From Ground to Cloud: What Facilities Pros Need to Know About Cloud Computing

Data Center Sizing. When designing a cloud solution, it’s important to know how many racks are going to be set in place and how they will be distributed. This is where designing the actual data center, placing hot/cold aisles and making smart choices on the infrastructure can really pay off. Cloud architects will look to work with facilities pros that can understand the design of a cloud solution and apply that to a well laid out data center environment.

Wiring and Cabling. Cloud computing and virtualization is all about user density and efficiency. So, the data center should have the same mentality. More recently, Unified Computing Systems (like those from Cisco) are creating server and blade designs which require minimal wiring. Creating dense environments capable of handling numerous users per rack is something that cloud computing and virtualization requires. This is where facilities pros can really help with creating a solid, logical wiring design.

Power Requirements and HVAC. There will be times when creating a consolidated environment requires less power – but there are times when this is the opposite. Although we may be removing physical servers, the replacements may take more power and require more cooling. In creating a cloud or virtualization environment, data center engineers have to work closely with the folks designing the cloud environment to know how many servers are being placed in the rack and what type they will be. Creating an intelligent power and HVAC system can really help a cloud environment’s performance.

First Response Monitoring. Data center infrastructure monitoring is a topic all in itself. However, facilities professionals are sometimes on the front lines of detecting and stopping major errors. Having a good response system is something many cloud engineers rely on and trust their data center counterparts to be good at. Catching server faults, closet problems, or wiring issues before they become major roadblocks is almost invaluable. Being proactive -- both within the data center and the cloud -- will speak volumes when it comes to overall infrastructure performance.

Resource Allocation. In a cloud and virtualization deployment, resource allocation is everything. Aside from RAM and CPU, data center resources play a big role as well. Data center space, power, cooling, and other variable all have to be measured and understood prior to any project. This is where cloud architects and facilities professionals need to coordinate their efforts. By understanding the groundwork for the cloud environment, engineers are able to deploy the best possible foundation for the infrastructure.