Fundamentals of Managing the Data Center Life Cycle for Owners

Fundamentals of Managing the Data Center Life Cycle for Owners

Schneider Electric Data Center Science Center

Schneider Electric – Data Center Science Center WP 195 Presentation – February 2014

Data Center Science Center White Paper 195

Just as good genes do not guarantee health and well-being, a good design alone does not ensure a data center is well-built and will remain efficient and available over the course of its life span. For each phase of the data center’s life cycle, proper care and action must be taken to continuously meet the business needs of


action must be taken to continuously meet the business needs of the facility. This presentation describes the five phases of the data center life cycle, identifies key tasks and pitfalls, and offers practical advice to facility owners and management.

Introduction – Understanding the Big Picture

The Five Phases of the Data Center Life Cycle


Plan Phase

● Ideal project process● Often referred to as “programming”

● System concept

Determines key project parameters of the physical system to be created, i.e., system concept, site selection, and project process


● System concept● Players at this stage

● Facilities and IT departments● Executives● CFO● Real estate group within the company

NOTE: In this paper, only system planning is covered. System planning refers to the power, cooling, racks,

and other support infrastructure systems. Planning related to the IT equipment is not discussed here.

Plan Phase

Ideal project process

● Conduct project efficiently, reliably, and understandably

● Have safeguards to eliminate missed handoffs, ambiguous responsibility, and lost information


White Paper 140, “Data Center Projects: Standardized Process”, offers a detailed definition and description of a formal, standardized, and documented process.

responsibility, and lost information ● Detail key stakeholders, responsibilities ● Include strategies to manage unplanned occurrences, i.e., project

changes and defects● Be modular and configurable, adaptable to projects of different types

and sizes

Plan Phase

System concept

● A high level description of the system

● Includes validated user preferences and constraints, standards, codes,


See white paper 142, “Data Center Projects; System Planning”, for more information.

and constraints, standards, codes, resource assignments, deadlines, and process requirements for project

● These design requirements become input for design phase

EstablishPROJECT PARAMETERS

DevelopSYSTEM CONCEPT

1

2

Make the six foundational decisions that will control the system architecture and budget

Choose a model design for the system, based on the six PROJECT PARAMETERS

Plan Phase

System Planning SequenceSystem concept


IncorporateUSER PREFERENCES AND CONSTRAINTS

DetermineIMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENTS

3

4

Identify, validate, and adapt user-specific details that will refine the SYSTEM CONCEPT

Collect standards, codes, deadlines, resource assignments, and process requirements the project must conform to

• Criticality• Capacity• Growth plan• Efficiency• Density• Budget

•Referencedesign

•Room choice

•Concept Adaptations

•Validated Preferences

•Validated Constraints

Implementation requirements

The combined outputs are the design requirements for input to the DESIGN phase

Plan Phase

System concept

● Right information > right decision

Avoid Problems in Project Process


● Right information > right decision maker > right sequence

● Focus on shared understanding and consensus: criticality, capacity, growth plan, efficiency, density, and budget

● Avoid detailed design work until design requirements are validated and agreed upon

Plan Phase

System concept Reference Designs

● Validated, documented high-level plan for


See white paper 147, “Advantages of Using a Reference Design” for more information.

● Validated, documented high-level plan for physical infrastructure

● Especially important in the absence of design engineers in early planning phase

Plan Phase

Site selection

● Site must meet design requirements● Site evaluation must consider availability risks

and financial benefits● Key considerations


See white paper 81, “Site Selection for Mission Critical Facilities”, for more information.

● Key considerations● Energy costs● Tax preferences/incentives● Labor costs

Design PhaseInvolves detailed design work required to translate Plan phase outputs into site-specific schematics and buildable construction documents, i.e., drawings and specifications


● Approved documents used for permitting by governmental authorities-having-jurisdiction - AHJs

● Construction contractors evaluated, selected

● Well-managed design/build model takes about 4-6 weeks

● Well-managed design/bid/build model takes about 8-10 weeks

Key Tasks:Project management, meet budget, feasibility studie s, preliminary design, detailed design & specification, quotation, hire/bid general

Architect & CE Firm

Owner’s Design Requirements from Plan Phase (see Figure 2 )

OR Design/Build FirmOwner evaluates, hires, and enters into contract with…

Design Phase

Typical high-level overview


design, detailed design & specification, quotation, hire/bid general contractor and/or sub-contractors for build & commi ssioning phases

General Contractor

Likely parties involved in detailed design:

Owner/Owner’s RepArchitectMEP engineersStructural, civil engineersIT consultantsEnergy/LEED consultantsCommissioning agentFacility Operators

•Schematic design (10% complete)

•Design development (50% complete)

•Construction documents (100% complete)

Detailed design outputs (approved by owner):

Electrical Contractor

Mechanical Contractor Low Voltage Contractor

Cycles of design iteration typically take place as requirements, preferences, and constraints change.

If construction delivery model is “design/bid/build”, bidding by contractorsoftentakes place at each of the design documentation levels (10%, 50%, 100% are common)

…hired by architect or design/build firm

Networking Contractor

Design Phase

Design/bid/build Traditional approach. Contractors bid during design development. Lowest priced responsible bidder meeting requirements is selected Construction begins.

Construction delivery models


PROs: ● Possibly lower cost if design change

orders are well-controlled● Typically presented with more choices

from more vendors for a given design

CONs: ● Bid process can add months

to project schedule

Design Phase

Design/build Owner or architect hires team responsible for both design and construction. Selection based on merits and price. Price is guaranteed. Change orders typically not allowed by contractor.

Construction delivery models


contractor.

PROs: ● Shortens schedule by months.

Eliminates time needed for bidding process. Construction starts in parallel with design documentation development

● Owner more likely to get exactly what is specified● Enables early contractor involvement in design, possibly reducing risk and

number of design iterations● Fosters close cooperation between designers and contractors

CONs: ● Likely not the lowest cost

Design Phase

● Important tool for ensuringright people > right time > right focus

● Defines key stakeholders roles, responsibilities by phase

Owner’s contract


● Defines compensation and insurance requirements● Describes

● Cost of work● Change resolution methods● Change order process, limitations

● Termination grounds and processes

Build Phase

● Construction documents used

Information gathered and approved during Plan and Design phases is used as a basis for Build phase.


● Construction documents used ● To bid for contractors● To secure building permits● As basis for what is actually built at the chosen

site

● Construction begins according to project plan● Perform regular audits, quality assurance● Weekly progress meetings● Opportunity to train owner and facility

operations team

Build Phase

Complete when

● Quality assurance confirms work is complete to project requirements

● Final certification of


completion is issued to owner by construction team lead

● Passing score on commissioning test, if part of project

● Owner issues letter of formal acceptance of project

Build Phase

Commissioning

● Defined as a reliability science that documents and validates the result of a data center’s design and build processes

● Addresses Data Center complexity by testing and documenting overall


system’s response to real world inputs and changes● Ensures design and implementation in construction phase are sound

● Commissioning agents develop commissioning plan and schedule● Work with design and

construction teams

Build Phase

Commissioning

● “As built” script report

Output Documents


● “As built” script report● Provides line-by-line report on what

passed/failed

● Component error log report ● Describes what failed and what was

impacted

● Trending report ● Executive summary of performance

trends

Operate Phase

● A properly designed, implemented, and supported

Time during which physical infrastructure does what it was intended to do: house, power, cool, and secure IT servers, storage, and networking gear.


implemented, and supported O&M program will ● minimize risk● reduce costs● provide competitive

advantage for the overall business the data center serves

Operate Phase

● Focuses on risk mitigation● Grasps interconnectedness of facility

and IT systems● Analytical, process-driven approach to

Mission Critical Mindset


● Analytical, process-driven approach to risk avoidance and problem solving

● Commitment to continuous learning and process improvement

Owners & management must imbue the Ops team with this

philosophy and mindset

Operate Phase

● Environmental health and safety● Personnel management● Emergency preparedness and response● Maintenance management

12 Essential Elements of Data Center O&M Program

● Training


● Maintenance management● Change management● Documentation management

See white paper 196, “Essential Elements of Data Center Facility Operations”, for more information.

● Training● Infrastructure management● Quality management● Energy management● Financial management● Performance monitoring and review

Operate Phase

Facilities-IT cooperation

● Cooperation will


● Cooperation will ● Make capacity planning more accurate

and day-to-day operations more efficient

● Minimize impact to SLAs and the business when problems occur

● Reduce disruption caused by facility or IT equipment moves, adds, changes

It is the responsibility of owners and management to foster this cooperation!

Assess Phase

● Yields useful, actionable information including…● Degree to which the design intent and facility objectives are being

Concurrent with Operate phase, gives visibility to how operators and physical infrastructure systems are performing on an on-going basis.


● Degree to which the design intent and facility objectives are being met by current infrastructure in operation

● Energy efficiency of physical infrastructure in supporting IT ● General health and current risk profile of physical infrastructure ● Current power, cooling, and space capacities and use trends● Effectiveness and experience levels of personnel● Facility operations & maintenance program maturity and

effectiveness

Outsourcing Services

● Benefit from experience and expertise of others

● Frees up internal resources to focus

Advantages


● Frees up internal resources to focus on other key tasks and responsibilities

● Avoids learning curve and mistakes resulting from first time tasks

● Provides alternative to internal resources that lack bandwidth/resources required to learn new skills or perform certain functions

Conclusion

●Provided owners, management teams with basic understanding of mission critical facility projects and operations in the context of a Data Center Life Cycle

●Described phases, their interconnection, principal


interconnection, principal players, key areas of focus

ResourcesData Center Projects: Standardized ProcessWhite Paper 140

Data Center Projects: System PlanningWhite Paper 142

Data Center Projects: Advantages of Using a Data Center Reference DesignWhite Paper 147

The Top 9 Mistakes in Data Center PlanningWhite Paper 145

Site Selection For Mission Critical FacilitiesWhite Paper 81


Browse all APC white papers whitepapers.apc.com

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White Paper 81

Data Center Projects: CommissioningWhite Paper 148

Ten Errors to Avoid When Commissioning a Data CenterWhite Paper 149

Essential Elements of Data Center Facility OperationsWhite Paper 196

Avoiding Common Pitfalls of Evaluating and Implementing DCIM SolutionsWhite Paper 170

Fundamentals of Managing the Data Center Life Cycle for Owners

Technology

process requirements

model design

data centers life cycle

agood design

design phasesee white

documented process

standardized process

plan phasesite selection