Data Center

Definition

A data center is an application development implementation work product consisting of a facility housing one or more production environments (e.g., server computers, network connectivity devices, databases, applications) that is used by the operations organization to perform data processing for user organizations.

Objectives

The typical objectives of a data center are to:

• Support numerous users of common applications and databases.

Benefits

The typical benefits of a data center are:

• Users need not have extensive computing resources on their personal desktops.
• Operational costs are diminished due to economies of scale.
• Data centers provide increased quality factors such as operational availability, reliability, robustness, scalability, security.
• Users have access to expensive capabilities.
• Users need not perform their own system and network administration.
• Organizations can better enforce standardization.

Contents

The typical contents of a data center include:

• Server computers.
• Operations consoles.
• Networks including cabling and network connectivity devices.
• Applications.
• Databases.
• Mass storage devices:
  • Tape drives.
  • Hard drives.
  • Tape libraries.
  • Disk libraries.
• Peripheral equipment including printers.
• Support systems including:
  • Normal electrical and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).
  • Air-conditioning.
  • Fire suppression equipment.
  • Physical security devices.

Stakeholders

The typical stakeholders of a data center include:

• Producers:
  • Environments Team
• Evaluators:
  • Environments Inspection Team
• Approvers:
  • Technical Leader
  • Project Manager
  • Customer Representative
• Maintainers:
  • Environments Team
• Users:
  • Operations Team
  • User Organization

Phases

A data center is typically produced during the following phases:

• Business Strategy: Not Applicable
• Business Optimization: Completed
• Initiation: Not Applicable
• Construction: Started
• Delivery: Completed
• Usage: Maintained
• Retirment: Archived

Preconditions

A data center can typically be started if the following preconditions hold:

• The data center architecture document is relatively complete and stable.
• Funding for facilities and capital expendatures exist.
• Approval has been granted.
• Adequate staffing exists.

Inputs

The typical inputs to a data center include:

• Work Products:
  • Data Center Architecture Document
• Stakeholders:
  • Computer Operators
  • Data Center Manager
  • System Architects
  • Systems Administrators
  • Vendor Representatives

Guidelines

• TBD

Conventions

A data center is typically constrained by the following conventions:

• Inspection Checklist

Examples

• The development organization’s data center.
• The operation organization’s data center.
• A back-up data center.