Data center cost estimating is accomplished by identifying key design criteria for projects main arias: services and facility. Those criteria include availability requirements, power and cooling systems and business objectives.
Availability Requirements
The first step in creating a data center budget is to estimate the availability requirements. The common practice is to request 7x24 availability, and it represent that system, subsystem, or equipment is continuously operable and in a functioning condition. However, always-availability can only be achieved with designs that:
- Deploy multiple power and cooling systems,
- Are concurrently maintainable,
- Have incorporated fault-tolerance.
Power and Cooling Systems
The next step is determining needs for power and defining adequate cooling systems. The power density can be described as the amount of power delivered to the critical load per unit of area and is directly related to the amount of heat that must be removed via the computer room air conditioner (CRAC) systems. It is a device that monitors the temperature and air distribution in a network room or data center.
Business Objectives
The final step in creating budged is the cost associated with achieving the business objectives. Those costs influence the selection of network, security level, servers and infrastructure, etc.
Technology Budget
The technology budget is determined by working with IP personnel to identify the existingsystems and growth projects, evaluate planned upgrades and improvements, and quantify financial constraints. It includes the following elements:
- Project management,
- System design,
- Relocated, replacement and new infrastructure (server, storage, network, communication)
- System installation,
- Cabling,
- Physical equipment (cabinets, racks…),
- A/V equipment installation.
Support Budget
- The support budget depends of power requirements and cooling system, same as availability requirements. Within the overall data center infrastructure plans, it includes:
- Project management,
- Support infrastructure systems design,
- Architectural design,
- Support systems (power, cooling, fire safety).
Final planning
In the end, establishing the design criteria for the project will lead to the determination of:
- Space requirements,
- Budget requirements,
- Time requirements.
It is difficult to generalize the data center budget cost since so much depends on the type of business. We invite you to contact us and let ours experts to make professional assessment for your enterprise.