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Housing Your Network: What to Look for in a Datacenter

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When running an online business, two of the key things to look at are bandwidth and security – how much traffic can your site handle, and how is your content going to be protected? It all starts with having the right infrastructure and hardware in place – offering service is all well and good, but a company needs the proper facility to house it all. The forefront question is, “what should we be looking for in a datacenter?”

It all starts with the building itself. A datacenter needs to be sturdy – thick walls and fire-resistant construction materials are a must. A building should not be prone to vandalism, and should be in a well-protected area that is at a low risk of being affected by natural disasters such as floods and tornadoes.

Once inside the datacenter, there should be several more layers of physical security surrounding the network hardware. First, identification must be required for each person entering the building. On-site security personnel should be stationed around the clock, checking identification, making sure only authorized people can get inside the datacenter.

In another layer of physical security, biometric scanners should be used to verify employee identity. Since these devices verify a person’s physical biology, they are nearly impossible to spoof. The farther inside the datacenter people go, the more important these security measures become; scanners should be placed at multiple entryways to different parts of the datacenter, and one person should have to pass at least one biometric scanner before reaching the physical networking hardware.

Once the biometric scanners have been passed and we enter the server room, the server racks should be enclosed inside a key-locked cage. The servers themselves should then be housed inside racks with doors that can be closed and locked, resulting in the final layer of physical security. The layered approach provides not only excellent security, but peace of mind to the business owner as well.

In addition to physical security, there are other aspects of a datacenter to consider, such as power, cooling, connectivity, and disaster recovery.

A power-friendly datacenter must have dual redundant power grids, so that in the event one of them fails, the power connection immediately is able to switch to the other. Backup power generators should be in place that can provide at least a full day of power, should the local utility company suffer an outage. In addition to the generators, a datacenter should be equipped with battery backup systems to power the servers while the switch is made from the main grid to the generators. Once power is restored to the main grid, the connection will be switched back. No network connectivity should ever be lost during any of these processes.

Cooling is a facet of datacenters that cannot be underestimated. Without proper cooling, a server could overheat and crash at any time, and the lifespan of a server is dramatically reduced. Proper cooling methods will save you money in the long run by extending the life of your equipment. A datacenter should have full HVAC units for each server block – one HVAC unit provides enough cooling for a certain amount of space, so multiple units should be in place to ensure the entire server area is properly cooled. This aspect is especially important, because some datacenters may opt for less cooling in order to lower their own electricity bill at the cost of customers’ equipment.

In the same vein as cooling, fire suppression systems must also be in place. Dry pipe (foam) sprinkler systems are preferable, as water can damage systems as much as fire can. Look for datacenters utilizing FM200 suppression material; it is a common and effective chemical compound used to extinguish fires.

One of the most important aspects of a datacenter – the main reason we need one – is connectivity. The routers, switches, and cables that run through the datacenter must be able to handle high amounts of traffic for extended periods of time, and also have the ability to cross-connect to other networks, so your company’s network is not limited to the datacenter building. A datacenter should be carrier neutral so that no matter what company owns the actual data lines, signal from any service carrier can be run through those lines. This gives both business owners and datacenter operators flexibility in configuring the network. Using a 10-gigabit Ethernet backbone will provide more than enough bandwidth for any network to function at optimum levels.

A datacenter must be equipped with recovery capabilities in the event of a disaster. Natural disasters are always a looming threat, and data crashes could happen at any time. Backup and disaster recovery capabilities are an absolute must for datacenters, because not having these procedures in place could result in the permanent loss of high volumes of data.

A datacenter is more than just a building filled with hardware – it is the infrastructure that keeps your business network moving. Choosing the right datacenter will ensure that your network is given the security, power, cooling, connectivity and disaster recovery it needs to serve your business.