How to Design and Build a Data Centre

Data centers are the hub of enterprise. These facilities centralize your IT operations and equipment to support you in storing, processing, and disseminating both applications and data. As the enterprise hub for your most critical assets, they form a critical part of your daily operations.

Reliability, security, and sustainability are today's greatest data center challenges that organizations prioritize. We'll outline a high-level view of how to design and build a data centre.

What are Sustainable Data Centers?

Sustainable data centers, or green data centers, utilize an infrastructure designed for minimal environmental impact. They use energy-efficient technologies to reduce the energy consumption of their assets.

It’s the leading light of data center innovation and is why global data centers decreased their energy demand to 50 terawatt-hours in 2019, down from 97.6 terawatt-hours in 2015.

So, what are some of the innovations found in cutting-edge sustainable data centers today?

- LinkedIn: The social media giant uses free cooling using advanced water-side economizers within its Oregon facility.

- Microsoft: Under its Project Natick initiative, Microsoft’s underwater data center is cooled using raw seawater.

- Google: Google utilizes the power of DeepMind, an AI-powered neural network, to predict how different actions will impact energy consumption to make the most environmentally friendly decisions within its data centers.

- Apple: Apple powers its Nevada facility using its self-built solar farm.

- Facebook: Facebook established a data center in Nebraska and relied on a wind farm to power its facility.

These are examples of how some of the world’s biggest names are making their critical data centers more sustainable; but, you needn’t be a multinational corporation to make your data center sustainable. Platforms like Entangl can help identify opportunities for optimizing design to improve sustainability and efficiency.

What are the Different Types of Data Centers?

No two data centers are the same concerning their architecture, design, or purpose. However, besides the green data center, you will come across various other types of data centers.

So, what are the primary data center types?

Enterprise Data Centers

These are private facilities designed to support a single organization with unique network needs. Alternatively, they may be employed by smaller companies that cannot yet implement economies of scale. All enterprise data centers are custom-built to support the needs of the organization.

Colocation Data Centers

Also known as multi-tenant data centers, these centers are used by multiple companies without the capacity or the space for an enterprise data center. All space is leased, allowing companies to scale up and down.

Hyperscale Data Centers

These centers support large-scale IT infrastructures. It may surprise you that Amazon, Google, and Microsoft own more than half of these. To give you a sense of scale, these data centers have at least 5,000 servers over 10,000 square feet of space.

Edge Data Centers

Otherwise known as Micro Data Centers, these solutions are small and located near those that require real-time data processing and analysis. These futuristic solutions will only become more popular as next-generation technologies like 5G, autonomous vehicles, and robotics become a greater part of our lives.

Container Data Centers

These data centers are individual modules that offer a plug-and-play approach to data centers. They tend to be delivered and stored within shipping containers, making them ideal for companies requiring temporary data center deployments for purposes like digital classrooms.

What are the Main Elements of a Data Center?

Data centers may have different purposes, but all have the same essential components. These include:

- Servers

- Storage systems

- Switches

- Routers

- Firewalls

- Cybersecurity systems

All data centers will contain servers, which are high-performance computers with substantial memory capacity. Servers are incredibly fast and can work together to accomplish a specific function.

Data centers use storage devices to help run these servers, including solid-state, hard-disk, and robotic tape drivers.

Beyond these basics, you also have communication systems, which consist of network interface controllers, routers, switches, and an endless supply of cables criss-crossing throughout the data center to ensure data gets to where it needs to be.

Alongside data center hardware, data centers rely on software to keep everything running. For example, framework software and virtualization software are often employed to reduce the number of physical servers.

Finally, security systems are also required at physical locations, including staff, biometric scanners, alarms, gates, and more. From a safety perspective, the average data center will also include highly advanced cooling systems to prevent downtime and data loss.

How Does Data Center Design Work?

Data center design is the process of designing a data center’s architectural layout and IT resources. It involves outlining an ideal framework and then determining what is viable and whether the design meets the center’s primary purpose, such as serving a particular client or a range of clients.

The data center design process can involve an in-house team or hiring an expert team. Platforms like Entangl can offer guidance on detecting potential issues early on during the design phase, thus helping ensure that the final facility aligns with the organization's operational needs efficiently.

As part of a successful data center project, every facility must have a reliable power supply, the ability to create and store backups, clear communication paths, environmental control, and security measures.

In short, it’s an in-depth process requiring careful thought and attention to every feature and mechanism.

What are the Key Requirements When Designing a Data Center?

Several considerations must be considered when setting up a brand-new data center, from finance and resiliency to cooling and power efficiency.

These fundamental requirements when formulating a data center design include:

- Total Cost of Ownership: New data centers are capital-intensive and require considerable investment to bring to life. Businesses must factor in these costs when determining whether their designs are viable.

- Power Efficiency: Data centers must be designed with a reliable power supply in mind. Particularly if relying on renewable energy, your data center must come equipped with backup generators and Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) to avoid downtime.

- Cooling: Data centers generate tremendous amounts of heat, requiring an advanced cooling system to manage it. You’ll need to choose from a range of systems, including air cooling, liquid cooling, and free cooling.

- Connectivity: Your design must incorporate high-capacity data communications to operate. Offering multiple connectivity paths and resilient connectivity is critical to avoiding poor redundancy.

- Security: Data security is critical, with a cyberattack occurring every 39 seconds on average. Both cyber and physical security must be factored into your design to prevent unauthorized access.

- Environmental: Designing an efficient data center protects the environment and reduces ongoing costs. Any design must consider reducing the environmental impact of its day-to-day operations.

- Scalability: Any good data center has space for future expansion. Thinking beforehand about future server nodes, racks, and other features futureproofs your design.

- Flexibility: Hardware and user needs evolve. Being able to reconfigure and repurpose your data center ensures that you can continue to meet your goals as technology changes. Entangl’s platform can help identify potential areas for flexibility to facilitate evolving needs.

- Reliability: Reliability is critical for any data center. As part of this consideration, you must think about how your data center can continue to operate if the worst happens, otherwise known as disaster preparedness and management.

Designing a data center is a complicated business. With so many requirements to account for, it underlines the importance of investing in professional help to ensure your design is ready for the now and future.

Data Center Design Challenges

Designing the data center that’s right for you comes with its challenges.

One of the factors that will impact both your costs and your design is the location. Identifying the ideal location for your facility relies on understanding your needs and what’s available. For example, if designing an Edge Data Center, its very nature implies that it must be located close to your base of operations.

Outlining your organizational needs and predicting what they could require for the future is also key. The best data center designs are manufactured in such a way that allows for upgrades and retrofitting as organizational needs and technologies evolve.

Finally, more extensive data centers must also factor in their impact on local communities. For example, major constructions could cause disruptions to communities and businesses through traffic delays, lost revenue, and noise pollution.

Within the UK, the design phase will involve cooperating and negotiating with local councils, business owners, and other stakeholders to make your project a reality.

Although these are valid challenges to overcome, working with a partner who is experienced in sustainable solutions, like Entangl, can not only overcome these challenges but help you work towards environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and net-zero goals.

Conclusion

Each part of the design and build process is split into stages, starting with the initial feasibility studies, followed by conceptual design, and finally through to detailed design, construction, and testing. While the process may sound simple, the actual building process is far more in-depth and requires a team of experts in their field at each stage. Platforms like Entangl can support these stages by streamlining design checks and optimizing decision-making throughout.

Modern data center design is a specialist job, and investing in professional guidance can ensure that your facility is built to meet the challenges of both today and tomorrow.