Introduction To Data Center Operations
Data Center Operations refer to the systems, processes, and workflows used to operate a data center facility. These operations include several areas:
In this article, let’s look at data center operations, including the core components of running and supporting a data center.
(This article is part of our Data Center Operations Guide. Use the right-hand menu to navigate.)
Large cloud vendors including AWS, Google, and Microsoft operate a global footprint of data center facilities that serve cloud-based computing services to millions of business organizations and Internet consumers.
Global IT data center spending has reached $196 billion in 2021. Over 700 hyperscale data centers are operational around the world.
As the global Internet traffic has increased by 40% in 2020, the number of Internet users has doubled, increasing Internet traffic at 30% per year. The prevalence of work-from-home business practices and video streaming services has significantly contributed toward increasing demands on highly available data center operations. Other contributions to high data center energy consumption include:
These services are delivered to end-users at specific performance and dependency levels specified in the Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Additionally, these data center facilities operate in compliance with stringent global regulations such as ISO/IEC 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2, among others.
In order to meet these various objectives, the modern data center operations cover the following key pillars:
Let’s take a look at each pillar.
The physical design aspects are critical to managing highly dependent data center operations. Some of the most efficient data centers are located at low-temperature geographic regions, safe and secure from natural and man-made disaster incidents, with ready access to utility and emergency services.
The common physical elements of a data center include:
(Learn how the cloud is changing data center jobs.)
The modern data center is highly dependent on a network of connected devices that relay information on several key attributes of the data center operations. These are not limited solely to computing performance and network security, but also include the overall performance of the facility in terms of:
A Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution integrates the network of IoT sensors to capture relevant information logs from across the facility and data center components. These technologies use sophisticated algorithms and analytics capabilities to:
Therefore, the supply of computing resources is optimized against changing demands and network traffic flows.
In order to achieve these goals, the DCIM also physically tracks every component of the IT environment tagged by an RFID chip. As a result, the DCIM presents a holistic dashboard view of the current status of all components and helps engineers manage process workflows accordingly.
(Read all about DCIMs & data center management.)
A significant proportion of data center optimization takes place at the logical level. Operational workflows that govern the information flow, system design, engineering and business practices, and the end-to-end data center lifecycle procedures govern the effectiveness of the data center facility.
Industry standards and organizations—including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, The Green Grid, Open Compute Project, ITI and the TBM Council—provide guidelines on managing data center operations. These guidelines encompass the end-to-end lifecycle of data center operations, including:
Organizations such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provide guidelines on information systems and design architecture of the IT environment.
The final element of cloud-based data center operations corresponds to the IT services delivered to end-users. Data center organizations can adopt tools such as ITIL 4 to integrate multiple service management operating models that can help organizations optimize IT operations for maximum business value.