Choosing the Right Data Center for Disaster Recovery Planning
How to select the best data center for your business using nine key factors
Winter 2011
Companies need a disaster recovery plan to limit the crippling effects of a disaster. Disasters can include human error or natural occurrences such as hurricanes, flooding, or earthquakes. Many large companies spend 2-4 percent of their dedicated IT budgets on disaster recovery planning. This investment helps avoid additional losses to the business associated with IT infrastructure failure. It is important to carefully assess the data center components involved in disaster recovery planning to ensure that time and money is well spent. Here are nine key elements to consider when choosing the right data center.
1. Location
A data center that offers an optimal environment to keep the facility running with minimal down time and low operating costs is a high priority. An optimal environment has a low risk of natural disasters, a favorable business climate, and a rich technology talent pool. Companies are shying away from coastal regions because of hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires, and from high-profile metro areas because of the threat of terrorism. The best cities for data centers are in the central and southwestern United States due to the lower incidences of natural disasters, according to a 2010 study by the Boyd Company.
Carrier-neutral network access is also important. Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, and Raleigh-Durham are the some of the most popular data center cities, as they are rich with fiber options. Other criteria to consider when selecting a data center location are the price and reliability of power in the area. Incentives, such as cheaper taxes and rates from local governments and utilities, also influence the data center site decision.
2. Reliability
A reliable infrastructure eliminates points of failure and employs total redundancy where necessary. The mechanical plant within a data center includes power, electrical, and cooling systems, which keep it operating smoothly 24/7/365. The mechanical and electrical systems should be designed with multiple levels of redundancy. For instance, data centers often have multiple generators to ensure backup power is available in case of a utility outage.
Building a data center that is fully redundant at every level can be cost-prohibitive, and some data center operators choose not to make this investment. Review the data center system design and the provider's track record on outages, availability, and service level history. The data center provider should describe in detail ongoing maintenance for any of its critical systems and standard procedures for correcting an issue.
3. Redundant Utilities
Data centers often have redundancy built into the primary power, water, and network utilities. Data centers should provide independent, reliable, scalable, and resilient power with diverse feeds entering the facility. Diverse feeds act as added insurance to keep operations running seamlessly if one feed is compromised.
Ideally, choose a data center that not only has diverse power feeds, but with feeds that originate from more than one substation. A data center should also have two separate water utility feeds. At the network level, data centers should be designed with dual entrances for all providers and carriers, which further increase reliability and uptime.
Project Announcements
Apex Plastics Opens Expanded Production Plant In Brookfield, Missouri
09/22/2014
Japan-Based Bridgestone Rubber-BSA Opens Biorubber Process Research Center In Mesa, Arizona
09/22/2014
SpencerARL Expands Its Plattsburgh, New York, Manufacturing Facility
09/22/2014
Hill International, Inc. Relocates Corporate Headquarters To Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
09/22/2014
Prysmian Group Plans $8.2 Million Expansion At Abbeville County, South Carolina, Manufacturing Center
09/22/2014
Japan-Based Kowa Kentucky Plans $8.3 Million Manufacturing Facility In Corbin, Kentucky
09/22/2014
Most Read
-
Top States for Doing Business in 2024: A Continued Legacy of Excellence
Q3 2024
-
The Role of Rail in Industrial Development
Q4 2024
-
Cold Storage: The Next Big Thing in Industrial Real Estate
Q3 2024
-
Which AI Tools Work for Job Recruiters?
Q3 2024
-
Exploring the Dynamic Landscape of Industrial Packaging Solutions
Q3 2024
-
Permitted Power Capacity Foreshadows Health of Regional Economies
Q3 2024
-
What If the Longshoremen's Strike Had Persisted? Examining the Potential Economic Fallout
Q4 2024