How to design and build a data center

Designing an efficient data center is no

small feat. Review data center facility and
infrastructure components and different
standards before you begin.

Stephen J. Bigelow, (https://www.techtarget.com/contributor/Stephen-

J-Bigelow) Senior Technology Editor
Published: 18 May 2022
A data center is the technological hub of modern enterprise
operations. The data center provides the critical IT
infrastructure needed to deliver resources and services to
business employees, partners and customers around the
world.

A small or midsize business can often implement a useful

"data center
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/dat
a-center)" within the confines of a closet or other convenient
room with few modifications, if any. However, the sheer scale
involved in enterprise computing demands a large dedicated
space that is carefully designed to support the space, power,
cooling, management, reliability and security needs of the IT
infrastructure.

As a result, a data center facility represents the single largest

and most expensive asset that the business will possess --
both in terms of capital investment and recurring operational
expenses. Business and IT leaders must pay close attention
to the issues involved in data center design and construction
to ensure that the resulting facility meets business needs
throughout the facility's lifecycle and changing business
circumstances.

What are the main components of a data center?

There are two principal aspects to any data center: the facility,
and the IT infrastructure that resides within the facility. These
aspects coexist and work together, but they can be discussed
separately.

Facility. The facility is the physical building used for the data
center. In simplest terms, a data center is just a big open
space where infrastructure will be deployed. Although almost
any space has the potential to operate some amount of IT
infrastructure, a properly designed facility considers the
following array of factors:

Space. There must be sufficient floor space -- a simple

measure of square feet or square meters -- to hold all the IT
infrastructure that the business intends to deploy now and in
the future. The space must be located on a well-considered
site with affordable taxes and access. The space is often
subdivided to accommodate different purposes or use types.

Power. There must be adequate power -- in watts, often as

much as 100 megawatts -- to operate all the IT infrastructure.
Power must be affordable, clean -- meaning free of fluctuation
or disruption -- and reliable. Renewable and
supplemental/auxiliary power must be included.

Cooling. The enormous amount of power delivered to a data

center is converted into computing -- i.e., work -- and a lot of
heat, which must be removed from the IT infrastructure using
conventional HVAC systems, as well as other unconventional
cooling technologies
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/Data-
center-cooling-systems-and-technologies-and-how-they-work).

Security. Considering the value of the data center and its

critical importance to the business, the data center must
include controlled access using a variety of tactics, ranging
from employee badge access to video surveillance.
 Management. Modern data centers typically incorporate a
building management system (BMS) designed to help IT and
business leaders oversee the data center environment in real
time, including oversight of temperature, humidity
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/Data-
center-temperature-and-humidity-guidelines), power and
cooling levels, as well as access and security logging.

Large enterprises can require very large data centers, like this Google data center in
Douglas County, Ga.

Infrastructure. An infrastructure represents the vast array of

IT gear deployed within the facility. This is the equipment that
runs applications and provides services to the business and
its users. A typical IT infrastructure includes the following
components:

Servers. These computers host enterprise applications and

perform computing tasks.

Storage. Subsystems, such as disk arrays, are used to store

and protect application and business data.

Networking. The gear needed to create a business network

includes switches, routers, firewalls and other cybersecurity
elements.
 Cables and racks. Miles of wires interconnect IT gear, and
physical server racks are used to organize servers and other
gear within the facility space.

Backup power. Uninterruptible power supply

(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/uni
nterruptible-power-supply) (UPS), flywheel and other
emergency power systems are critical to ensure orderly
infrastructure behavior in the event of a main power
disruption.

Management platforms. One or more data center

infrastructure management (DCIM)
(https://searchconvergedinfrastructure.techtarget.com/definit
ion/data-center-infrastructure-management-DCIM) platforms
are needed to oversee and manage the IT infrastructure
reporting on system health, availability, capacity and
configuration.

When a business decides to design and build a data center,

the natural focus is on the design and construction of the
facility. But IT leaders must also consider the infrastructure
that will go into the facility to validate the project.

How to design a data center

There are no required or obligated standards for data center

design or construction; a data center is intended to fit the
unique needs of the overall business, not the reverse.
However, the primary purpose of any standard is to establish
a common platform of best practices. An assortment of
current data center standards exists, and a business can
incorporate one or more standards -- or parts of standards --
into a data center project. Standards help ensure adequate
attention is placed on these factors, among others:

5 Data Center Design Considerations

Below are just some of the major data center design and
infrastructure standards:

Uptime Institute Tier Standard. The Uptime Institute Tier

Standard
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/Upt
ime-data-center-tier-standards) focuses on data center
design, construction and commissioning, and it is used to
determine the resilience of the facility as related to four levels
of redundancy/reliability.

ANSI/TIA 942-B. This standard involves planning, design,

construction and commissioning of building trades, as well as
fire protection, IT and maintenance. It also uses four levels of
reliability ratings, implemented by BICSI-certified
professionals.

EN 50600 series. This series of standards focuses on IT cable

and network design and has various infrastructure
redundancy and reliability concepts that are loosely based on
the Uptime Institute's Tier Standard.

ASHRAE. The ASHRAE

(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/AS
HRAE) guidelines -- which are not specific to IT or data
 centers -- relate to the design and implementation of heating,
ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and related fields.

Data center tier standards outline what is required to ensure reliability and
performance needs are met.

In addition, there are many varied regulatory and operational

standards that can be applied to data centers. Regulatory
standards include HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, SAS 70 Type I
or II and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Operational standards can
include ISO 9000 for quality, ISO 14000 for environmental
management, ISO 27001 for information security, Payment
Card Industry Data Security Standard for payment card
security and EN 50600-2-6 regarding management and
operational information.

Standards help ensure proper data center design,

construction and operation. In addition, the adoption and
careful documentation of relevant standards use can help a
business ensure adequate compliance through proper facility
resilience, management and business continuance
preparations.

Physical space and data center organization

At its heart, a data center facility is little more than a big open
space -- a carefully prepared warehouse intended to host and
operate demanding IT infrastructure. Although an enterprise-
class data center can be a large and complex undertaking, the
foremost issue is a simple matter of space expressed as
square feet or square meters.

Perhaps the most significant and perplexing space issue is

right-sizing the data center for the business
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/feature/What-
you-should-consider-when-right-sizing-a-data-center). Data
centers are incredibly expensive: too small, and the data
center might not meet current or future business needs; too
big, and enormous capital can be wasted in providing unused
space. It's critical to establish a facility that offers capacity for
growth yet optimizes utilization. Data center sizing is
sometimes considered an art in itself. Myriad other factors to
consider within a data center space include the following:

Lighting. Most data center lighting is low or off without

human presence.

Temperature. Cooling demands can keep temperatures low,

so humans might need some protective clothing.

Noise. The cooling fans in dozens -- even hundreds -- of

servers can produce a cacophony that requires hearing
protection.

Weight. Equipment is heavy, and flooring must be designed to

bear the extreme weight. Special weight considerations might
be needed for raised flooring used to handle cooling airflows.

Beyond the physical space, data center designs must include

a careful consideration of equipment locations and layouts --
i.e., where the IT infrastructure is placed within the facility.
The most common feature of any data center layout is the
server rack -- or, simply, rack. A rack is an empty metal frame
with standard spacing and mounting options intended to hold
standardized rack-mounted IT gear, such as servers, storage
subsystems, networking gear, cabling, auxiliary power
systems such as UPS devices, and I/O options such as
keyboards and monitors for administrative access.

This image shows an IT professional installing and maintaining high-capacity, rack-

mounted systems in a data center.

Racks also play a vital role in data center cooling schemes.

Racks of gear are commonly organized to create hot and cold
aisles
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/hot
-cold-aisle) that can improve cooling efficiency by allowing the
introduction of cooled air into a cold aisle, which is heated by
gear and delivered into a hot aisle, where the heated air can
be effectively removed from the room. The organization of
aisles can also help
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/Explore-
hot-and-cold-aisle-containment-for-your-data-center) facilitate
the introduction of additional doors and security measures at
the ends of each aisle to limit human access.

Data center security

Data center security typically involves the three distinct
aspects of access security, facility security and cybersecurity.

Access security. Any discussion of data center facilities must

involve a consideration of physical security. Physical security
is the management of human personnel and the protection of
the physical facility as well as its IT infrastructure. When
implemented properly, security ensures that only authorized
personnel have access to the facility and gear, and that all
human activities are documented. Security can involve the
following array of measures:

Facility security. Physical security also extends to the

integrity of the data center environment, including
temperature, humidity and smoke/fire/flood conditions. This
aspect of data center protection is often handled by a BMS
that monitors and reports environmental or emergency
conditions to building managers.

Cybersecurity. Cybersecurity focuses on controlling access to

enterprise data and applications hosted within the data
center's IT infrastructure. Cybersecurity is intended to ensure
that only properly authenticated users can access data or use
applications, and that any breaches are reported and
addressed immediately. For example, physical security
prevents a human from touching a disk in the data center,
while cybersecurity prevents that same human from
accessing data on the disk from hundreds of miles away
across a network. Cybersecurity uses a mix of antimalware,
configuration management, intrusion detection/prevention,
activity logging and other tools in order to oversee network
activity and identify potential threats.

Data center power and performance demands

Power is a perpetual challenge for any enterprise-class data
center. A large facility can consume about 100 megawatts --
enough to power around 80,000 homes -- and power poses
the single biggest Opex for an enterprise-class data center.
Therefore, data center operators place the following demands
on utility power:

Cost. Power must be as inexpensive as possible.

Quality. Power must be electrically clean (i.e., free of

undesirable electrical noise, surges and spikes).

Reliability. Power must be free of brownouts, blackouts or

other disruptions.

These issues are increasingly addressed with locally

generated and increasingly renewable options, including wind,
solar and on-site generation.

But for a business to understand power issues for any data

center site, it's important that data center designers and IT
leaders calculate the power demands of the facility and its IT
infrastructure. It's this benchmark that enables a business to
understand approximate power costs and discuss capacity
with regional utilities.

There is no single means of estimating power requirements.

For the facility, power is a straightforward estimate of lighting
and HVAC demands. IT infrastructure power demands can be
more convoluted because server power requirements
fluctuate with workload -- i.e., how much work the
applications are doing -- and the configuration of each server,
including the selection of CPU, installed memory and other
expansion devices, such as GPUs.

Traditional power estimates include rack-based

(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/answer/How-
do-I-estimate-server-power-consumption-per-rack) and
nameplate-based approaches.

The rack-based approach generally assigns a standardized

power-per-rack estimate. For example, an IT leader might
assign an estimate of 7 kW to 10 kW per rack. If the data
center plans to deploy 50 racks, the power estimate is a
simple multiple. A similar approach is a general estimate of
data center in watts per square foot (W/ft2). However, since
this approach pays little attention to the equipment installed
in each rack, it is often the most inaccurate means of power
estimation.

The nameplate-based approach enables IT leaders to add up

the power requirement listed on the nameplate of each server
or other IT device. This is a more granular approach and can
typically yield better estimates. Still, the power demand listed
on each device nameplate can be notoriously inaccurate and
doesn't consider the actual work the device is doing.

A more recent approach is to use actual power measurements

per server, taken with IT power-handling devices, such as
intelligent power distribution units (PDUs)
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/Does-
your-data-center-need-a-smart-PDU), located within each rack.
Actual measurements can yield the most accurate estimates
and give data center operators a better sense of how power
demands and costs can fluctuate with workload demands.

Finally, utility power will inevitably experience occasional

disruptions in generation and distribution, so data centers
must include one or more options for redundant or backup
power. There can be several layers of secondary power put in
place, depending on which issues the business intends to
guard against.

At the facility level, a data center can incorporate diesel or

natural gas-powered backup generators capable of running
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/feature/Data-
center-backup-generators-for-mission-critical-loads) the entire
facility over the long term. Backup power can be
supplemented by local renewable energy sources, such as
solar or wind farms. At the IT infrastructure level, racks can
incorporate UPS options, which provide short-term battery
backups to enable an orderly system shutdown when power
disruptions become unavoidable.

A full-time double conversion UPS design under normal utility power.

A dual conversion UPS design when utility power fails.

Data center cooling systems

The power delivered to a data center is translated into work

performed by the IT infrastructure, as well as an undesirable
byproduct: heat. This heat must be removed from servers and
systems, and then exhausted from the data center.
Consequently, cooling systems are a critical concern for data
center designers and operators.

There are two primary cooling issues. The first issue is the
amount of cooling required
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/How-to-
calculate-data-center-cooling-requirements), which ultimately
defines the size or capacity of the data center's HVAC
subsystems. However, designers must make the translation
from the data center's power demand in watts (W) to cooling
capacity gauged in tons (t) -- i.e., the amount of heat energy
required to melt one ton of ice at 32 degrees Fahrenheit in one
hour. The typical calculation first requires the conversion of
watts into British thermal units (BTU) per hour, which can then
be converted into tons:

W x 3.41 = BTU/hour

BTU/hour / 12,000 = t
The key is understanding the data center's power demands in
watts and planned scalability, so it's important to right-size
the building's cooling subsystem. If the cooling system is too
small, the data center can't hold or scale the expected amount
of IT infrastructure. If the cooling system is too large, it poses
a costly and inefficient utility for the business.

The second cooling issue for data centers is efficient use and
handling of cooled and heated air. For an ordinary human
space, just introducing cooled air from one vent and then
exhausting warmed air from another vent elsewhere in the
room causes mixing and temperature averaging that yields
adequate human comfort. But this common home and office
approach doesn't work well in data centers, where racks of
equipment create extreme heat in concentrated spaces.
Racks of extremely hot gear demand careful application of
cooled air, and then deliberate containment and removal of
heated exhaust. Data center designers must take care to
avoid the mixing of hot and cold air that keeps human air-
conditioned spaces so comfortable.

Designers routinely address server room air handling through

the use of containment schemes, such as hot aisle/cold aisle
layouts. Consider two rows of equipment racks, where the
rears face each other (see second diagram below). Cold air
from the HVAC system is introduced into the aisles in front of
each row of racks, while the heated air is collected and
exhausted from the common hot aisle. Additional physical
barriers are added to prevent the heated air from mixing with
the cooled air. Such containment schemes offer a very
efficient use of HVAC capacity.

In data centers that don't use a hot/cold aisle design, the cooling units aren't always
able to efficiently cool equipment.

In data centers designed around hot/cold aisles, the cooling units are able to more
efficiently cool equipment.
Other approaches to cooling include end of row and top of
rack air-conditioning systems, which introduce cooled air into
portions of a row of racks and exhaust heated air into hot
aisles.

Some data centers even embrace emerging liquid cooling

technologies that immerse IT gear in baths of chilled,
electrically neutral liquids, such as mineral oils. The liquid
chiller is small and power-efficient, and liquids can offer many
times more heat transfer efficiency than air cooling
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/feature/Liqui
d-cooling-vs-air-cooling-in-the-data-center). However, liquid
cooling faces other challenges, including leaks/flooding, part
corrosion or susceptibility to liquid intrusion, liquid filtering
and cleanliness, and human safety.

This diagram shows the basic concepts of room-, row- and rack-based cooling
architectures. The blue arrows indicate the relation of the primary cooling supply paths
to the room.

Data center efficiency and sustainability

Today's concerns about the environmental impact of CO2

emissions from power generation have prompted many
organizations to place new emphasis on the efficiency and
sustainability of the data center.

Efficiency is fundamentally a measure of work done versus

the amount of energy used to do that work. If all that input
energy is successfully converted into useful work, the
efficiency is 100%. If none of that input energy results in
successful work, the efficiency is 0%. Businesses seek to
improve efficiency toward 100% so that every dollar spent in
energy is driving useful data center work.

Measures such as power usage effectiveness (PUE

(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/po
wer-usage-effectiveness-PUE)) are available to help
organizations gauge efficiency. PUE is calculated as the
power entering the data center divided by the power used in
the IT infrastructure. This yields a simple ratio that
approaches 1.0 as efficiency approaches 100%, and the
corresponding percentage is expressed as data center
infrastructure efficiency. Businesses can improve the PUE
ratio by reducing the amount of energy in non-IT uses, such as
reducing lighting and cooling in non-IT spaces and
implementing other energy-efficient building designs.

Power usage effectiveness is a metric used to assess the efficiency of a data center.

Sustainability is another concern. Power generation creates

pollution that is believed to drive climate change and reduce
the health of the planet. Creating a sustainable or green data
center
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/gre
en-data-center) means to strive for net zero carbon emissions
for the power that drives data centers. Net zero means that
energy is obtained from renewable sources that add zero CO2
to the atmosphere.

In some cases, the business can choose to approach net zero

by using power from nonpolluting sources
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/feature/Get-
started-with-green-energy-for-your-data-center), such as solar
or wind farms. In other cases, power can be purchased from
power providers capable of capturing or recovering an
equivalent amount of CO2 emitted in energy production,
yielding net zero emissions. To achieve net zero, businesses
must embrace energy conservation, energy efficiency -- such
as PUE initiatives -- and renewable nonpolluting energy
sources.

Reduce data storage energy consumption to run a greener data center.

Data center design best practices

There is no single way to design a data center, and countless

designs exist that cater to the unique needs of each business.
But the following strategies can produce a data center design
with superior efficiency and sustainability
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/Considera
tions-for-sustainable-data-center-design):

Measure power efficiency. Data center operators can't

manage what they don't measure, so use metrics such as PUE
to oversee the efficiency of the data center. PUE should be a
continuous measurement taken at frequent intervals, year-
round, as seasons and weather can affect power usage.

Revisit airflow. Cooling is essential to safe operation of IT

infrastructure, but airflow must be managed and optimized.
This can include limiting hot air/cold air mixing, using hot
aisle/cold aisle containment schemes and even using
blanking plates to cover unused rack openings, which
prevents cooled air from flowing to places that don't cool any
gear.

Raise the temperature. The colder a server room is, the more
power-hungry and expensive it is. Rather than keeping the
server room colder, evaluate the effect of actually raising the
temperature. For example, rather than running a cold aisle at
68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit, consider running the cold aisle at
 78 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Most IT gear can tolerate
elevated temperatures in this way.

Try alternative cooling. An HVAC system might be standard

for data centers, but consider ways to reduce or eliminate
dependence on conventional HVAC. For example, data centers
in cooler climates might reduce HVAC use and introduce
cooler outside air -- termed free cooling -- into the facility.
Similarly, HVAC can be supplemented or replaced by water-
cooled chillers -- i.e., economizers -- or other heat-exchange
technologies that use far less energy.

Improve power distribution. Data center power efficiency is

often lost due to inefficiency in power-handling
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/Four-
ways-to-reduce-data-center-power-consumption) and
distribution devices, such as equipment transformers, PDUs
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/po
wer-distribution-unit-PDU) and UPS gear. Use high-efficiency
power distribution gear and minimize gear -- both of which
result in fewer steps and opportunities for loss.

Data center design challenges

Although there is no single uniform formula for data center
design and construction, there are numerous perpetual
challenges faced by data center designers and operators.
Below are several broad considerations and challenges:

Scalability. A data center is a long-term installation that can

remain in service for decades, but the data center operating
today may differ significantly from the data center operating
one or two decades from now. Designers must consider ways
of handling today's workloads and services, while also
considering how those resources should scale well into the
future. The challenge is in providing room for growth in space,
power and cooling while mitigating the costs of such capacity
until it's needed.

Flexibility. A data center is a bit like a heavy manufacturing

floor: Equipment is put into place but can be almost
impossible to move and change as demands evolve. An
inability to move gear and shift aisles can prevent businesses
from adapting and changing to meet new business demands.
The challenge is meeting the needs for change without
downtime or costly and time-consuming redesign.

Resilience. A business relies on its data center. If the data

center doesn't work, the business doesn't work. Power
disruptions, network disruptions, environmental catastrophes
and even hacking and other acts of malice can take down a
data center. Designers face the challenge of understanding
the most prevalent threats and designing appropriate
resilience to meet those threats.

Change. New computing technologies and new requirements

are always being developed and introduced. Data center
designers must consider how to adapt and incorporate often-
unforeseeable changes without the need to fundamentally
redesign the IT infrastructure to accommodate each change.
Data center infrastructure management software
and tools

Data centers are complex organisms that require continuous

monitoring and management at both the facility and IT
infrastructure levels. Data center operators typically employ
DCIM tools
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/feature/A-
close-look-at-DCIM-software-and-the-broad-vendor-options) to
provide perspective into the operation of both the facility and
infrastructure. An array of common management tasks
needed to operate a data center includes the following:

Observation and oversight. Observation tasks include

monitoring power, temperature and humidity
(https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/Learn-
about-ambient-temperature-sensors-for-data-centers) within
the facility. Observation within the infrastructure can include
available capacity, meaning which systems are utilized and
which are free; application health to monitor the proper
operation of key enterprise workloads; and overall uptime or
availability. Observation tasks are commonly linked to alerting
and ticketing systems for prioritizing and remediating
problems as they are detected.

Preparation and remediation. Data center management also

involves preparation tasks, such as disaster recovery and
backup processes, as well as workload migration capabilities
for enabling timely system service tasks. Remediation tasks
include routine service, along with periodic system upgrades
and ad hoc system troubleshooting and repair.

Capacity and capability. Data center management is also

about planning for the future. Management tools can oversee
current capacity -- i.e., used versus free resources -- and help
data center operators track utilization in order to plan for
more capacity. They also help support regular improvements
to data center capability, such as system upgrades,
 technology refreshes and the introduction of new data center
technologies.

Management is a pivotal element in business service

assurance and service level agreements (SLAs). Many data
centers are bound by some form of SLA -- either to internal
departments or divisions or to external business partners and
customers. Monitoring and management with DCIM and other
tools are essential in guaranteeing adherence to an SLA
(https://www.bmc.com/blogs/sla-compliance/) or identifying
SLA violations that can be promptly isolated and remediated.
In addition, comprehensive monitoring and management help
ensure business continuance and disaster recovery, which
can be vital for today's regulatory compliance obligations.