Designing a data center requires significant time, expense, and effort. A well-designed data center can house IT equipment such as servers for several years into the future. No matter the size of the project, everything needs to be properly planned and done. When designing a data center, here are important considerations to keep in mind:
Leaving Room for Growth
A data center is a costly investment. Whether you are planning to retrofit an existing facility or build a new one, the project is a significant expense. This is the reason your design should meet your business’s current and future needs. Stendel + Reich data center architecture projects account for this aspect. When you look at your organization’s needs, consider the amount of floor space you need today and over time. Also, it’s important to plan out power requirements, cooling requirements, and server space.
Optimizing Facility Cooling
When it comes to data center design, one of the most important considerations is to keep your facility equipment running at appropriate temperatures. A data center that is too hot can lead to catastrophic hardware failures that can cost you millions of dollars to replace. Because of this, you must plan your data center’s cooling and airflow systems.
First, you must look at the kind of air-cooling system to use. The right system depends on your budget, electricity cost, and region. Your options include traditional air-conditioning, water-cooling units, localized cooling, and outdoor air cooling.
Managing Data Center Airflow
For your data center to function optimally, it is important to bring in the cool air to where it is necessary and eliminate the heated air. This is essential for temperature control and keeping your cooling costs low. With a smart airflow plan, you can minimize your cooling expenses by more than 30%. To plan your center’s airflow, your strategies include server rack airflow, segment aisles, and main intake and exhaust.
Paying Attention to Physical Security
Data centers have plenty of expensive equipment. The majority of them have essential or sensitive data that flow in and out at all times. One of the reasons you build a data center is to keep this data safe. So, you must take into account your facility’s physical security when you design it.
Data center physical security includes making sure only authorized personnel can come and go. For a bigger facility, physical barriers may need to be built to prevent unauthorized property access. On the property, security guards must be guarding locked doors and check every person who wants to get into the building. Then, more secured doors should be built before someone can enter the data center itself.
