Standardization in the Data Center Transcript

Standardization in the Data Center P a g e | 1

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Standardization in the Data Center

Transcript

Slide 1: Introduction

Welcome to our course on Standardization in the Data Center.

Slide 2: Welcome

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Slide 3: Objectives

At the completion of this course, you will be able to:

Define physical infrastructure

Describe the fundamental attributes of standardization in the data center

Identify how standardization can address some of the challenges that data center managers face

List the benefits that standardization brings to the data center

Explain how utilizing standardization processes increases physical infrastructure business value

Slide 4: Introduction

Standardization is a time-tested strategy for organizing and streamlining business. It is a powerful concept that has

established itself as a critical ally in managing processes. From driving a car, to replacing a battery in a flashlight, its

influence is at work behind the scenes to make life more convenient, predictable, affordable, understandable, and

safe.

The information technology (IT) industry is overdue for the evolutionary move to standardization. Over the last few

decades, the practice of standardization has gained new stature in many different industries as a creative and

compelling strategic enterprise philosophy. One key driver towards standardization in IT instillations is the data center



managers’ desire to eliminate the significant business cost of unnecessary downtime, lost opportunity, human error,

lack of agility, and data center over-sizing.

This course will discuss how implementing a plan to standardize the physical infrastructure aspects of the data center

will help to increase efficiency levels, reduce downtime, support better business agility, and lower costs.

Let’s begin with a definition and brief overview of physical infrastructure.

Slide 5: Physical Infrastructure

Success can be achieved by applying standardization to the design, deployment, and operation of physical

infrastructure. Physical infrastructure is the foundation upon which IT and telecommunications networks reside.

Physical infrastructure includes:

Power

Cooling

Racks and physical structure

Cabling

Physical security and fire protection

Management systems, and

Services

Slide 6: Physical Infrastructure

Physical infrastructure is meant to provide the critical foundation that a data center manager can build upon to

achieve reliable business operations. Ultimately, all of the various components of physical infrastructure need to work

together as a system in order to realize that objective.

In general, physical infrastructure management should meet specific criteria:

Physical infrastructure should be easy to deploy and maintain: The system should support centralized

management and require minimal training to operate.



Physical infrastructure should provide advance warning of critical events: Timely information allows

corrective action before equipment is damaged or fails.

Physical infrastructure should be able to analyze performance: At a minimum, event and data information

should be collected and stored, so that manual performance analysis can be completed.

Physical infrastructure should be adaptable to business change: Flexible systems support changes in

configuration while minimizing downtime. Examples of changes that can be anticipated include changing

runtime, changing power load and redundancy requirements, and adding support for branch offices or other

network nodes.

In order to fully appreciate the positive impact that standardization can have on the data center, we must first be

aware of some of the challenges that physical infrastructure faces today. Let’s explore those now.

Slide 7: Physical Infrastructure Challenges

Rapid changes in IT technology is one of the biggest challenges that physical infrastructure faces. Data centers are

an ever-changing environment. The data center team often builds the initial IT architecture to a specified set of

criteria, only to find that one third of those criteria are actually useful. The other two thirds of the build often turn out to

be based on criteria that were not even on the radar screen when the project started.

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High density is another subject which is of critical importance to data center operators. The new densities of the

modern data center can be very destabilizing as far as data center design is considered.

There are also obvious challenges built in to high operating and service costs. Data center managers are always

looking for better ways to manage their resources, and decrease costs over time.

Regulatory requirements, such as forcing unusual structural changes, isolating and partitioning the equipment, and

providing certain levels of physical-access security around the equipment, can also pose concerns. Server

consolidation is another important topic which often drives others, such as high density. Understandably, increasing

availability expectations is also always a primary concern.

In response to all of these issues, there is a radical change that is required in the way to approach data center

design. Data center designers should take a holistic view of this problem. The traditional way of trying to make



products better on a product-by-product basis, by itself, is not going to achieve the desired results.

Let’s now begin to examine the ways in which standardization can help to address these challenges.

Slide 8: Standardization Addresses Physical Infrastructure Challenges

There are specific factors to consider when converting over from a customized approach to a standardized approach.

A data center manager should implement a plan to:

Standardize process and architecture

Eliminate one-time engineering

Reduce today’s development cycle time

Pre-engineer, pre-configure, pre-manufacture, and pre-test physical infrastructure using modular

components

Create systems that adapt to changing requirements

Systematically drive out human error, which is the main cause of downtime

Integrate power, cooling, and rack into a single management architecture

Empower IT professionals to specify, operate, and manage physical infrastructure

Slide 9: Benefits of Physical Infrastructure Standardization

What will be ultimately be accomplished by the implementation of standardization techniques in the data center?

The benefits include:

Standardization eliminates the time, expense, and frustration of dealing with unique problems

Standardization drives out inefficiencies and error-prone complexity

Standardization allows for routine management of IT physical infrastructure, with no surprises

Standardized physical infrastructure frees up resources for the IT layer it supports

Let’s continue to further explore the topic by examining the two fundamental attributes of standardization.



Slide 10: Fundamental Characteristics

The advantages of standardization in physical infrastructure affect every dimension: the way it occupies physical

space, its functionality, and its evolution over time, from initial design and installation to reconfiguration at each

refresh cycle. These benefits take a variety of forms and occur in many places throughout the structure and process,

but nearly all can be traced, in one way or another, to two powerful fundamental attributes of standardized physical

infrastructure: modular building-block architecture and increased human learning. These characteristics create

rewards that circulate throughout the infrastructure, combining a cumulative positive effect on nearly every aspect of

physical infrastructure.

Let’s take some time to discuss the first of these two attributes: modular building-block architecture.

Slide 11: Modular Building-Block Architecture

The cornerstone of standardization in physical infrastructure is modularity. Modularity is achieved by dividing up a

complete product or process into smaller chunks, or modules, of similar size or functionality that can be assembled

as needed to create variations of the original product/process. Flashlight batteries are a familiar example. Batteries

are combined in different numbers to obtain varying amounts of power. Blade servers and RAID arrays are examples

of modularity in IT equipment, where multiple units are combined to create varying amounts of server or storage

capacity.

It is important to understand that modules need not be identical. For example, a child’s interlocking building blocks or

puzzle pieces are considered modular, but color, size, and shape are different, while connections are standardized

so that the interlocking pieces can work together as an integrated system. All modular systems incorporate varying

levels of standardization into their modules, depending upon the desired goal in dividing up functionality.




Modular systems can include variations throughout all facets of design.

Modular systems are scalable.

o Modular physical infrastructure can be deployed at a level that meets current IT needs, with the

ability to add more at a later date. This ability to “right size” can provide a significant reduction in

total cost of ownership.

Modular systems are changeable.

o Modular design provides great flexibility in configuring physical infrastructure to meet changing IT

requirements.

Modular systems are portable.

o Self-contained components, standard interfaces, and understandable structure save time and

money when modular systems are installed, upgraded, reconfigured, or moved.

Modular components are swappable.

o Modules that fail can be easily swapped out for upgrades or repair, often without system shutdown.

For larger IT operations that occupy multiple facilities, modular architecture aids in keeping as much similarity as

possible, between installations. Selected elements of a master physical infrastructure design can be modified, added,

or eliminated to accommodate differences in size or function between data centers without affecting other parts of the

design, thereby maximizing the extent of infrastructure the data centers have in common.




As we previously discussed, flashlight batteries, blade servers, and RAID arrays are examples of very basic

modularity, with little or no variation in the units that make up a complete system. A more multifaceted system with

numerous integrated functions, such as physical infrastructure, requires careful engineering by the manufacturer in

order to modularize in ways that optimize the balance between level of standardization and amount of flexibility to

users. Physical infrastructure provides opportunities for effective modular design at a variety of levels. Some

examples include:

Interchangeable UPS power and battery modules enable scalability of power, redundancy, and runtime and

can be hot-swapped for repair without system shutdown.

Standardized modular wiring distribution breaks down room wiring into row-level or rack-level modules. This

eliminates confusing and mistake-prone wiring tangles, and simplifies and speeds the process of

unplug-rearrange-reconnect. Modular power distribution can range from rack-sized units that serve an entire

row to power strips that serve an entire rack.

Rack-level air distribution breaks down room airflow into local control at the racks for precise cooling of hot

spots.

High-density clusters are comprised of an integration of racks, power distribution, and cooling into a

self-contained, enclosed room to isolate and cool heat-intensive IT equipment. In this case, a module is

considered to be one integrated cluster.

Next, we will explore the powerful impact that modularity has on the reliability of a data center.

Slide 14: Modularity and Reliability

The portable and swappable nature of modular components also allows work to be done at the factory, such as

pre-wiring of power distribution units. In-factory work has, statistically, a far lower rate of defects than work done on

site. For example, according to reliability studies done by MTechnology, Inc., factory-repaired UPS power modules

are 500-2000 times less likely to cause outages, introduce new defects, or inhibit return to fully operational status

compared to field-repaired modules. The ability to perform factory repair is a significant reliability advantage.

Modularizing a system can, in some cases, increase the number of internal components. For example, a large UPS



capacity modularized into a bank of smaller power modules will increase the number of electrical components and

connectors. To be valid, reliability analysis of modular systems must consider component design, function, and

dependencies, and not just rely on simple multiplication of parts. Keep in mind that reliability analysis based on

component count alone is incomplete, and even potentially misleading, because it leaves out the new and overriding

reliability advantages of modular structure, most importantly:

Swappable modules can be removed for factory service, enabling continuous quality improvement in

which defects are diagnosed at the factory and engineered out as they are discovered. This process is

called reliability growth in systems analysis.

Modules are manufactured in much greater quantity than a larger non-modular system, increasing even

further the quality improvements already inherent in mass production.

The compact size of modules tends to mean less manual work during manufacture.

Modular design allows for the considerable reliability advantage of fault tolerance: redundant modules

operating in parallel, allowing for individual module failure without affecting overall system performance.

Now that we have investigated the concept of modularity, and the positive impact it has on the reliability of a data

center, let’s take a look at the second attribute associated with physical infrastructure standardization: Human

Learning.

Slide 15: Human Learning

We have just learned how modularity enhances the deployment, upgrade and maintenance of equipment. Now, we’ll

talk about how standardization enhances the effectiveness of people.

Standardization is, by its nature, a simplifying process that facilitates learning at every level. Increased knowledge

enables people to work more efficiently with fewer mistakes, helps them to teach others, and empowers them to

participate in problem-solving. A standardized environment creates a backdrop for the data center that is not only

more understandable, but also more predictable and repeatable. It establishes a setting where mistakes are less

likely to occur, and enhances the ability of data center personnel to quickly recognize a mistake when it does occur.



Slide 16: Human Learning

When processes and procedures are easier to understand and are more predictable, they are inherently easier to

explain, to document, to operate, to troubleshoot, and to fix. As these effects build upon each other, they enable staff

to:

Avoid errors: The most significant human-learning effect of standardization is reduced human error in the

data center. Based on studies by The Uptime Institute, 7x24 Exchange, and confidential analysis by major

financial firms using large-scale data centers, it has been shown that human error is the cause of 50-60% of

data center downtime. Those studies also indicated that the potential to reduce human error represents the

largest proponent when looking to increase availability.

Reducing human error is an intrinsic benefit of standardization, from fewer errors in a standardized

assembly process, to fewer errors in diagnosing trouble in a standardized system. Standardized systems

make documentation and training easier and more effective, resulting in more skilled staff. Standardized

controls, interfaces, and connections provide additional protection by making correct operation more

self-evident.

Anticipate problems: Understanding how things work, combined with standardized procedures for such

things as equipment monitoring and predictive maintenance, is a powerful defense against what might

otherwise be considered unexpected.

Share knowledge: Having defined structure and function fosters ongoing learning by encouraging sharing of

information. When people understand processes and procedures, they are more likely to engage in

conversation, collaborate on analysis and problem-solving, and learn from each other.

Increase productivity: As these learning effects intermingle and flourish, there is an overall increase in

productivity. A more knowledgeable staff means that time spent on physical infrastructure-related matters is

used more efficiently. With reduced human error, less time is spent recovering from human-caused

problems. In combination, these economies of time enable data center personnel to concentrate on the

functional business of the data center, rather than on the management of the physical infrastructure layer

itself.



Slide 17: Standardization of Components

While discussing the two fundamental attributes of standardization, we lightly touched upon the importance of the

concept of modular, swappable, mobile components in the data center. Let’s investigate this subject further.

The standardization of components enables dramatic economies in the production, delivery, and servicing of goods.

The most well-known example of standardization in terms of components is the ability to mass produce a product.

Although this model has been around since the 1100’s, when the Venice Arsenal in Italy produced nearly a ship a

day using assembly lines and mass produced parts, it was predominantly reintroduced in the Industrial Age by Henry

Ford’s famous moving assembly lines and task-oriented workers. Standardization of parts and processes is what

enables mass production.

While Ford’s assembly lines demonstrated the amazing enhancements in production capacity, cost reduction, quality,

and delivery speed that can be obtained by mass producing a complex product, the previous years had already seen

the use of mass production for other purposes:

The concept of interchangeability was seen in the 1400’s in Germany when a German metal-worker and

inventor named Johann Gutenberg invented precise type and the printing press. Moveable type allowed for



a much more flexible process than hand copying or block printing.

European clockmakers used the idea of interchangeable parts in the early 1700's. These clockmakers and

watchmakers brought their skills and mechanical ingenuity to colonial America.

In the 1800’s, Henry Maudslay, a British Machine tool-maker and inventor, also applied the ideas of

interchangeable parts to nuts and bolts, and developed the first screw-cutting lathe, allowing standardization

on screw thread sizes for the first time. Before Maudslay, all nuts and bolts were made as matching pairs

only.

Craftsman in workshops making custom-fit parts for the creation and repair of one item at a time were

rapidly overtaken by mass production in factories and on-site parts replacement. Quality went up, cost went

down, delivery time was slashed, and service was streamlined, all of this, a result of applying

standardization techniques to a process.

As you can see, the benefits of mass production and interchangeable parts are well rooted in history and include:

Lower cost

Higher quality

Easier servicing

More product capabilities

Faster delivery

Slide 18: Physical Infrastructure Solutions

Modular components with standardized structure and connections make everything easier, faster, and cheaper, from

manufacture and inventory at the vendor, to design and engineering at the planning table, to installation and

operation at the data center site. Modular design is the source of agility which is one critically important piece of the

physical infrastructure business value chain and a major contributor to two other components, availability and total

cost of ownership. We’ll be discussing all three in greater detail a little later in this course.

By designing the total system, data center managers have the ability to build in capabilities that historically were not

available or feasible, such as modularity, scalability, serviceability, and adaptability. Data center managers are now



able to take those separate data center physical infrastructure components and bring them through to the natural

evolution of a data center solution.

Slide 19: Examples of Operational Processes

In recent years the centuries-old idea of standardization has become the focus of innovative business strategies to

streamline the design, manufacture, and delivery of products and services. Southwest Airlines has become, quite

literally, a textbook example of corporate-wide standardization. By standardizing their product (open seating and

equal prices), operations (one IT platform for all functions) and equipment (only one kind of plane) they have become

one of the best on-time performing, lowest cost, highest quality, and friendliest airlines in the industry. Toyota Motor

Company, also the frequent subject of business analysis, stays consistently in the top ranks of automobile quality by

an aggressive commitment to “lean manufacturing,” which reduces defects as well as costs by simplifying, then

standardizing, every step of the manufacturing process.

One example of standardization that is used throughout the Information Technology sector is the Information

Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). ITIL is a customizable framework of best practices that promotes quality

computing services in the information technology (IT) sector. ITIL addresses the organizational structure and skill

requirements for an IT organization by presenting a comprehensive set of management procedures with which an

organization can manage its IT operations. These procedures are supplier independent and apply to all aspects of IT

infrastructure. Since the mid 1990's, ITIL has been promoted as a standard for IT Service Management. ITIL is built

on a process model view of controlling and managing operations.

Techniques may differ by industry, but the underlying principle is the same: standardization, strategically applied,

creates efficiencies in a multiple of ways that contribute to business value. Next let’s take a look at standardization

from a different viewpoint, to demonstrate the value of standardization to the enterprise. Modularity and increased

human learning spawn benefits in three critical areas of performance which, taken together, constitute the business

value of physical infrastructure.



Slide 20: How Standardization Drives Physical Infrastructure Business Value

What gives physical infrastructure high business value?

Systems availability is the first component of the physical infrastructure business value chain. The ability to respond

quickly to changing IT needs is also critical to success, making agility another important component. The total



expenditure for buying and operating physical infrastructure over its lifetime, which is known as total cost of

ownership, or TCO, is the third major component of business value.

Catalysts that increase availability or agility and decrease total cost of ownership are the drivers of physical

infrastructure business value. In a remarkable network of causes and effects, standardization creates benefits that

simultaneously drive all three of these performance vectors.

Let’s explore the first of these: Availability.

Slide 21: Standardization Increases Availability

The major factors affecting availability are:

Reliability of equipment:

o Increased equipment reliability means reduced risk of downtime.

Mean time to recover (MTTR):

o Faster recovery after failure means less downtime.

Human error:

o A reduction in human error means less downtime.

Slide 22: Standardization Increases Availability

Reliability of equipment:

o In addition to the reliability benefits associated with mass production and interchangeable parts,

modular systems with standardized hookups can be configured at the factory the same way they

will be configured on site, allowing for factory pre-testing to discover defects. Standardized modular

components make possible internal redundancy and hot-swap replacement. Standardized

equipment monitoring systems enable easy-to-understand management tools that encourage

predictive maintenance to identify problems before they escalate from trouble to major expense,

and to reduce reliance on scheduled preventative maintenance, which only creates additional

exposure to human error.

Mean time to recover (MTTR):



o A failed modular component can be quickly swapped-out for replacement; therefore, recovery is

not delayed while waiting for repair.

Human error:

o As previously discussed, of all the ways to increase availability, reducing human error offers by far

the greatest opportunity. With standardized equipment and procedures, functionality is more

apparent, routines are simplified and easier to learn, and systems operate as expected, all

reducing, for example, the likelihood of typing the wrong command or pulling the wrong plug.

Slide 23: Standardization Increases Agility

Agility is the ability to respond quickly and effectively to business opportunity, necessity, or change. An agile physical

infrastructure targets three critical goals:

1. Speed of deployment:

Speed in the design and installation of a new facility, the move to a new location, or the implementation of a

reconfiguration are all of critical importance.

2. Ability to scale:

Vital to physical infrastructure is the ability to install at a level that supports present IT requirements, while

allowing for increased capacity later by adding on as IT needs grow.

3. Ability to reconfigure:

Also important is the ability to reconfigure and reuse existing equipment without disruption or waste.

Slide 24: Standardization Increases Agility

Speed of deployment:

o With modular components, planning and design is faster. The system’s structure is flexible and can

be configured in a logical way that aligns with design objectives. Delivery is also faster because

standardized, mass-produced units are readily available. On-site configuration and hookup is faster

not only because connections are standardized and simplified, but also because there is less

equipment to install when using only the number of building blocks needed. Commissioning is

quicker because standardized modules can be connected up at the factory just as they will be on



site, allowing for factory pre-test.

Ability to scale:

o With modular building-block architecture, functionality is available in small pieces that can be

optimally configured for IT spaces of any size, from wiring closets to large data centers.

Of even greater significance is the ability to design the infrastructure to support only the IT requirements needed at

startup. Then, as IT requirements increase, more units can be added without the need of re-engineering the whole

system, and without the need for shutdown of critical equipment. This strategy of rightsizing can result in significant

cost savings over the life of the data center.

Ability to reconfigure:

o With typical IT refresh cycles of 2-3 years, the ability to reconfigure, upgrade, or move is a

significant component of physical infrastructure agility. Modular elements can easily be unplugged,

rearranged, and reconnected. The steady increase in power density of IT equipment resulting from

shrinking physical size means that the equipment will periodically require reconfiguration of racks,

power, and cooling. Modular hot-swappable components also provide the ability to reconfigure for

different levels of redundancy, different voltages, or different plug types.

Slide 25: Standardization Reduces TCO

The third component of physical infrastructure business value is total cost of ownership (TCO) over the lifetime of the

data center. The major components of TCO are:

Capital cost:

o This constitutes the cost through all stages of development, from planning and design up until the

moment the system is turned on.

Non-energy operating cost:

o Non-energy cost includes any operating cost, excluding the cost of energy. Examples include the

cost of operating staff, training, maintenance, and repair.

Energy cost:



o This is the actual cost of electricity usage in the data center.

Slide 26: Standardization Reduces TCO

Capital cost:

o Standardized modular architecture reduces capital cost in two major ways. First, it enables the

infrastructure size to be scaled to align more closely with present IT requirements, rather than

building out initial capacity to support the maximum projected requirements. Secondly, its

straightforward and understandable structure simplifies every step of the deployment process, from

planning to installation. That simplification means less time spent in each stage, and often means a

reduced need to bring in outside help.

Non-energy Operating cost:

o Simplified, easy-to-learn design means training is faster and more effective, and operation and

maintenance procedures are more efficient and less prone to mistakes. Standardized,

understandable equipment and procedures mean more maintenance can be done by IT staff,

reducing the need for vendor-supplied maintenance. Standardized modular components enable

swapping out of modules for factory service, which is less expensive than on-site repair. In

addition, fewer help-desk resources are needed to support downtime-related issues, because of

the overall improvement in availability.

Energy cost:

o Electricity cost over the lifetime of the data center is the single largest component of TCO.

Scaling the infrastructure to meet present IT needs, with the ability to add on incrementally as IT

needs grow, means you only power and cool what you need. The resulting savings in electricity are

substantial over the lifetime of the data center.

Modular internal UPS design enables UPS sizing more closely matched to load requirements, resulting in better UPS

operating efficiency and reducing the size of the UPS modules needed to achieve redundancy.

Modular cooling design, such as rack-level air distribution units, enables more accurate airflow for increased cooling

efficiency, so less energy is consumed by cooling equipment.



Slide 27: Driving Business Value

The benefits that flow from modular architecture and increased human learning contribute in multiple ways to every

one of the three major components of physical infrastructure business value: availability, agility, and total cost of

ownership (TCO). This fountain of interrelated effects makes modular standardization a central driving force in

increasing physical infrastructure business value.

Slide 28: Review of Standardization Benefits

The advantages of applying physical infrastructure standardization techniques in the data center are numerous and

stretch across all facets of data center design, build and operations.

They allow for the ability to:

Standardize process and architecture

Eliminate one-time engineering

Reduce today’s development cycle time

Pre-engineer, pre-configure, pre-manufacture, and pre-test physical infrastructure using modular

components

Create systems that adapt to changing environments

Systematically drive out human error, which is the main cause of downtime

Integrate power, cooling, and rack into a single management architecture, and finally

Empower IT professionals to specify, operate, and manage physical infrastructure

Slide 29: Summary

To summarize, let’s review some of the information that we have covered throughout this course.

Legacy physical infrastructure has become unmanageable in today’s fast changing business environment

Standardization makes physical infrastructure product and process more understandable, flexible,

predictable, and cost efficient

Modularity provides the classic benefits of building-block architecture: portable, changeable, swappable,

repeatable



Human learning from standardization provides major benefits in error-avoidance, productivity, and driving

out defects

Modular standardization has substantial positive effects on all three components of physical infrastructure

business value: availability, agility, and total cost of ownership

Applying standardization to the data center certainly adds value:

o Value to equipment, because it makes equipment scalable, changeable, portable, and swappable,

and

o Value to people, because personnel will be more likely to avoid errors, anticipate problems, share

knowledge, and increase productivity

Slide 30: Thank You!

Thank you for participating in this course.

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Standardization in the Data Center Transcript