgeting options and describing the concept, you need to rely specifically on a comparison of turnkey options. In addition, we should not forget that, other things being equal, two Tier III sites will always be more reliable than Tier IV, because in this case the cost of external risks decreases.

Site selection

It would be good for the client to understand a simple truth: at this stage, the integrator’s help is needed, perhaps, more than during design. After all, it is often the architecture of the building and site that requires technical solutions from designers, which are not always economically justified and lead to exceeding the budget.

Particular attention should be paid to the following issues:

1. Communications supply.

Here it is worth paying special attention not just to the possibilities of supplying communications, but to the cost of the turnkey project. Very often there is a technical possibility, but there is a cost one... Either low-current sewers need to be dug or rented, or you need to install your own transformer substation (TS) and start with 10 kV. Therefore, you should not be tempted by conversations and promises until there are valid technical specifications for connection. They will at least ensure that costs do not increase within a time period (usually one year). Separately, it is advisable to inspect the independence of power inputs. As practice shows, there is a high probability of getting an unpleasant surprise during this procedure: finding out, for example, that two inputs come from the same substation. Via communication channels: keep in mind that there should be several of them and it is advisable to route them along different routes. Dark fiber is ideal, but extremely expensive. Dial-up communication lines that run between different providers are cheap but cheerful: in the event of an accident, downtime can be unpredictable. Therefore, the golden mean is a communication channel from one provider who owns the entire network from point A to point B (this is especially true for the connection between the main and backup data centers).

2. Data center location.

There are several important points:

A) Plan for bringing in large items equipment. It is important to understand that the equipment must not only be brought in, and it, of course, must fit through the doorways, but also turned around, loaded and removed from the cart.

b) The presence of sufficient load on the floor and wall structures. Needless to say, the equipment doesn’t just need to be brought in and installed – it also needs to be transported. Therefore, we pay attention to the load-bearing capacity of the floors along the transportation routes (failed raised floors, crushed tiles, etc. will not add convenience at all to operation when the data center is already built). Finally, an architectural expertise of the building “for today” is required. Often it exists, but it’s 15 years ago. Of course, you can extrapolate and guess from the tea leaves, but the cost of the risks is much higher than the cost of such an examination. As for the walls, it is important here how much can be loaded on them, because cable racks and hanging panels when designing to save space are easier to hang on the wall.

V) Room height. Don’t forget that in the data center it is necessary not only to install cabinets, but also to make multi-story cable routes for electricity and low current, so there is no excess height. Especially if you are planning cabinet air conditioners with exhaust under a raised floor - the solution is simple, inexpensive and, with proper calculation, allows you to remove up to 15 kW from the cabinet (in theory, more is possible, but it’s a pity for the volume of the room). So what value should you focus on? Empirics showed: 4.5 meters. But certainly not less than three meters.

G) Presence of a security post nearby. This will at least reduce the cost of organizing round-the-clock security and simplify the task of promptly responding to emergency situations(paradoxically, no automation can be effective if event triggers and procedures for automation systems are not described). Otherwise, you will have to equip not just a room for people, but also think about life support systems for them (ventilation, sewerage, heating, lighting, etc.).

d) Organization of access to the data center. Is it possible for a road train to have direct access to the data center gates? Is it possible to organize unloading directly from the trailer into the building?

f) If there is already a transformer substation and it is planned to increase the power, attention should be paid special attention condition and cross-section of the supplied high-voltage cable and the presence of transit connections for other powerful neighbors. Otherwise, the client risks facing the fact that unscheduled work may be carried out on his territory to repair the high-voltage route with excavation of the territory. This is also true for other transit communications, so it is imperative to have an up-to-date master plan, otherwise you may encounter unpleasant situations already at the implementation stage - when an excavator, according to the classics of the genre, breaks the communication cable (or even worse - 10 kV).

and) Soils and their composition. Possession of this information will allow you to understand how to organize grounding (how deep to drive the pins and how many of them will be needed) and protect fuel and lubricant storage tanks from corrosion. Particular attention should be paid to this point if the object is located in an industrial zone, where the soil may be chemically active.

Interaction between the integrator and client teams

We won’t duplicate the PMBook – let’s focus on the main points. The appointment of people allocated by the integrator and the client must be secured by orders with appropriate clear documentation, which will indicate their areas of influence and responsibility. It is extremely useful for the project manager from the integrator’s side to create a project charter and, at the very first meeting, fix the responsibility matrix (often, as happens: some people make decisions, and others are responsible for these decisions). This matrix should also list the contact details of each participant so that they can be easily contacted. On the one hand, there is the argument that “we need to hurry, there is no time to waste time on nonsense.” But the project charter is quite a useful thing. It fixes the format of documents that will be exchanged between participants, the frequency of meetings, and the procedure for coordinating decisions made. A good project charter is a document that can be given to a new team member, and after reading it, they will be able to fully engage in the work, knowing their role in the process.

Key points to focus on:

1. Find the right people, define real roles in the project. How to find the right person? The answer is simple. Try to mentally remove it - will anything change? If not, this person is not needed. A data center project does not require a large permanent team, so it is better not to include more than 5-7 people on each side in the core team.

2. A person resists change until he feels safe. Therefore, it should not be surprising that, as a rule, the team of people on the client side is more conservative. This is normal, because their task is not just to build a data center, but also to live with it, which is why any revolutionary solutions are met with caution: the product is raw, there are no failure statistics, it is not clear what it is like in operation... This does not mean that new products are not are worth implementing - their implementation will simply require more detailed elaboration, including with the client.

3. Available channels for delivering bad news. Controversial point, but it is necessary, and especially in the integrator team. Often a project manager learns about this news when nothing can be changed, and what happened can be accepted as a fact, although many knew about it, but hid it, hoping that “maybe it will be resolved.”

4. Formal programs aimed at improving the existing process (all possible certifications of specialists, personnel assessment) will cost the team a lot in both time and money. And even if an improvement does occur, it is unlikely to cover the costs. The data center project is quite complex in organizational plan due to the large number of milestones and key points of connection between these milestones. Therefore, training, development of configurators, templates, etc. is the kind of work that can load up key team specialists at the most inopportune moment and delay work on the critical path.

5. The more complex the project, the more time is spent on design and less time on commissioning. Unfortunately, design in the post-Soviet space is a contrast: either it is the old Soviet school, when design is carried out fundamentally, slowly and without reference to financial costs, or it is the complete antipode of the Soviet school - a commercial approach, where drawing up specifications and quick procurement with subsequent installation on site (“somehow the guys themselves will figure it out later”). Taking into account domestic realities, the client is always in a hurry, and he needs a data center “yesterday”: at the design stage they always want to compress the deadlines. We can talk for a long time about the incorrectness of this approach, but the reasonable maximum on how to speed up this process is to develop a concept and preliminary design for a two-stage design (or an approved part for a single-stage design), coordination with the customer and purchase of large-scale equipment with a long delivery period. Materials and smaller components can be detailed in working drawings, which will go into installation. In this case, the design period is the same, but the delivery of materials will be carried out earlier, and accordingly, the implementation period of the data center will be significantly reduced.

6. People won't think faster if management puts pressure on them. The more overtime, the lower labor productivity (only short-term after-hours work). You don't need to do this all the time. The most difficult stages are the initial and final ones. At the beginning, it is important to quickly decompose tasks, load all specialists with initial data and begin work, at the end - to have time to synchronize everything before the end of the processes and complete the project on time. Constant rework indicates either an unbalanced team or bad project management, or about unrealistic deadlines.

7. A specification that does not list incoming and outgoing information should not even be taken into account. Therefore, working according to someone else's specification or specification considered "one well-known company“, it’s not worth it if there is no understanding of what technical specifications were set. General advice for a project manager on the client’s side: before ordering a project from a third-party company and then holding a tender for implementation, ask the question: who will act as a quality auditor for such a project? Wouldn't this be a waste of time and money? General advice for the project manager from the integrator side: do not console yourself with the thought that you will simply put prices in the specifications of someone else's project, and all the risk will fall on the shoulders of the client. This is not so, because, most likely, in the contract the client will want to receive not a calculation for the installation of materials, but a working system that would have a number of parameters. This means that the integrator performing the implementation will still be responsible.

8. If a large team is involved in a project, this reduces the efficiency of the most important part of the work - defining the concept of the data center (after all, everyone needs to be given work quickly), which leads to a loss of independence within the team, an increase in the number of meetings and conferences. Therefore, adhere to the following principle: first a small team, after the concept - connecting new players. Very often I have seen 30-40 people come to the first meeting, try to discuss everything at once, break into groups, discuss something and... leave. After this, during the formation of a common protocol, a confrontation arises - and everyone gathers again. And so on ad infinitum. Identify key employees (on the client’s side this is usually the IT Director, on the integrator’s side - the Project Manager), and involve the rest as needed. Empirically, the optimal group with which you can still resolve issues is a group of up to 10 people.

9. The project must have two deadlines - planned and desired. And they don't have to match. Both the client’s data center project manager and the integrator’s representative must understand this. As a rule, they report to the top about the completion date of the project, and since the data center is still the basis for deploying business services, it can happen that completely independent projects are connected, while none of the project teams won't know about it. For example, equipment will be ordered and a request will be submitted for the travel of foreign specialists for its commissioning. At the same time, the data center has not yet been launched, the equipment has not been put into operation, and specialists have already arrived for commissioning - the company is suffering losses, and as a result, deadlines are missed...

Design

Before you start designing, you need to decide terms of reference(TOR) and agree it with the client. Although this should be done by the client, I will express my humble opinion: this should still be done by the integrator together with the client. Why? Yes, because the integrator is more competent: he has more experience and sometimes more understanding of what the client needs. In the technical specifications, it is necessary to record not general phrases (such as “the air conditioning system must maintain the temperature in the server room within the limits recommended by the manufacturer of the IT equipment”), but specifics, for example: ensure the air temperature at the air intakes of the IT equipment in the cabinet within +20...24 °C around the clock at any time of the year.

It is important to fix two key quantities in the technical specification: the number of stages and the power of IT equipment at the first stage. I have repeatedly observed how, with a calculated PUE of 1.4-1.7 at the first stage, it was equal to two or three precisely for the reason that the first stage of IT equipment was 1/10 of what was indicated in the technical specifications. If you have a specification of IT equipment and an understanding of the stages of its purchase that you plan to install, do not be lazy and arrange it in racks. Then there will be an understanding of how much power per rack is actually required, how many ports of the structured cabling system (SCS) and which ones will be needed, what power connectors will be required on the power distribution units in the cabinets.

Next, the general concept is worked out: layout of premises, placement of large-unit equipment, passages, equipment service areas. The following problem often arises: there is a power of 1000 kW from a transformer substation (TS) - how to divide it? We divide simply: usually PUE is 1.6-1.8. Accordingly, we set PUE 1.6 to initial stage for IT equipment, we leave the power at 625 kW, for the rest of the equipment (which is mainly air conditioning) - 375 kW. Next, we calculate the zones of IT cabinets. Do not forget that it is highly desirable to physically separate the input room, the server area, rack Hi-End (since they often need a specific cooling organization, which may differ from the typical one in the server room) and the switching area (the power of which is usually much lower than that of the server room) zones).

After we have an understanding of the concept of the air conditioning system, we connect the electricians by giving them the master list of pantographs for IT, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Now you can draw a single-line diagram and calculate a diesel generator power plant.

If the air conditioning project provides for a raised floor, then its height is calculated and not chosen arbitrarily. Raised floor tiles play the role of a coordinate grid, so linking all cabinets to the grid is mandatory - this is necessary to ensure free lifting of tiles in the passages between equipment and access to the raised floor space. It is also worth considering the normal width of the passage not only between cabinets, panels, air conditioners and other equipment, but also to comply with the requirements specified in regulatory documents, between open doors and a wall or other cabinet, thereby ensuring safety and convenient installation/dismantling of equipment.

Access control, alarm and fire extinguishing systems are calculated when there is an understanding of the required number of premises. For an automatic fire extinguishing system, the presence of a raised floor, insulation of corridors and false ceilings are also important. When the arrangement of rows of cabinets and aisles between them appears, you can begin designing a video surveillance system. After this, taking into account the class of visual work and the requirements of the previous system, lighting is designed.

Monitoring and automation systems are designed at the final stage, since the initial data for these systems are calculated based on the design solutions of all previous systems.

Implementation

The implementation process can vary greatly depending on the architecture, but in general the process flow is approximately as follows:

1. Work for the reconstruction of premises, moving/building walls, making openings for the passage of communications, widening doorways, performing external work on laying cable channels, pouring the foundation for diesel generators and fuel storage tanks, laying fuel pipelines, laying external communications to the data center building, performing grounding and lightning protection. If necessary, perform electromagnetic shielding of the server room.

2. Installation of fastenings for external units, ventilation ducts, chiller unloading frames, laying of internal cable channels, laying of coolant routes, cables, marking and installation of raised floor pedestals, cladding of the external facade.

3. Installation of raised floor slabs, installation of internal air conditioning units, installation of cabinets, installation of panels and UPS in the panel room, installation of diesel generator sets.

4. Installation of SCS, installation of AGP, access control system, video surveillance, lighting, monitoring equipment and automation.

5. Carrying out measurements, testing, startup of engineering systems equipment, commissioning.

Commissioning and service

Upon commissioning, the integrator must transfer to the client all documentation, operating manuals and instructions for personnel. It is also important to instruct personnel so that employees of the client company can independently operate the installed systems. On the client’s side, it is important to appoint those responsible - otherwise, the instruction will have to be carried out many times, and the usefulness of this will tend to zero.

When it comes to service, there may be options. It could be self-service Data center by client staff. The disadvantages are obvious: the need to employ specialists with the required qualifications. The second option is to have each system serviced by a specialized company. In this case, the client will only need to follow the maintenance regulations, but will have to independently resolve service-related issues, if any arise. For example, if a problem arises with the use of several systems, you will need to act as a mediator in resolving the issue between several organizations, which will also require some experience from the person who will supervise service, or engaging an external auditor. The third option is the easiest for the client, but it may turn out to be more expensive: outsourcing service support to an integrator with expertise. In this case, all risks on related issues fall on the shoulders of one organization.

The question of the need for SLA is not so clear: if the data center is designed correctly and the systems have reserves, then SLA is a cost that is not always justified. The only option that can justify them is complete outsourcing of data center maintenance, when the client does not use its specialists at all to monitor the viability of the data center.

In conclusion, the data center is an excellent example of a complex project that needs to be implemented in as soon as possible without the right to mistakes and alterations. Spend more time on design and studying risks, and it will pay off handsomely during commissioning and commissioning, and will also save a lot of nerves and money during implementation. Remember that a data center is not just a cost. This is a way to save money on business losses and increase the company's capitalization. A reasonable approach to budgeting when designing a data center and protecting it will allow you to return this money after a certain period of time. With the right approach and understanding of the “road map” of the data center construction project, this is easy to do.

Konstantin Kovalenko

Data processing center (DPC)– a single multicomponent system that is designed to ensure uninterrupted automated operation of business processes. Data processing centers are created primarily to increase the productivity of companies that actively use information Technology, as well as to improve the quality of services provided.

To store and process large amounts of information, specialized technical solutions, powerful servers, and disk storage are used. Create and maintain such technical systems doing it yourself is quite difficult and expensive: maintaining servers requires special technical conditions, separate premises and qualified personnel. One of the main purposes of data centers is precisely to create suitable conditions for the placement of such technical solutions.

Business benefits

Creating multi-component systems that solve most business problems greatly reduces enterprise costs. In particular, for companies with geographically distributed infrastructure, this is an indispensable solution, since 1-2 employees servicing the data center successfully replace many people working in offices in the regions. Subsequently, many entrepreneurs began to think about purchasing data centers due to the need to integrate a large amount of information. The risk of losing certain information irretrievably has become very high and has led to certain costs for information recovery. In addition, there were risks of deprivation of part of the income due to downtime for various reasons. That is, thanks to its unique features, the data center ensures effective uninterrupted operation of any organization.

The advantage of a data center is that a person or company can, from anywhere on the planet, using any network access device, work with the necessary and sufficient computing power, the required amount of memory, and all the necessary software that will run and be stored on servers in the data center.

Traditional services in data centers: rack rental, server placement, Internet connection, communication channel rental, installation, software configuration, administration. Currently, they have been supplemented by the provision of rental computing power, virtual servers, disk space for data backup, and application rental.

• Reliability of information storage. Moreover, this reliability is confirmed both by the architecture laid down at the design stage and by subsequent operation. Interesting fact, that with a detailed comparison of the cost of ownership information system located on the customer’s premises (usually a business center) and in a data center, quite comparable figures are obtained, which cannot be said about comparing the reliability of these methods.

• Reducing time costs for implementing new projects in the IT field. When working in a data center, companies independently choose the services they want to receive. The most popular options are renting a rack, unit, ready-made server, virtual server and data backup. But besides this, there are a number of other services that tenant companies can use if necessary, which will significantly save time on launching a new IT project. For example, this is the rental of applications, which allows you to avoid large-scale investments at the initial stage of work. An example is the rental of 1C accounting - to deploy a ready-made system suitable for work, you just need to order and pay for such a service in a data center. At the same time, often, at the customer’s office there is no need to buy, install or configure anything except Internet access.

• Reducing the cost of renting premises. This may include the cost of electricity, office space used for server rooms, and maintenance of your own cooling systems and uninterruptible power supply devices. By the way, equipment purchased for the office becomes the fixed assets of the enterprise, and property tax is charged on them.

• Organization of continuous work of the head office with company branches throughout the country. access to work information regardless of the employee’s location. For example, a company manager can, while on vacation, check work email and contact his employees via IP telephony.

• The possibility of creating a reserve office for the organization if for some reason work in the main office is impossible, but it is necessary to obtain important information and complete the project

reducing the cost of purchasing applications. To enhance competitive positions Data center owners are developing a new range of services that can be offered to tenants.

The first to use data processing centers in their work were large foreign companies. They were followed by Russian entrepreneurs. In the Russian Federation in 2000-2001, the first owners of data centers appeared. The pioneer was Sberbank of Russia. It is he who is the most geographically distributed organization. That is, the need to create integration of numerous data was high. Later, large oil companies also acquired their own data centers.

Types of Data Centers

Depending on the purpose, there are three different types of data centers, each of which is designed for a specific enterprise model and has its own operational tasks and problems:

• corporate data centers;
• hosting data centers providing computer infrastructure as a service (IaaS);
• data centers using Web 2.0 technology.

Below are the parameters that may vary significantly depending on the different types data centers:

• type of traffic (internal, external or mixed);
• use of Layer 2 (L2) and/or Layer 3 (L3) to control traffic in the center or at the periphery (Top of Rack);
• data storage technology;
• server virtualization level;
• total size of the data center (by number of servers).

Creation and modernization of data centers

Data Center Components

Traditional data center

Mandatory components included in the data center can be divided into three main groups:

1. Technical components. They create conditions for efficient work center. These include:

• server complex, includes servers for information resources, applications, information presentation, as well as service servers
• data storage and backup system – the core of the data center. It consists of consolidating disk arrays, a storage network, a backup and disaster recovery system
• The network infrastructure ensures interaction between servers, combines logical levels and organizes communication channels. It includes highways for communication with operators public access, telecommunications that provide connection between users and data centers
• Data center engineering system supports the conditions for normal functioning center. It includes subsystems for power supply, climate control, fire alarm and fire extinguishing, data transmission, as well as automated systems dispatching, information resource management
• The security system prevents unauthorized intrusion into areas of confidential information. It consists of security equipment, a warning system and an access control system

2. Software . These are actually data center infrastructure services and software for the correct operation of business processes necessary for a specific organization. Infrastructure components include:

• server operating systems;
• database software;
• workstation operating systems;
• clustering tools;
• backup tools;
• storage device programs;
• server and workstation administration tools;
• inventory tools;
• office software;
• e-mail;
• Internet browsers.

Programs responsible for the functioning of business processes include:

• business applications;
• basic corporate information services;
• collaboration applications;
• industry components;
• software for solving problems of the design and technological plan of the system electronic archive and project management;
• programs that provide file, print, directory services and other application tasks.

3. Organizational environment resolves issues related to the provision of IT services. It must comply with requirements for the provision of IT services, such as ISO/IEC 20000. Here are:

• service delivery processes, that is, the quality and availability of services;
• processes of relationships between supplier and client, as well as with contractors;
• processes for solving problems that arise during the functioning of any of the system components;
• configuration management processes, monitoring and control of the status of the IT infrastructure, inventory, verification and registration of configuration items, collection and management of documentation, provision of information about the IT infrastructure for all other processes;
• change management processes, that is, determining the necessary changes and how to carry them out with the least risk to IT services, as well as consulting and coordinating actions with the organization as a whole;
• release processes, that is, joint testing and introduction into active operation of the organization of a number of configuration units.

Software Data Center

In a software data center, we implement the entire environment in the form software modules in virtual machines – virtual appliance. The idea is that only servers and switches are physically used. Everything else is implemented in the form of virtual machines - virtual appliance.

In the world of service providers, this technology is known and even standardized under the name NFV - Network Function Virtualization - network function virtualization. Only there it is used to provide services and, accordingly, a lot of attention is paid to orchestration and management tools, integration with OSS systems, which allows you to automate the process of creating services for each subscriber. In a corporate data center, the composition of services does not need to be changed so often; the level of automation may be significantly lower, but transferring all network functions to virtual machines still provides significant advantages.