Notes from the Consultant's Jungle

Last month I was asked to do a presentation about data center security for a Data Center Dynamics conference in Atlanta.  In my presentation, I offered an explanation of how the traditional CIA fundamental security model projected onto functional dimensions of data center operations and the role of the data center to the Business.  It [...]

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We are conducting a poll to gauge Business’ perception of data center tier ratings, here in late 2011. Why are we doing this?  Well, we are seeing that perceptions about shopping for data centers with tier level as a requirement are changing.  We are seeing that, now that the community has had time to think [...]

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The process for drafting indicative pricing for data center IT installations typically follows a predicable path.  First, the configuration of IT kit is examined for expected power dissipation.  With the power estimates in hand, cooling and physical space estimates can be drafted.  With power, cooling, and space estimates, one can propose rack configurations for candidate [...]

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For another point of view on the topic of “flat data center networks” we share the following discussion with Nic Ilyadis of Broadcom.  Nic does a great job of explaining the motivation for this development, and the scenarios under which it’s a good fit, as well as advice toward building the data center network as [...]

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For the past year or so, pundits in the industry have prophesied about the coming of the “flattened data center network.”  What exactly are we talking about here when we say “flattened network?” There are a number of drivers that favor moving away from the common three and four-tier data center networks with Layer 2 [...]

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Tomorrow will be the second DataCenter Dynamics (DCD) conference to be held in Atlanta, Georgia.  The title for this year’s event is “Designing for Demand,” and addresses changes in the data center marketplace in terms of the impact that “the cloud” is having on the vision of the mission critical facility. On the agenda are [...]

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This morning I was reading a short piece by Gary Beach, Publisher Emeritus of CIO Magazine in which he asks if he’s “certifiably nuts” for encouraging broad-based, state-administered technology certification programs.  The short answer from me- no, not really.   I would though, like to support the spirit of Gary’s call with my own encouragement.

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I’ve just returned from a meeting in Washington, DC in which we were assessing training material for certification on the new BICSI data center design best practices.   Along with the fact that I’ve been approached lately with a number of site security assessment requests, it was interesting to review the guidance on data center [...]

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Many of the engagements that we work involve producing the initial conceptual layout for construction of a data center.  As a certified design consultant, we draw upon best practices reflected in the BICSI-002 standard, TIA-942, et. al.  Even when the raw space with which we’re working is a nice big rectangle, this job can be [...]

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