INTELLIGENT DATA CENTRES
Selecting your strategic data centre partner
The right selection of a data centre is a blend of auditing tangible metrics and assessing the human side of operations, according to Sachin Bhardwaj from eHosting DataFort.
Every data centre has its share of strengths and characteristics that is the sum of its capital investments and innovative way of operations. An endcustomer wanting to select a data centre that meets its requirements in terms of availability and reliability must be ready to go down both the paths of assessments.
What should you look for in your data centre partner? Below are some important categories for assessment:
1 Certifications
Third party certifications can help end customers gain confidence in the publicly available credentials of a data centre. As an example, The Global Data Center Authority, Uptime Institute’ s Tier Standard offers four grades I, II, III, IV in the areas of constructed facility and operational sustainability. If a data centre is compliant and graded for its constructed facility it becomes eligible to be certified for operational sustainability.
In summary, it covers staffing levels, skills, training, qualifications, effectiveness of maintenance and data centre operations, policies that affect planning and coordination of activities, building characteristics, site location, organisational controls and security. Certifications are also independently provided by Payment Card Industry and HIPPA amongst others.
2 Location The location of the data centre is one of the most important single factors that can influence its selection. Is the data centre located in a region of extreme weather change susceptible to large scale changes of wind, rain, and snow? These can frequently limit movement and activity. Or is the data centre located in a region of geologic activity with frequent tectonic movements that can stress the building structures? Is there a significant power feeder
48 Issue 01 INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS