Trends such as virtualization and cloud, but also the topics of customer orientation and sustainability, require a rethink and new ways of doing so. A report from practice about your own experiences and useful strategies.
And always think of the customer ...
(Oracle), according to Oracle's latest "Next Generation Data Center Index", 41 per cent of the data center managers surveyed in the United States have been investing large companies in the next two years to invest in a new RZ. Drivers in addition to new technologies are mainly new requirements from the business sector. The study "Reshaping IT - Transformation of the Data Center" by the market research institute IDC from last year shows that the increasing implementation of Cloud models also changes the services.
High availability and their terms
Big Data increases the requirements in the storage area. In addition, DataCenter should be able to adapt more flexibly to fluctuating market conditions in the business segments. Almost one in four new x86 servers in the European economy are now used in virtualized environments, according to market researchers. With a growing number of virtualized and physical environments, however, complexity is also increasing significantly. Without a modern data center infrastructure, in which different technologies are effectively combined, this is virtually impossible.
Virtualization changes the energy demand
And something has changed: no data center is more about customer orientation today. All measures to "upgrade" computer centers must be measured against the benefit they have for the customer, whether they are different departments and offices that serve internal IT, or different customers of a service provider.
Sustainability live
The aim is to provide the best possible environment for each customer. The focus in the planning and operation of data centers has also changed greatly. In order to ensure the smooth interaction between customer service, infrastructure and building technology, a methodological view of several trades has to be made parallel.
From a procedural point of view, 24x7 availability is now state of the art, interruptions are virtually no longer accepted. In order for the services to be always available, the redundancy must generally be increased. For maximum redundancy, separate systems, typically mirrored over two sites, are required with a seamless disaster recovery concept. Not only the servers have to be duplicated in two locations. There are also two independent UPS systems and NSHV (low-voltage main distribution).
In particular, the heat generation can become a problem in the event of a failure of the air conditioning system. To one to two degrees the temperature then rises per minute - fast remedy is thus asked. Therefore, not only electrical engineering, but also air conditioning and partial building technology must be designed redundantly. Here, internal data centers in companies often reach the limit of possible investments. Regardless of whether a site breaks off completely or only one component fails, a high-availability solution must continue without interruption.
For cost reasons, such specifications are generally only implemented for a few critical applications, such as booking systems or production systems. When co-operating with IT service providers, the customer determines the degree of availability per application.
The distribution of energy supplies has also changed completely. Having previously worked with one-solution solutions, virtualization and the use of increasingly compact servers such as "blades" today lead to a bundling of energy resources. This results in a load of 20 kilowatts per square meter. However, a component with only 5 kilowatts can be just one meter away.
As a rule, data center operators are no longer a problem, but increasingly a cooling problem. Water cooling has already disappeared from almost all data centers. Instead, air cooling ensures that the servers do not overheat. This has far-reaching consequences for planning and operation. Ventilation systems and distribution must be carefully considered in advance in order to ensure sufficient cooling to the racks that become particularly hot. Techniques such as flow simulations and the regular control of images of thermal imaging cameras help.
The air throughput can be increased by means of adjustable floor plates. Above all, it must always be transparent, what is running in which rack and how much energy is consumed on average and in high-load times. The basis for a profound energy management are regular consumption measurements and a configuration database, which contains all information about the equipment used.
Green IT is no longer a keyword, but a program. In the meantime, many companies have put the issue of sustainability (or new American sustainability) on the line. The reasons for this are not only image and competition factors. "The energy efficiency of data centers is not only an important environmental factor, but improvements in energy efficiency can also drastically reduce operating costs," says Holger Skurk, an expert in IT infrastructures at the BITKOM branch of industry,
The EU Energy Efficiency Directive provides for a 20% reduction in primary energy consumption by 2020. According to studies, the share of energy demand for air-conditioning can be between 25 and 55 percent of the total energy demand in the air-conditioning system depending on the climate control concept. The central task is the cooling optimization by means of strategies such as cold and warming, ie the strict separation of hot and cold air areas, enclosure and free cooling.
Standards help: ITIL and quality management
Another challenge of modern data centers is to keep an eye on the energy value at any time, both from the cost side as well as from the consumption side (electricity and climate). This includes a regular monitoring of the climate and exhaust air load as well as a continuous current balance and forecasts for the future consumption, for example quartalsweise. Otherwise, the resources quickly reach limits, and prognostic analyzes help avoid bottlenecks.
BITKOM writes in its guideline for operational data centers: "One can argue whether Sarbanes Oxley and SAS 70 will make a data center more secure - the general requirements for measures to be used in ISO / IEC 27002: 2008 and ISO / IEC 27001: 2005 Improving security are, however, justified and meaningful.
IT for IT
ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) and ISO 20000 can be used to secure and improve the processes of a data center. "ISO 20000 certification is an extremely complex process, but it is also useful for IT service providers As a result of which no maintenance or modification may be made without ITIL processes.
Each operation is fully integrated into all ITIL processes. Capacity management is also based on the IT standard. The higher the compliance requirements, the more sensible is the effort in quality management. Focusing on standards can also be competitive: ITIL-based management is more and more often required for IT projects.
Suitable software tools have become indispensable in the management of modern data centers. Solutions for the Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM), in conjunction with Configuration Management and a ticketing system are among the most important components. Tools for managing virtualization environments have also become established.
Caution: hurdles in modernization projects
Make sure you have enough space
RZ-Modernization at the TUI InfoTec
Conclusion
The market for DCIM is relatively broad, with a selection process that is geared to specific needs. The tools are very different, for example when it comes to reporting. In-depth analyzes can support the assessment of key performance indicators for the data center. These include, but are not limited to, factors such as cost control, customer satisfaction, service level agreement (SLA) or time to provide new services.
The aforementioned IDC study shows that many companies have cost KPIs well ahead of metrics for quality and satisfaction. However, the inclusion of customer-oriented factors is becoming increasingly important. While performance comparisons between companies are difficult, BITKOM provides public benchmarks.
Particularly in the case of major modernizations, it must be borne in mind that the building and the RZ infrastructure must be jointly controlled by means of a measurement, control and control system (MSR). The view of individual trades like electric is not enough. Above all, it can become very tricky when it comes to data center operation.
Often there are systems that can not be addressed, in the most unfavorable case, the modernization has to be carried out during operation - without a failure, of course. The analysis of the existing facilities and the recording of the connections are often more complex than planned. Often there is no documentation for old plants and buildings.
The coordination with the Facility Management also devours a lot of time. It is advisable to always bring an engineer planning office into the boat in order to minimize the risk. For larger projects, at least one IT staff member should also be fully coordinated and monitored.
Anyone who takes the issue of modernization into their own hands should also pay attention to allow for future changes and extensions. In the face of increasing high-availability requirements, dynamic server loads and high energy costs, today "breathing" computer infrastructures have to be provided. The customer pays only "his consumption".
Service-oriented ITIL processes and the use of DCIM software must therefore ensure a high quality of the RZ operation in order to be able to process future requirements for the RZ infrastructure in a timely manner. It is necessary to reconcile the efficient use of existing capacities and the implementation of necessary RC investments. In the modernization of computer centers, additional connectivity should also be planned in order to provide the necessary capacities using lending equipment.
TUI InfoTec is an experienced end-to-end IT service provider and 100% subsidiary of TUI Travel Plc. The Hanover-based company employs 350 people. The modernization of the two computer centers of TUI InfoTec, completed at the beginning of the year, was planned and implemented with the support of the engineering firm HSGP (Hamburg).
The special challenge during the one-year project duration was to implement all measures parallel to the ongoing operation. All services had to continue uninterrupted. After completion of the modernization with an investment volume of a medium single-digit million amount, TUI InfoTec ensures a complete A / B supply to the IT systems. Both the electrical and the air-conditioning supply are independent and redundant. A special feature is the piping of the cooling system, which is also redundant, and therefore the redundant supply of the air-conditioning units in the RZ.
With modular UPS systems and additional connections for rental equipment (such as a network replacement system), future capacity requirements can be covered. The entire computer infrastructure is integrated into the building control technology and is monitored with a uniform measuring, control and regulation technology. According to the BITKOM classification "Safe Data Centers", the data centers of TUI InfoTec reach the RZ category C +.
TUI InfoTec also focuses on the way in which it provides the services for its customers on a daily basis. In order to deliver the highest quality reliably and continuously, TUI InfoTec has aligned its entire IT service management according to ITIL V3 and has certified the processes ISO 20000.
In contrast to juggling, many balls must be kept in the air at the same time during the RZ training. Energy management and sustainability, interlinking of building and R & D technology through common MSRs, ingenious disaster recovery strategies and virtualization, as well as the highest quality standards and customer orientation.
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