You may not think about it every day, but you definately use data centers on a daily basis...almost everyone does!

This article, technically in Sunday's edition of the New York Times Magazine, explains this fact quite well. Tom Vanderbuilt writes about a few of the things he does online, and where data centers play a key role.

It is an exciting look into an industry that is invisible to many people, and shows just how important the internet is to our society...and those that know, are all to familiar with what it takes to keep that machine running!

Several key people are quoted in this article, including Rich Miller of Data Center Knowledge.

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Don Small, a 20 year veteran in IT and Operations brings us his insight to the Managed Services realm, including those provided by managed hosting companies and by outsourced managed service providers.

This whitepaper provides the data you nee d to make decisions like:

• • What services can I outsource to a managed services company?

  • What are some immediate benefits to outsourcing? Long term benefits?

  • Is using a managed services provider cost effective for my organization?

Please click here to go to the download page and check out this fantastic whitepaper!

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ATTENTION Data Center Professionals!

I have found that our customers, vendors, and friends are a wealth of knowledge about all aspects of data centers. Whether it is data center design, data center power, co-location layout, colo facility selection, data center relocations (of course) and a ton of other topics; the Silverback Migration Solutions Fan Club on LinkedIN is a fantastic place to find information.

Please feel free to join now by going to the Silverback Fan Club on LinkedIN and sign up!

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I am involved in a group called the "Data Center and IT Ops Education Committee" which is currently being run by a gentleman by the name of Randy Ortiz. Randy is diligently working with several organizations, including Data Center Pulse to help lay the framework for data center education, training and certification.

Recently, Randy put out a survey that I participated in which asked a few key questions. Without going into details about the questionaire, a solid theme involved the types of training and education should be required by data center professionals.

In my opinion, "certified" data center professionals should have significant knowledge in several areas that are key to the design, creation, and maintenance of a data center facility, no matter the size. Data centers are more than just a room full of servers and network gear. The proper design, build and maintenance of a data center requires input from departments that historically have had very little reason to communicate. IT and Operations have always been responsible for the server and network equipment, while facilities has been responsible for the building. Each of those groups has historically operated in a silo, without giving or requesting input from other groups. Today's data centers are a new breed of environment that requires these silos to be broken down and each of these groups to "play nice" with each other.

"Certified" Data Center professionals should be the bridge between these groups. Let the Operations and IT organizations stay inside their equipment, and let the facilities groups maintain the facility itself. Data Center professionals should have the appropriate knowledge to communicate with all of the above mentioned organizations and act as translators when necessary to get the appropriate requirements fulfilled.

Effective data center professionals in today's market, certified or not, have knowledge in at least the following areas: power distribution and allocation, thermo dynamics, and infrastructure cabling. Those 3 concepts are key to the effective design, build and maintenance of a data center facility, no matter the size. While I agree that there are other skillsets not mentioned here, I think these are the top 3.

Randy...I urge you to push for standardized training and education in these 3 areas.

I am very open to comments, questions and input...as I am sure Randy is as well! Feel free to comment on this blog, or in the LinkedIN group "Data Center & IT Ops Education Committee".

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I am often asked for recommendations for co-location facilities, and I always respond with "What is important to you in a co-lo?" and I have not gotten the same answer twice.

So, I now put it out there, what are the Top 5 considerations when picking a new co-lo?

If I were to answer, I would say:

5. Remote Hands Services - There is nothing worse than dispatching a Senior Sys Admin to reboot a machine at 2:00am because there is nobody at the co-lo.

4. Growth Potential - Nobody assumes they are going to stay in a 4 rack cage forever. Is it possible to get contiguous space? If not, how far apart are the available spaces? If I take non-contiguous space, are the cross connects free?

3. Available Power - There is nothing worse than having rack space left, but no power to turn anything on.

2. Reliability - What is the site's uptime record? When was the last failure? How many customers did it affect? What is the sites redundancy N+1, N+2, S+S?

1. Location - Location is important for a slew of reasons, disaster zones, ease of travel, local talent pool, etc. You may chose to keep your data close to your office, close to your customer base, or off in the boonies...there is no hard and fast rule for where your data needs to live, it's all customer specific.

Now, keep in mind this is a rather generic list. Some companies may not need Remote Hands because they have dedicated staff for such functions; while other companies may require SAS70 or similar reporting or compliance items. What are your top 5?

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