Enterprise Data Center Design and Methodology

Scope, Budget, and Criteria

An important distinction to make at this point is what really constitutes the elements of a data center. When we talk about the data center, we are talking about the site, the Command Center (if one is to be added), the raised floor (if one is to be added), the network infrastructure (switches, routers, terminal servers, and support equipment providing the core logical infrastructure), the environmental controls, and power. Though a data center contains servers and storage system components (usually contained in racks), these devices are contents of the data center, not part of the data center. They are transient contents just as DVDs might be considered the transient contents of a DVD player. The data center is more ...