5 Critical Tips for Data Center Construction

Data center construction is a very complex undertaking. You need to plan it well before implementation.

Since there are a lot of moving parts involved, from contractors to equipment delivery and setup, there’s always a possibility of situations that may negatively affect it going into full production.

This is something that you don’t want to occur at this crucial part of the project.

To help you make the entire process smooth-sailing, minimizing if not eliminating, possible issues, here are 5 critical tips in constructing a data center.

1. Site Selection is Important

Data centers more than 7 years old are considered out of date as per Green Computing norms. However, in practical the average life of a data center is considered to be 9 years.

It is almost a decade of having your data center sit on a specific location you have chosen. All the more reason why picking the right site is important.

Natural disasters have a lower chance of occurring in the desert region. There is almost no chance of flooding and substantially lower seismic activity in these areas.

The ideal location in the U.S. is in the rural western deserts. Opting for a data center construction Phoenix, Arizona is a great example of this.

2. Leave Room for Expansion

Your data center must be flexible and scalable as well. As the business grows, the infrastructure must be able to accommodate this expansion in a fast and cost-effective way.

The floor area is the most obvious factor you need to consider. You must have enough available room for immediate future needs. The floor space should be able to allow a number of racks to be easily added if the need arises.

You should also consider expansions on power and cooling requirements. As you add more hardware, your data center power distribution units must able to supply their electrical needs effectively. Your data center air conditioning must also have the ability to maintain the temperature at the proper level.

3. Temperature Control is Crucial

Since the servers will be running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, your data center cooling system must be able to consistently maintain the right temperature.

Studies have shown that as much as 40% of the total operational costs for a data center come from the energy needed to power and cool the massive amounts of equipment data centers require.

Most equipments in your data center are sensitive to temperature changes. Even if you have server redundancy, If it gets too hot, hardware failure can occur on all of them.

Planning for redundant cooling units will help you minimize any fluctuations in the temperature. If a specific unit fails, it can easily failover to the working unit.

4. Fire Protection is a Must

Almost all of the units in your data center are electrical. Water should be your last resort in putting out a fire. You should make sure that dry agent fire protection systems are included in your disaster plans.

These dry agents are designed to put out fires from electrical equipment without damaging it.

However, sprinkler systems are still essential. In catastrophic situations where a fire could not be put out by dry agents, sprinklers should be available on site. Fire hydrants located outside the data center, or a hookup for the fire department, should be considered as well.

5. Take End-User Needs into Consideration

Test results may initially provide data that are conclusive of a data center’s performance. However, a more definitive indicator of a successful data center operation is how it positively affects the end-users.

Whether they are your company’s IT team or the actual customers, you must design your data center to cater to their needs. After all, this infrastructure is the backbone of your digital operation.

Perform extensive research and study on the hardware and software that you will be using. Always ask the question, “Will this bring an outstanding experience to the end-users?” If the answer is yes, then consider procuring it for your data center.

Choose the Right Data Center Construction Partner

Understanding these 5 critical tips on data center construction will help you choose the right company to implement your plans. These tips can help you gauge if it’s something that a data center company can perform well. If you still need related information, we recommend that you check our other articles.