Colocation Facility Cooling System Considerations

Most companies know to find a colocation facility that has good Internet service and Internet provider and carrier options. However, cooling systems are often overlooked. Most servers now are made to operate at normal office conditions, which mean that two environmental factors should be met:

• The temperature should stay between 72° F and 76° F
• The humidity should be between 45% and 60%, with 45% ideal
• Cooling units must be on continuously, so servers will not overheat (this precludes standard HVAC units).

If the cooling system goes down, it can cause the equipment to overheat, causing the network to go down and even damaging equipment. Colocation facility cooling systems include three areas: the facility layout, chillers, and computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units.

Facility Layout
Servers generate heat as they run. This is generally blown out the back of the server by fans; cool air is taken in through vents at the front. Server racks and rows should be laid out to manage hot air coming from the servers and conditioned air going to their intakes by designating “hot rows,” which face the server fans, and “cold rows,” which face the intakes. Designated hot and cold rows keep air circulating in the best directions to keep servers from overheating.

Facility Design
There are two kinds of building design for colocation facilities: raised floor and solid floor. Raised floor was the preferred structure when servers were towers because the mesh flooring allowed air conditioned air to blow from the bottom directly across their intakes. However, since servers are stacked in racks, cold air must reach the tops of the racks to cool machines. Solid floor facilities are a better option. The facility should take into account the following:

• Solid floor designs must have mesh front and rear doors for th server cabinets to allow hot air to escape.
• For raised floor designs, cold air must have enough air pressure to force air to the top of the server cabinets. Ideally, special duct work will be in place to force the airflow upward.
• For raised floors, server cabinets should not have vents in the doors that would let cool air escape.

Chiller Systems
Chillers pipe water or water/glycol coolants through the CRAC units. Chiller systems include pumps, pipes, and the chillers themselves. The following points should be considered to make sure that the system is adequate to cool the facility:

• Sufficient capacity
• Backup units for the pumps and chillers which switch over automatically
• Regular maintenance

CRAC Units
CRAC units are massive, dedicated air conditioners which manage temperature and humidity. They have many parts and are complicated – meaning failures can be common. The CRAC units should be well maintained, but the most important thing is redundancy. Redundancy is determined by the overall capacity of the CRAC units; there should be enough units that even with a failure, the facility will still be adequately cooled. As with chillers, capacity for CRAC units is determined by tons per square foot.

Verify Capacity
Capacity is determined by the ratio of tons per square foot. To determine whether a system has sufficient capacity, divide the total tonnage of the units by the square footage of the building. If there are four 30-ton CRAC units in a 4,000 square foot facility, then the CRAC capacity is .030 tons per square foot (120 tons / 4,000 square feet). The ideal ratio of tons to square feet for the CRAC system is .030 ton/square foot or higher; the ratio should not be below .025 tons/square foot. This same formula is used for chiller systems, with the same ideal ratios.

It is important to look for a colocation facility that has Internet provider options and backup power systems. Equally important is a facility with the right design, chillers, and CRAC units to cool the server room. Keeping equipment from overheating will keep networks up and makes equipment last longer. Like Internet connections, network uptime, and power backups, cooling systems signify a quality colocation facility.

American Internet Services is the premier San Diego colocation service provider with state-of-the-art Internet data center technology. http://www.colocation.ccccom.com

Colocation and Disaster Recovery Facilities

How valuable is your data? Does it mean the world to you? If yes, your worst nightmare is probably loss of all or part of the data. And if just the thought of that makes you cringe, it’s time you educated yourself about the existence of disaster recovery options and how collocating your data can save you a lot of headache and financial loss.

There are many reasons you could be faced with a disastrous situation. Especially if you are in the IT sector and/or if most of your data resides in electronic format. If you depend on computers for storing, accessing and using your data, you are potentially at risk. Some of the main reasons you could face a disaster of data loss are:

• Deformity in the firmware

   

• Tampered tape

   

• Undesirable formatting of hard disk drive

   

• Logical failure

   

• Dropping of a storage device

   

• Disturbed semiconductor

While these examples are mostly hardware related issues, there are also similar problems that could develop due to software problems. So how do you safeguard your data and the business that runs off of it?

There are many companies out there who specialize in safeguarding your data at remote locations and in a variety of ways. There are two main ways of safeguarding your data:

• Data Loss Prevention is perhaps the surest disaster recovery service. This method emphasizes the creation of a back-up system to prevent future data loss. That means your business has minimal downtime and continuous operation of critical business systems.

   

• Creating a warm or hot site away from your existing physical setup and colocating your equipment in a data center can ensure that even in the case of a physical disaster, your time taken to get back up and running is minimal.

Data centers have all your data stored and can have it ready for use soon after a problem is detected. These are critical especially for small and medium-sized IT set-ups. Roughly, they can be divided into:

• Cold sites: These are essentially empty areas that allow you to set-up your equipment and start operations again. These sites offer no recovery options, just storage.

   

• Warm sites: The main difference between these and cold sites is that they offer basic communication equipment for plug-in connectivity. Some back-up equipment like servers and storage are also available to begin work on restoration.

   

• Hot sites: These are the duplicate data centers with all the necessary equipment and connectivity you would need to switch over and go ‘live' almost instantaneously after a disaster has occurred. In most cases, this option will serve you the best, although the costs of using this are just as high.

Some of the main benefits of using outsourced colocation facilities are:

• No need for capital investment in realty

   

• No need to invest huge sums in a data center facility, you pay only for the resources you use

   

• You can remote manage the back-up servers as well

   

• Huge bandwidth cost savings

   

• Dedicated technical support to take care of your data

In a lot of cases, you can procure your own server and send it for set-up at the facility saving costs on procurement of minimal hardware.

The most important part of your company’s disaster recovery solution is going to be your disaster recovery plan. Having the process documented and tested is the only way to ensure that in the event of a disaster you will be sure to be back up and running with minimal downtime.

John Tourloukis is the founder of Fast PC Networks, we provide Colocation and Disaster Recovery Services

The Facts of Colocation Hosting

Colocation Hosting

Collocation hosting is a recent buzzword in technological breakthroughs. Collocation is best defined as the process of locating of equipment in another location. On the contrary the client in alternative locations defines collocation hosting as the location of personal servers – usually the collocation is of high-end data center. This data center is invariably a packaged composition and this process of collocation hosting includes the likes of – a high speed internet connection, space, highest level of security, regulated air temperature and professionally managed server solutions to name a few. Collocation. The collocation service providers could come in different hues which could extend from space service providers who rent space in the data centers and are companies in their own right, the data center owners or even those who are collocation resellers and not even located on site.

The Collocation Hosting Option

Collocation hosting of services by self may not be the simplest of procedures but they are invariably accompanied by innumerable advantages. The collocation hosting service providers would enable the client to benefit from the data center’s security, network and environment at all times. This collocation of hosting services is done at the state of art high-end data centers and need to focus on numerous factors if they are to be a success story. The start up operations would depend on the number of servers that need to be collocated, the bandwidth service providers, the business strategy being adopted and the location of data center of choice – these and more would determine the start up costs of the project.

Service Profiling

A visit to a few data centers could be very informative – a commonality factor which is visible in all data centers is what is known as the ‘rack’ and this rack is important for the collocation service hosting provider charges a monthly rental for the rack space used. The servers in data centers are stored in cabinets, which in turn are stored on racks. The collocation hosting follows a few protocols which are fundamental to the collocation hosting services and need to well comprehended by all collocation hosting services user at best – the upkeep and maintenance of the servers is the sole responsibility of the user and not the collocation hosting services provider and the cost of the high speed internet is borne by the user and not the service provider.

Evaluation Protocol

The choice of an ideal data center is not by cost – rather it is by the quality of the data center. The data center of choice needs to adhere to a set protocol which will include – high end security, fast internet connectivity, environment, power backup and fire protection measures to name a few. The collocation hosting service providers selection then is more than merely selecting a high end data center – it is rather a combination of numerous factors the most important – other than the selection of a data center – being flexibility and control which is best exhibited by the freedom to select the software and the hardware configuration of choice.

You can visit http://www.colocationamerica.com David can be reached by phone: 323-933-9291

Advantages of Data Center Colocation

In today’s fiercely competitive environment, any business – small, medium or large – can succeed only if it maintains business continuity, which in turn, is mostly dependent on automated data handling systems. In the wake of recent natural and other calamities, companies have increased their investments in highly secure storage and retrieval systems for their data.

For companies whose core business is not IT, it makes better business sense to outsource the storage and maintenance of these systems. This strategy allows them to save time and money while harnessing the power of IT as a force multiplier for their core business.

What is a data center? A data center is simply a room that facilitates the storage and management, of servers and other computing equipment of any company in a precision-controlled environment. But for small and medium businesses, an in-house data center is an expensive proposition in many ways:

• High initial investment in space and equipment

   

• High day-to-day

  management costs

   

• Hiring and retaining personnel to maintain

  the data center

   

• High cost of upgrading technology and acquiring

  newer services

In this scenario, it becomes far more economical to outsource this service to a colocation data center.

What is colocation? A colocation (also known less popularly as ‘co-location’) data center is a facility where the servers and other computing equipment belonging to different companies share space. Each company’s equipment is physically secured in a wire cage or cabinet with high security locking systems.

Why colocation? Colocation offers businesses several advantages with regard to time and money.

• You don't have to worry about recurring capital costs if you

  are upgrading since you can rent more space (or give up space if you are

  downsizing)

   

• You are saved the expense of hiring and training

  your own personnel to operate and maintain your systems. If you have to

  upgrade, having your own personnel means additional training costs or paying

  outside consultants.

Who uses colocation data centers? The answer is: almost any company whose business continuity is dependent on smooth access to flow of data and for whom system downtime is not an option.

• Web-based e-commerce companies use the colocation data center facilities

  to ensure a safe environment for their equipment, plus economical and redundant

  connections to the Internet

   

• Major non-IT entrepreneurs use the facility for economic data storage and

  management, as well as safety from disasters

   

• Telecommunication companies use colocation data center facilities to exchange

  traffic with other telcos and also to provide reliable access to potential

  clients

Facilities at Colocation Data Centers Colocation data centers offer physical space on lease to customers for housing their servers and other computing devices. You install your servers and/or other telecommunication equipment in the physical space leased from the data center. The leased space is typically comprised of either full cabinets or portions of a cabinet measured in Rack Units or RU (1RU corresponds to 1.75 vertical inches of space). Much larger spaces, like a caged section of a room or complete private rooms or suites, are also available depending on your requirements.

 

All leased space is supported by:

• Precision-controlled air-conditioning systems

  with incorporated redundancy

   

• 24x7 power back-up systems for all equipment to

  ensure zero downtime or minimal disruption in operations due to power failure

   

• High-capacity, reliable power generators

   

• State-of-the-art fire detection and suppression systems to guard against

  potential losses due to fire

   

• Sophisticated onsite security through surveillance cameras and advanced

  biometric systems to prevent unauthorized entry

   

• Networking equipment including state-of-the-art, fully redundant high-end

  switches and routers, BGP4 routing for optimal path selection and full redundancy,

  etc

Most colocation centers also offer SLAs (service level agreements) to support a host of computer and networking services like server reboots, software updates, hardware repairs / replacements, disaster recovery, etc.

 

Advantages of colocation

• Financial Gains: Small and medium companies have a lot

  to gain by opting for colocation. For one, there is an enormous amount of

  money to be saved (between 25%-75%) on infrastructure, technology and human

  resources. This leaves them free to concentrate on their core business areas.

   

• Better Connectivity: Acquiring and maintaining a T1 line

  or a fiber optic line to connect your networks is an expensive proposition.

  Moreover, if your ISP turns out to be unreliable, you could lose valuable

  business. Provisioning a T1 or fiber optic line at a colocation data center

  is economical and most centers support multiple ISPs through fiber optic

  lines or VSAT. Also, colocating mission critical servers at data centers

  with fully redundant network connections ensures that business critical applications

  will always run smoothly.

   

• Easy disaster recovery: Data centers also create disaster

  recovery sites. In the event of a snag with the primary server, the entire

  network automatically switches to an alternate mirrored site within a few

  minutes. So outsourcing disaster recovery also costs much less than what

  it would to set it up in-house.

   

• Improved Network security: Most data centers offer state-of-the-art

  network security, including fully updated firewalls / IDS applications to

  detect and prevent unauthorized intrusions into their clients' systems. They

  employ qualified technical personnel with certifications like CCNA and MCSE

  to monitor the networks 24X7 and alert clients of any potential trouble.

In the wake of disasters like 9/11 and other natural disasters, depending on a single office to keep business-critical applications running is risky. Most companies are now taking steps to plan for such events by implementing a disaster recovery plans that include colocation facilities inside internet data centers. Data centers provide the best data management, system maintenance and up-to-date security services without the issues that accompany owning and operating a similar facility.

By utilizing collocation services in a data center facility, you will realize an immediate benefit in terms of costs saving and improved redundancy.

John Tourloukis is the founder of Fast PC Networks, we provide Colocation and Disaster Recovery Services

 

Choosing A Reliable Colocation Facility

There are no industry standards to designate a good colocation facility, but key areas can help identify one: power, cooling, Internet connection, and service. Good colocation facilities offer reliability through redundancy, maintenance, and service, meaning more uptime for networks and longer equipment lifetimes. Ask questions, be prepared to research answers, and look for the facility that meets the needs of their customers.

Power A good colocation facility will have a power system with backup units not only for the generator, but also the universal power supplies (UPS) and transfer switches or circuit breakers.

• UPSs run the servers while power switches from regular electricity to generators. Regardless of quality, UPSs fail regularly, so facilities must have multiple UPSs running sufficiently below capacity to manage the total server load if one fails. Transfer switches or circuit breakers switch power to the generators.
• Circuit breakers are more dependable than transfer switches, but it is important to have a backup for either system so that power can be transferred regardless of equipment failure.
• As the primary source of power during an outage, the generator must be large enough to handle 1.5 times the total building load. If there are multiple generators, the colocation facility must be able to transfer the load between generators, otherwise a failure could disable all generators.

Cooling An overlooked consideration for uptime and equipment maintenance is cooling. All servers generate heat yet are designed to operate at room temperature, between 72°F and 76°F. Computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units, chillers, and facility layout ensure that all servers receive adequate cooling. High-end colocation facilities regularly maintain cooling systems and monitor temperature, humidity, and power usage for optimum server performance.

• Chillers pipe cooled fluids to the CRAC units. There must be redundant pumps and chillers which automatically take over in case of failure so that the CRAC units continue to operate.
• CRAC units are large (20 to 30 tons), specialized air conditioners which constantly blow cold air. The minimum number of CRAC units to cool a facility is .030 tons per square foot. If there are four 30-ton units and the facility is 4,000 square feet, then there are .030 tons per square foot (120 tons ÷ 4000 square feet).
• The facility layout should have designated hot and cold rows. Server fans blow hot air from the back of the servers into hot rows; the CRAC units blow cold air down cold rows across the front of the servers. Solid floor facilities should have return vents on one side of the room to draw hot air from the servers, and cold air vents in the ceiling blowing down the top of the server racks. Raised floor designs should blow the cold air with enough pressure to force air to the top of the racks.

Internet Connection There are two major types of Internet connection.

• Tier 1 providers create national networks which are dependable and fast but tend to have high latency and poor out-of-network performance.
• Tier 2 companies buy access from multiple tier 1 networks, so they have speed and dependability combined with better latency and performance from a wider network. Some tier 2 providers offer performance routing to route traffic more efficiently between networks, boosting network performance by 50% and creating a self-healing network.

Service A quality colocation facility offers extra service, including any of the following:

• A dedicated, 24-hour customer service line, plus onsite engineers for emergencies.
• Changing backup tapes and storing them in a fire-proof safe.
• Crash carts with monitors, keyboards, and other tools available when a computer crashes.
• Structural designs to withstand earthquakes, storms, and floods.

Tour of the colocation facility, take notes and ask questions about their systems, backup systems, and maintenance, and find the facility with the service, access, and quality care to give your business reliable, dependable network.

American Internet Services is the premier San Diego colocation service provider with state-of-the-art Internet data center technology. http://www.colocation.ccccom.com