What is a Data Centre?

• The data centre stack
• Types of data centre

The Design Planning Process

• Main design considerations
• Developing a project plan

Scoping the Requirement

• Identifying key stakeholders
• Market and political drivers
• National and international standards
• Availability and resilience classifications
• Introduction to availability models (Uptime Tier, TIA 942-B Rating, BICSI Classes & Syska Hennessy Critical Levels)
• Recommendations for location, size, heights, floor loading, lighting and décor

Whitespace Floor

• National and international standards
• Structural and load requirements
• Recommended floor heights
• Airflow and sealing
• Ramps and access
• Seismic protection
• Slab floor construction considerations

Cabinets

• Requirements of a cabinet
• Security, safety and stabilisation
• Clearance, accessibility and ventilation
• Cable management
• Seismic stability considerations
• Design specifications

Power

• Regulations and codes
• The meaning of N, N+1 2(N+1), etc
• Power delivery and distribution losses
• Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) options
• Generator considerations
• Power distribution units
• Power distribution to, and in, a rack
• Remote Power Panels (RPPs)
• Emergency Power Off (EPO)
• Estimating power requirements

Cooling

• National and international standards
• Basics of air conditioning principles
• CRAHs and CRACs
• ASHRAE operational parameters
• Underfloor plenum approach
• Hot aisle/cold aisle layout principle
• Hot and cold aisle containment
• Psychrometric charts
• Min and max throw distances for underfloor air
• Bypass and recirculation
• Airflow management
• Chilled water racks, CO2, free air cooling

Earthing & Bonding

• Applicable standards
• The terminology of earthing, grounding and bonding
• Equipotential bonding
• Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)
• Functional earths
• The Signal Reference Grid (SRG)

Cable Containment, Management & Protection

• Applicable standards
• Separation of power and data cables
• Administration and labelling
• Types of conduit, trunking, tray, etc, available
• Earthing and bonding
• Containment fill ratio
• Underfloor vs overhead containment
• Cable management, in and to a rack
• Fire stopping

Delivering the IT Strategy

• Data centre equipment
• Functions and protocols, current and future
• Data centre connections
• Cabling requirements
• Cabling standards
• Cabling options
• The impact of 40G and 100G
• The impact of virtualisation

Copper & Optical Fibre Cabling Connectivity

• Cabling standards
• Cable standards supporting 10GBASE-T, CAT6A & Cat 7A & Cat 8
• Screened vs unscreened cables
• High density patching
• Alien crosstalk
• Copper test requirements
• Design for growth management
• Channel connections
• Connection topologies
• Optical connectors, past and present
• Optical fibre management
• Types of optical cable
• Pre-terminated cabling
• Advantages/disadvantages of pre-terminating cables
• Optical component loss and link power budgets
• Application link loss
• Optical testing requirements
• Pre-terminated cabling

Safety & Manageability

• Local codes and regulations
• Fire safety plan
• ASD and detection systems
• Fire suppression systems
• Fire safety cable requirements
• Security and access control

Commission & handover

• Benefits of commissioning
• Commission process and test sequence
• Handover process and training
• Lessons learned

Power Review

• Power consumption trends
• Energy availability, security and cost
• Energy challenges facing the data centre

Power Regulations

• Which regulations affect data centres?
• Environmental regulations and pressures
• Energy and environmental programs

Power Basics

• Ohm’s law, Joule’s law, the Kirchhoff laws
• Electrical parameters
• AC and DC
• Single phase and three phase
• Residual currents
• Harmonics

Power to the Data Centre

• Where does the electricity come from?
• Electrical supply options
• Transformers
• Surge suppression devices
• Costs of electrical power
• Types of tariff available
• Alternate power supply options

Distribution in the Data Centre

• Electrical circuit requirements
• Switching devices
• Power factor correction units
• Automatic and static transfer switches
• Main, feeder, sub-main circuits
• Power distribution units
• Remote power panels
• Final circuits
• Cable and fuse sizing
• Power distribution and associated losses
• TN-S systems
• Energy efficiency

Standby Power

• UPS components, batteries and redundant systems
• UPS options and considerations
• Static and maintenance bypasses
• Standby generators

Cooling Review

• Data Centre limiting factors
• Sources of cooling inefficiencies
• Cooling trends

Regulatory Climate

• Which regulations affect data centres?
• Environmental pressures
• Cooling efficiency
• Design considerations and planning redundancy
• Overview of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
• Periodic review process

Environmental Parameters

• Standards (NEBS, ETSI, ASHRAE)
• Operating environment ranges
• Rate of change
• ASHRAE psychrometric charts
• Humidification systems
• The need for sensors
• Measuring and monitoring

Collecting the Heat

• Cooling system overview
• CRACs and CRAHs
• Maximising existing investment
• Rack vs row options
• Dynamics and problems of air flow
• Liquid cooling
• Comparison of high-density cooling
• Available cooling options

Heat Rejection Or Reuse

• Heat transfer considerations
• DX systems
• Chilled water CRAHs
• Chiller options
• Adiabatic cooling
• CWS and CHWS plant
• Design considerations
• Free cooling and free-air cooling
• Commissioning maintenance
• Planned preventative maintenance

Energy Use Systems

• Energy efficiency issues
• Layers of inefficiency
• Power system provision
• Cooling system provision
• Understanding areas of improvements

IT Infrastructure

• Extending the operating envelope
• Environment zones
• Accurate IT calculations
• Energy use in the IT equipment
• Software and storage considerations
• Transformation options
• Energy efficient IT equipment

Power Systems

• Energy use in the data centre
• DC power train
• Matching the support to the IT load
• Transformer efficiencies
• UPS and motor efficiencies
• DCiE for modular provisioning
• Maximising the power factor
• Measuring and monitoring
• Infrared inspections
• Planned electrical safety inspections
• Implementing data centre electrical efficiency

Cooling Efficiency

• Cooling a cascade system
• Affinity laws and cooling equation
• CRAC and CRAH efficiencies
• Optimising airside systems and waterside systems
• DCiE for cooling options
• Diagnostic and site specific monitoring
• Design considerations

Data Centre Metrics

• Where and what can we measure?
• The metric stack
• Metric characteristics
• Current industry metrics (PUE, CUE, WUE, ERE, RCI and RTI)
• Chained value metrics (CADE)
• Proxy metrics (FVER, DPPE, DCeP)

Efficiency Models & Best Practices

• Energy calculations
• Levels of modelling
• Modelling tools
• Sources of guidance
• Effective vs Efficient
• The DC language barrier
• the multi-functional team
• Design for efficiency, operability and flexibility
• Industry recognised best practices

Design Management

• Characteristics of project management
• Key project processes
• Identifying and engaging with key stakeholders
• Setting goals
• Prioritisation of activities
• Cornerstones of project management

Managing the Design Process

• What is to be delivered?
• What constraints are there?
• Managing dependencies
• Managing the tribes
• Managing conflict
• Identifying risk
• Risk and issue management
• Change management
• Reporting and communication

Managing the Design Implementation Process

• Project charter and specification
• Risk assessment and management
• Scope management
• Float and critical path
• Human resource management
• Project integration and work breakdown structure
• Time and cost management
• Handover and progressive acceptance