As data storage and management needs continue to expand and density pack increases, more and more businesses are offloading IT infrastructure to colocation. As someone responsible for the design, support, and/or evolution of a multi-tenant data center, top of mind for you is providing a reliable, high-performance environment for your customers, using cost-effective systems, and implementing the best possible operational management.
Top considerations for colocation providers include power supply, climate control, and monitoring and security. Depending on customer requirements, this can go as far as operating the hosted systems in their own sealed-off areas of the data center and protecting them with elaborate access control features. Colocation providers must use appropriate technical solutions to ensure a guaranteed level of security for their customers and must provide the necessary proof.
Rittal’s innovative, flexible, and future-proof rack systems have been engineered as an optimized system to provide proper airflow, efficient cable management, and a wide range of security access control.
Top Challenges — and Solutions — for Colocation Facilities
> Handling the Floorspace Challenge
> How to Get IT Enclosures Rapidly and Reliably
> Helping Ensure Security and Monitoring in a Colocation Environment
> The Need for High-Density Cooling
> Planning for Colocations Future
> Elevating your Colocation Facility
Handling the Floorspace Challenge
Using space wisely is imperative for a successful colocation facility. Optimal space management, within a colocation facility AND within IT cabinets, owes a lot to the ability to fully maximize this precious asset. “Stranded,” or unused, space can be reduced, which improves operational efficiency and adds adaptability/flexibility.
Even using space as wisely as possible, a colocation facility will eventually need more space; that’s when a flexible rack enclosure system becomes so valuable. With increasing densities, Rittal’s TS IT Pro comes available in sizes ranging from 42U all the way up to 53U, accommodating additional equipment without needing to expand floor space.
What robust IT cabinet solutions will meet colocation facility needs today and well into the future? This brochure covers scaling to support maximum IT component installation flexibility, integrating optimal cooling, and reducing energy costs.
How to Get IT Enclosures Rapidly and Reliably
Availability is more important — and less guaranteed — than ever before. Supply chain threats have turned nearly every industry upside down, including how colocation facilities serve their customers.
When a customer needs to get into a data center quickly, some rack systems may be better suited than others. Yet, you can’t stand up IT cabinets quickly when they are not available to be shipped.
The good news is the regional stocking position of U.S.A-made Rittal products. This allows for short transit times/faster deployment and standardized IT cabinets with drawings, required details, and support documentation.
People responsible for the design and support of multi-tenant data centers are focused on their high-performance environments. Selected IT cabinets can go a long way toward high-performance. Ask these questions when determining colocation racks.
Helping Ensure Security and Monitoring in a Colocation Environment
What keeps colocation facility managers up at night? Maybe the dozens of potential threats that could derail an operation with IT failure and/or data loss. What is a colocation facility without security? A failure. Security needs to always be a priority.
The right IT enclosure, the last line of defense, is the only way to achieve maximum protection. An IT enclosure, or cabinet, discourages unauthorized access, and protects IT components from physical threats (water and dust being the most threatening). Some enclosures do a better job at reducing the risk of equipment failure, translating to less downtime, reduced costs, and improved efficiencies.
As closely as colocation security standards can be followed, active and automated monitoring is essential. The CMC III from Rittal, for instance, performs real-time collection of environmental conditions, controls access, and sends alarm notifications.
Colocation facility security standards bring customers peace of mind by housing vital servers and storage systems. This white paper explores one reason that trust exists: preventative strategies to fight physical threats.
This 2-part blog series covers overall security awareness, passive and active physical security, and new vulnerabilities. There is a data center physical security checklist and several IT cabinet security suggestions.
The Need for High-Density Cooling
Colocation facility managers know that too much heat increases latency and the possibility of hardware failure. As packing densities and processor capacity grows, cooling becomes vitally important. There are ways to remove heat while reducing colocation costs (without sacrificing server performance) and even retrofit a colocation facility without a complete overhaul.
For years, colocation data centers used various methods of chilled water to cool air, yet these were never very energy-efficient at cooling down racks. With developments in liquid cooling, an effective and scalable heat removal solution, many data centers are enjoying much greater heat removal capacity.
How can you be sure that a climate control system (and a server enclosure) is right for a given environment? Only through consultation with IT enclosure experts who base recommendations on the unique conditions and needs of an environment and customers. A true solutions provider, not a cabinet manufacturer, is the answer.
As rack densities increase, so do demands for highly efficient heat removal. Learn more about the advantages of in-row, in-rack, immersion, and direct-to-chip cooling, plus how to identify the right method for your colocation facility cooling needs.
Planning for Colocations Future
“Future proof” is an achievement every colocation facility is striving to reach. With the ultimate goal being to avoid downtime at all costs, managers will do whatever is needed to stay up and running no matter what the future throws at them.
How can colos best plan for future IT cabinet needs? Stay flexible. IT enclosures should allow for scaling as density needs expand, specs change, or expansion happens, so end users have space for new, extra deep servers or high-density cable installations. Flexibility provides adaptation on these important investments.
Selecting the correct enclosure platform partner who knows colocation trends is critical. Prepare to answer these three questions: Where are the IT enclosures going? What is going in them? How many are wanted/needed? It is difficult to plan for an unprecedented future, but it is possible to “future proof” enough to select ideal racks for colocation.
It is easier to create data than to store it. That is why so many businesses need help as they continue to grow. Big data growth inspires them to use colocation facilities for offloading IT infrastructure.