WP - 195 Fundamentals of Managing The DC Life Cycle For Owners-140902130318-Phpapp01

Fundamentals of Managing the
Data Center Life Cycle for

Owners
Schneider Electric
Data Center Science Center
White Paper 195
Schneider Electric Data Center Science Center WP 195 Presentation February 2014
Just as good genes do not guarantee health and well-being, a

good design alone does not ensure a data center is well-built and
will remain efficient and available over the course of its life span.
For each phase of the data centers life cycle, proper care and
action must be taken to continuously meet the business needs of
the facility. This presentation describes the five phases of the
data center life cycle, identifies key tasks and pitfalls, and offers
practical advice to facility owners and management.
Introduction Understanding the Big

Picture
The Five Phases of the
Data Center Life Cycle
Plan Phase
Determines key project parameters of the
physical system to be created, i.e., system
concept, site selection, and project process
Ideal project process

Often referred to as programming
System concept
Players at this stage
Facilities and IT departments

Executives
CFO
Real estate group within the company
NOTE: In this paper, only system planning is covered. System planning refers to the power, cooling, racks,
and other support infrastructure systems. Planning related to the IT equipment is not discussed here.
Plan Phase
Ideal project process
Conduct project efficiently, reliably, and
understandably
Have safeguards to eliminate missed handoffs, ambiguous
responsibility, and lost information
Detail key stakeholders, responsibilities
Include strategies to manage unplanned occurrences, i.e., project
changes and defects
Be modular and configurable, adaptable to projects of different types
and sizes
White Paper 140, Data Center Projects: Standardized Process, offers a detailed
definition and description of a formal, standardized, and documented process.
Plan Phase
System concept
A high level description of the
system
Includes validated user preferences
and constraints, standards, codes,
resource assignments, deadlines,
and process requirements for
project
These design requirements become
input for design phase
See white paper 142, Data Center Projects; System Planning, for more
information.
Plan Phase
System concept System Planning Sequence
Establish
PROJECT PARAMETERS
Make the six foundational decisions that will

control the system architecture and budget
Develop
SYSTEM CONCEPT
Choose a model design for the system,

based on the six PROJECT PARAMETERS
Incorporate
USER PREFERENCES
AND CONSTRAINTS
Identify, validate, and adapt userspecific details that will refine the
SYSTEM CONCEPT
Determine
IMPLEMENTATION
REQUIREMENTS
Criticality
Capacity
Growth plan
Efficiency
Density
Budget
Reference
design
Room
choice
Concept
Adaptations
Validated
Preferences
Validated
Constraints
Collect standards, codes,

deadlines, resource assignments,
and process requirements the
project must conform to
Implementation
requirements
The combined outputs

are the design
requirements for input
to the DESIGN phase
Plan Phase
System concept Avoid Problems in
Project Process
Right information > right decision

maker > right sequence
Focus on shared understanding and
consensus: criticality, capacity,
growth plan, efficiency, density, and
budget
Avoid detailed design work until
design requirements are validated
and agreed upon
Plan Phase
System concept Reference Designs
Validated, documented high-level plan for

physical infrastructure
Especially important in the absence of
design engineers in early planning phase
See white paper 147, Advantages of Using a Reference Design for more
information.
Plan Phase
Site selection
Site must meet design requirements
Site evaluation must consider availability risks
and financial benefits
Key considerations
Energy costs
Tax preferences/incentives
Labor costs
See white paper 81, Site Selection for Mission Critical Facilities, for more
information.
Design Phase
Involves detailed design work required to
translate Plan phase outputs into sitespecific schematics and buildable
construction documents, i.e., drawings and
specifications
Approved documents used for permitting

by governmental authorities-havingjurisdiction - AHJs
Construction contractors evaluated,
selected
Well-managed design/build model takes
about 4-6 weeks
Well-managed design/bid/build model
takes about 8-10 weeks
Design Phase
Typical high-level overview
Owners Design Requirements from
Plan Phase (see Figure 2)
Owner evaluates,
hires, and enters
into contract
with
Architect & CE Firm OR
Design/Build Firm
Key Tasks:
Project management, meet budget, feasibility studies, preliminary
design, detailed design & specification, quotation, hire/bid general
contractor and/or sub-contractors for build & commissioning phases
Detailed design outputs (approved by owner):
Likely parties involved in
detailed design:
Owner/Owners Rep
Architect
MEP engineers
Structural, civil engineers
IT consultants
Energy/LEED consultants
Commissioning agent
Facility Operators
Electrical Contractor
Networking Contractor
Schematic
design (10%
complete)
Design
development
(50% complete)
Construction
documents
(100% complete)
General Contractor
Mechanical Contractor
Cycles of design iteration

typically take place as
requirements, preferences,
and constraints change.
If construction delivery
model is design/bid/build,
bidding by contractorsoften
takes place at each of the
design documentation
levels (10%, 50%, 100%
are common)
hired by architect or design/build

firm
Low Voltage Contractor
Design Phase
Construction delivery models
Design/bid/build
Traditional approach. Contractors bid during design
development. Lowest priced responsible bidder meeting
requirements is selected Construction begins.
PROs:
CONs:
Possibly lower cost if design change

orders are well-controlled
Typically presented with more choices
from more vendors for a given design
Bid process can add months

to project schedule
Design Phase
Construction delivery models
Design/build
Owner or architect hires team responsible for both design
and construction. Selection based on merits and price.
Price is guaranteed. Change orders typically not allowed by
contractor.
PROs:
CONs:
Shortens schedule by months.

Likely not the lowest cost
Eliminates time needed for bidding
process. Construction starts in parallel
with design documentation development
Owner more likely to get exactly what is specified
Enables early contractor involvement in design, possibly reducing risk and
number of design iterations
Fosters close cooperation between designers and contractors
Design Phase
Owners contract
Important tool for ensuring
right people > right time > right focus
Defines key stakeholders roles, responsibilities by
phase
Defines compensation and insurance requirements
Describes
Cost of work
Change resolution methods
Change order process, limitations
Termination grounds and processes
Build Phase
Information gathered and approved during
Plan and Design phases is used as a basis
for Build phase.
Construction documents used

To bid for contractors
To secure building permits
As basis for what is actually built at the chosen
site
Construction begins according to project plan

Perform regular audits, quality assurance
Weekly progress meetings
Opportunity to train owner and facility
operations team
Build Phase
Complete when
Quality assurance confirms
work is complete to project
requirements
Final certification of
completion is issued to owner
by construction team lead
Passing score on
commissioning test, if part of
project
Owner issues letter of formal
acceptance of project
Build Phase
Commissioning
Defined as a reliability science that
documents and validates the result of a data
centers design and build processes
Addresses Data Center complexity by testing and documenting overall
systems response to real world inputs and changes
Ensures design and implementation in construction phase are sound
Commissioning agents develop

commissioning plan and schedule
Work with design and
construction teams
Build Phase
Commissioning Output Documents
As built script report

Provides line-by-line report on what
passed/failed
Component error log report

Describes what failed and what was
impacted
Trending report
Executive summary of performance
trends
Operate Phase
Time during which physical infrastructure
does what it was intended to do: house,
power, cool, and secure IT servers, storage,
and networking gear.
A properly designed,
implemented, and supported
O&M program will
minimize risk
reduce costs
provide competitive
advantage for the overall
business the data center
serves
Operate Phase
Mission Critical Mindset
Focuses on risk mitigation

Grasps interconnectedness of facility
and IT systems
Analytical, process-driven approach to
risk avoidance and problem solving
Commitment to continuous learning and
process improvement
Owners & management must

imbue the Ops team with this
philosophy and mindset
Operate Phase
12 Essential Elements of
Data Center O&M Program
Environmental health and safety

Personnel management
Emergency preparedness and response
Maintenance management
Training
Change management
Infrastructure management
Documentation management
Quality management
Energy management
Financial management
Performance monitoring and review
See white paper 196, Essential Elements of Data Center Facility Operations, for
more information.
Operate Phase
Facilities-IT cooperation
Cooperation will
Make capacity planning more accurate
and day-to-day operations more
efficient
Minimize impact to SLAs and the
business when problems occur
Reduce disruption caused by facility or
IT equipment moves, adds, changes
It is the responsibility of owners and management to

foster this cooperation!
Assess Phase
Concurrent with Operate phase, gives
visibility to how operators and physical
infrastructure systems are performing on
an on-going basis.
Yields useful, actionable information including
Degree to which the design intent and facility objectives are being
met by current infrastructure in operation
Energy efficiency of physical infrastructure in supporting IT
General health and current risk profile of physical infrastructure
Current power, cooling, and space capacities and use trends
Effectiveness and experience levels of personnel
Facility operations & maintenance program maturity and
effectiveness
Outsourcing Services
Advantages
Benefit from experience and

expertise of others
Frees up internal resources to focus
on other key tasks and
responsibilities
Avoids learning curve and mistakes
resulting from first time tasks
Provides alternative to internal
resources that lack
bandwidth/resources required to
learn new skills or perform certain
functions
Conclusion
Provided owners, management
teams with basic understanding
of mission critical facility projects
and operations in the context of a
Data Center Life Cycle
Described phases, their
interconnection, principal
players, key areas of focus
Resources
Data Center Projects: Standardized Process
White Paper 140
Data Center Projects: System Planning
White Paper 142
Data Center Projects: Advantages of Using a Data Center Reference Design
White Paper 147
The Top 9 Mistakes in Data Center Planning
White Paper 145
Site Selection For Mission Critical Facilities
White Paper 81
Data Center Projects: Commissioning
White Paper 148
Ten Errors to Avoid When Commissioning a Data Center
White Paper 149
Essential Elements of Data Center Facility Operations
White Paper 196
Avoiding Common Pitfalls of Evaluating and Implementing DCIM Solutions
White Paper 170
Browse all APC white papers
whitepapers.apc.com
Browse all APC TradeOff Tools
tools.apc.com

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Fundamentals of Managing the

Data Center Life Cycle for

Just as good genes do not guarantee health and well-being, a

Introduction Understanding the Big

Ideal project process

Facilities and IT departments

Make the six foundational decisions that will

Choose a model design for the system,

Collect standards, codes,

The combined outputs

Right information > right decision

Validated, documented high-level plan for

Approved documents used for permitting

Architect & CE Firm OR

Cycles of design iteration

hired by architect or design/build

Low Voltage Contractor

Possibly lower cost if design change

Bid process can add months

Shortens schedule by months.

Construction documents used

Construction begins according to project plan

Commissioning agents develop

As built script report

Component error log report

Focuses on risk mitigation

Owners & management must

Environmental health and safety

It is the responsibility of owners and management to

Benefit from experience and

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