If a company is planning to set up a data center, finding answers to some of the below given questions

are pre-requisites:

1. What will be the data center plan as per allocated budget?

Budget is the top most concern for any new infrastructure, so the kind of data center company is going
to build remains entirely dependent upon the budget, the company is planning to invest on its
devleopment. The blueprint must be developed while keeping in mind the budget constraints. Also any
data center plan must meet the globally accepted standards such as ANSI/TIA-942 standard which
serves as a major criteria for building an efficient data center. Global standards needs to be met to take
care of all high importance factors including location, architecture, safety, security, etc. The data center
plan must also consider the kind of servers, storage appliances, technological devices, power cables, etc.
will be used for setting up the whole facility.

2. What will be the location of data center?

Location plays a very important role for setting up of any data center. Many businesses choose retrofit
approach as per which they make use of an existing infrastructure to build their data center. This kind of
approach require changes to the building as per the new design. Another approach is to build everything
from scratch which requires a huge amount of budget.

A company must ensure that the location does not fall in high seismic activity zones or places that are
prone to floods or any other natural disasters. A research reveals that data center sector is still rocked
by natural disasters.

3. What are the power/electricity requirements?

Businesses suffer huge losses owing to power outages so uninterrupted supply of electricity is
indispensable for any data center. Even a few seconds of outages costs too much for companies
therefore it is necessary to have a back-up plan which is generally achieved by creation of two power
lines for the data center facility. If one line suffers from power interruptions, the other one serves as the
back-up and helps in smooth functioning of data center at all times.
4. What will be the arrangements to achieve data center cooling?

Cooling must be ensured for the data center as servers, storage devices and racks need to be maintained
at standard temperature levels. Overheating could cause instances of fire and even poor performance of
machines. To meet cooling requirements companies generally make use of normal DX (direct expansion)
air conditioning. Some companies these days are opting for natural ways to achieve cooling of data
centers. They either select cold regions for setting up their data centers as is the case with Facebook
data center located in Sweden or even natural air is used to serve the purpose using glycol based
coolant systems.

5. What will be the measures for security and safety?

Safety and security considerations need due importance from the company that is going to set up a new
data center. The company must create proper provisions for fire safety. Also, the facility must be under
constant supervision always. Physical security is of prime importance for any data center.

6. What will be the network connectivity requirement?

a key factor will also include proximity to existing fiber optic lines. You'll find that most sites are selected
along major fiber corridors. Otherwise this could add enormous expense, limit your carrier selection and
Step-by-Step: Build a Data Center
Careful analysis of five key design

Careful analysis of five key design 

elements done internally now will yield better
cost and build outcomes later.

Analyze These 5 Now

Analyze these five factors before engaging outside consultants and contractors to correctly align the
facility costs and capacity with enterprise needs.
 Data Center construction projects executed without these five design activities, before awarding
contracts, demonstrate a higher likelihood of cost overruns, overcapacity, and problems

Establish clear project scope to minimize expensive changes in later project stages.

Complete this project charter before the project commences to identify a clear and defined
scope, decision rights, potential risks, and receive executive sponsorship.

The “Data Center Build Project Charter Template” will help you:
 – Understand just how big a project you are building.
 – Provide input into a build vs. buy decision.
 – Provide a project approval for business leaders to sign off on.
 – Reduce external costs of the project overall.