Tag Archives: Data Center

In the current business environment, your customers demand that their questions are addressed immediately and solutions for their problems are promptly applied. Business owners cannot permit remote locations and network interruptions from impacting their ability to provide services. This article will discuss four methods for improving data availability in your company’s data center. Consult with an expert and experienced managed IT services firm for the best results.

Disaster Recovery

Disasters that can affect a company’s data availability are not necessarily only from natural causes such as an earthquake or flood. They can be caused by something as common as a power outage due to a technical problem at the electrical utility. Fortunately, you can prepare your company in the event that access to your critical and sensitive business is interrupted by having a disaster recovery plan in place, which may feature solutions such as co-location and cloud storage.

Single Point of Failure Elimination

Your IT infrastructure will be able to eliminate single points of failure by backing up and having alternatives ready. Work with a managed services provider (MSP) to evaluate your company’s network architecture and consider solutions such as clustering, load balancing, redundancy, and virtualization.

Proactive Monitoring

Having a sound recovery plan that is regularly modified and tested is essential for the prevention of data loss. However, proactive monitoring of your company’s IT infrastructure may even be important because it may stop a disaster from occurring in the first place.

Virtualization and Cloud Computing

Your company’s data availability can be bolstered through the application of virtualization and cloud computing. Securely storing critical IT resources at a service provider’s data center ensures that critical business data is both backed up and available in the event of a disaster.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

As discussed in Part 2, Top-Down Logic is used for the process of Preparation, Planning, Design, Implementation, Operation, and Optimization (PPDIOO). In addition, network designers must determine the Scope of Design prior to the collection of data and planning. Part 3 will cover Business Requirements, Continuity, and Elasticity.

Requirements

Figuring out what an organization needs requires having an understanding of its current objectives, mission statement, and future plans. Knowledge of these should guide the business-driven aspects of the network design. Using a top-down approach, a business’s goals, drivers, requirements, continuity, and strategy will determine its business applications, technical and functional requirements, and network infrastructure solutions.

Continuity

Business continuity is a company’s ability to continue doing business after a system outage caused by a man-made or natural disaster that has damaged a data center. An organization needs a disaster recovery plan to develop its resiliency in the face of such disasters. Various parts of its network may need to be more resilient due to regulatory compliance.

Elasticity

Elasticity is an organization’s level of flexibility when responding to business developments. This typically refers to a change in business objectives or conditions, including growth, recession, merger, acquisition, etc. Therefore, a company’s network design must have adequate flexibility in order to fulfill its business requirements and strategic goals. A designer’s comprehension of the overall trends of the organization’s business sector will provide valuable guidance in the design’s features that provide flexibility.

The design of a network must give an organization the flexibility that will allow it to perform integrations with other networks. This will usually be required when mergers and acquisitions take place. It is important to note that during a merger or acquisition, the network may undergo considerable growth during a very brief period. In such circumstances, the most daunting challenge for network designers is having to handle the various design principles, conflicting control plane protocols, and overlaps in IP address spaces of the networks being integrated.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

As discussed in Part 1, structured cabling is now considered the foundation of network infrastructure, and organizations and their data centers are seeking ways to improve its efficiency and functionality through several trends. Part 2 will discuss Modularization, Optimization, and Virtualization.

Modularization

New data centers are now being built to support ever-increasing networking demands. Companies are participating by determining which modular data center cabling solutions to implement in order to be future-proofed as this technology grows more sophisticated.

They are also seeking the ability to better scale data and network resources, which will decrease capital expenditure for infrastructure and thus increase the potential for profits.

These organizations are also rapidly implementing virtual data center solutions.

Featuring modules and components that are specially designed, modular data centers are portable, scalable, and containerized. Capable of supporting converged infrastructures, a modular data center requires sound data cabling infrastructure to be effective.

Optimization

An organization that may not be able to build a new data center can still upgrade its existing data cabling. In addition, data center providers are rapidly being chosen as a cost-effective method for optimizing network infrastructure.

Although copper and fiber cabling are considered adequate, there is a growing demand for connectivity that is speedier and more efficient for apps, computers, servers, and storage systems. Optimizing data cabling is the most direct way to obtain this by standardizing components such as cabling, racks, cabinets, etc.

Virtualization

Research has found that more than half of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are now running workloads on virtual machines. In comparison, data center providers are utilizing virtualization at a rate of at least 95%.

Virtualization technology is establishing itself as a proven, scalable, and cost-effective option for networking. Virtualization most commonly functions on computers, networks, servers, and storage systems. The most essential feature of network virtualization is well-designed structured data cabling.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

Organizations and their data centers have come to recognize that structured cabling is the foundation of network infrastructure. As time passes, they will look for methods to make their structured cabling designs work with more efficiency and functionality. This article will discuss the emerging trends for data center cabling in 2018.

Cloud Integration

The industry is seeking ways to further integrate cloud technology with structured cabling. Data centers are gravitating to affordable and effective cloud products that improve performance, enable expansion, ensure security, and handle big data. In addition, business owners are upgrading their data cabling with copper and fiber technologies. 

As discussed in Part 1, the Top-Down Approach for network design provides several advantages, especially when its implementation is business-driven. Part 2 will cover the topics of Top-Down Logic and Scope of Design.

Top-Down Logic

The top-down network design approach is capable of utilizing top-down logic in conjunction with the process of Preparation, Planning, Design, Implementation, Operation, and Optimization (PPDIOO) as summarized by the following bullet points: 

As discussed in Part 1, point-to-point cabling systems are outdated and companies should strongly consider making the transition to structured cabling to remain competitive. Part 2 will discuss the advantages of upgrading to structured cabling.

The Advantages

Cost Effectiveness – Flexible and scalable, structured cabling can transmit data reliably and more easily handle increasingly large loads. This allows an organization to raise the productivity of its employees, helping to achieve its business goals. Its bottom line is further aided because structured cabling decreases the costs of maintenance and energy consumption.

Decreased Downtime – There is a greater chance of human error when there are several disorganized cabling networks, which result in disruptions and downtime. In contrast, a sound structured cabling system provides greater reliability; in addition, troubleshooting expenses are reduced because problems are easier to identify, find, and repair.  Downtime is decreased, business losses are minimized, and a company  will be more reliable and profitable.

Future Proofing –Structured cabling provides greater bandwidth and this allows a company to easily expand when its business grows. Having adaptable and scalable IT systems makes a company more competitive when it needs to evolve with its industry. Structured cabling ensures that an organization’s network infrastructure will remain capable of supporting new applications and technologies.

Greater Flexibility – Structured cabling can improve performance levels allowing a business to expand with greater ease. Move, add and change requests can be handled faster and more efficiently. Companies with structured cabling can develop and deploy services much faster because its data center can accommodate network infrastructure modifications more readily.

Maintenance Easier – Structured cabling provides a organizational approach that makes maintaining data centers and networks much more straightforward. In normal business environments, a variety of IT equipment and devices are being used simultaneously. When they are functioning on only one system, this removes the need for several wiring systems to be installed.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive Office teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

As mentioned in Part 1, data center efficiency can be improved by properly planning and implementing structured cabling principles. In addition, structured cabling best practices should be the foundation of every data center. Part 2 will discuss Cabling Infrastructure and Improved Network Function.

Cabling Infrastructure

It would be wise to constantly keep the future in mind while you are installing your cabling infrastructure. Setting aside space will allow for expansion. The goal is to make your structured cabling both sound and dependable.

Testing Policy – After the addition or removal of equipment, testing every connection makes sure that a data center will be reliable over time. Performing these tests as a standard practice will help prevent issues that result in downtime. Inconsistent testing practices will result in an unreliable data center.

Standardization – The standardization of cable and rack usage will significantly facilitate maintenance. When there is a meltdown, the managers and engineers of a data center won’t have any doubts as to the types of cables and configuration of racks that are being utilized.

Documentation – When proper documentation is neglected, the training of new staff members will be much more difficult and take longer. The addition of equipment and related components will also result in more errors. Good documentation is integral for every sound structured cable system.

Spare Cables – The stocking of spare cables to prepare for contingencies will help prepare a data center for crises that may strike a structured cabling system.

Improved Network Function

A data center will have losses of up to $10,000 for each minute of unplanned outage. Implementing the best practices of TIA/ISO standards will raise the performance of a structured cabling system and make a data center more reliable. Its computer network will have the following benefits:

• Greater responsiveness


• Increased reliability and overall performance


• More secure data backup, storage, and retrieval


• Flexibility for accommodating additional computer terminals and components


• Capable of supporting telephony and other network-dependent systems

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.