Location. Location. Location. Moving to a Data Center.
You’ve made the decision. It’s time to move. With so many factors to consider in your new location, it can make your head spin!
Deciding to move into a data center or colocation can be a difficult and stressful time for an IT professional. The following checklist provides some of the questions you should ask when considering a potential data center or colocation:
Site security
- How secure is the physical site?
- Can I get access 24x7x365?
- Do I need to schedule access, or am I allowed onsite at any time?
- How is physical access to my cabinet or cage handled?
HVAC
- What is the cooling tonnage in the data center?
- Is there adequate capacity for my company’s future needs?
- Is there built in redundancy in case of a failure?
Commercial AC power
- What is the capacity of the commercial power feed(s)?
- Is there physical diversity between the available feeds?
- Is there adequate capacity for my company’s future needs?
- Is the commercial power backed up by an online generator?
- Is there an available UPS onsite, or do I need to provide my own UPS?
Site surge suppression and grounding
- Is there surge suppression protecting the commercial power from surges and possible lightning strikes?
- Is there a central office grade grounding field available at the site to ground cabinets and equipment to?
Preventative maintenance
- Is preventative maintenance done regularly on facilities infrastructure?
- (i.e. generators, UPS systems, HVAC’s, DC plants)
- Is there written documentation available of the preventative maintenance results?
Asking the right questions and planning your move properly can make your move to a data center a great experience!
