Improving Datacenter Performance Through Capacity Planning

Capacity planning is an essential aspect to creating, expanding, or optimizing a Datacenter. There are five

main factors that you need to consider when performing capacity planning. Below is a discussion of some

of the trends within these areas that will help you get your datacenter on track to using industry-leading

best practices.

Current And Future IT Functions

Though, datacenters are increasingly seen as cost centers for organizations, the right physical

infrastructure (sized to accommodate future growth) tremendously increases administrators’ abilities to

serve their organizations and meet business objectives, as it provides the flexibility to rapidly respond to

changing priorities and requirements, including adding, upgrading, or consolidating IT equipment.

Although it may seem obvious, when beginning the capacity planning process, it is crucial to take stock of

the basics, including your organization's current and future number of IT personnel and the functions that

they will be expected to carry out. For asset management purposes, you should also take inventory of

your current equipment, including legacy hardware you will need to support, and consider what future

equipment you will need (both in the short-term and long-term) to support IT functions. It is important to

consider your organization's overall future return on investment on equipment and labor costs.

Current And Future Power Consumption

Power is one of the most vital datacenter planning considerations. After assessing current power

consumption, you must take into account your future needs, including whether you will support remote

servers. You will also need to plan for any future blade centers and determine how you will use shared or

dedicated hardware with VMware or other virtualization software. You will also want to consider

developments in Datacenter power management. The use of 220V power in Datacenters is increasing, as

220V power decreases the amperage draw of a specific device, enabling a higher density per strip. The

use of 3-Phase power is also becoming more common, particularly for power-intensive blade centers.

Compared to Single-Phase power, 3-Phase power uses fewer circuits and provides a more balanced power

load. Since 3-Phase power significantly increases available amperage into the server rack, it reduces the

overall number of PDUs needed to power the equipment.

Modeling and analysis tools are available to help test anticipated loads and analyze historical usage trends

to predict future power consumption. Also consider redundant, back-up power equipment to reduce

potential downtime if equipment failure occurs.

Cooling

After assessing your current and future power needs, you must select effective cooling equipment to

mitigate the heat load generated by your current and projected servers. There are two main approaches

to Datacenter Cooling: ambient air cooling and liquid cooling. Administrators are increasingly using liquid

cooling as an alternative to ambient air cooling; as it is often more efficient and effective at managing the

head loads created by blade centers and other means of virtualization, and can eliminate the need to

construct an expensive raised datacenter floor.

Rack Optimization

When selecting a server rack, consider intelligent and space-efficient design features that various rack

models offer, including frame profile and capacity for increased packing density, and shelving and drawer

configuration. Use blanking panels for airflow efficiency and select a rack with built-in channels for better

cable management and improved airflow. To fully optimize space, the use of universal intelligent design

racks can help you squeeze the most usable space out of your footprint.

IT Resource Management

Both network access and physical security are crucial when considering server and device management.

Remote enterprise server management solutions can be integrated with your existing methods of

authentication. Supported methods include LDAP, Active Directory, RADIUS or TACACS+, and allow

administrators to leverage existing users and groups when assigning permits within the system. Local

solutions can also leverage external or internal authentication, giving you secure access at the rack or user

control console.

For physical datacenter security, environmental monitoring devices that feature docked camera

pods/sensor pods and/or CCTV allow you to continuously visually monitor equipment remotely. In

addition, environmental monitoring appliances allow you to monitor intrusion, and include contact

closure sensors that notify you when an equipment cabinet has been opened. They also alert you to

Datacenter hazards such as extreme heat, power spikes, and water leaks. Additionally, many server racks

have locking mechanisms, which can help provide an added measure of security.