What Does Data Center Equipment Cost? (SlideShare)

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What Does Data Center
Equipment Cost?

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You’ll never know what data center
equipment really costs you until you
acquire it and start using it. However, a
few rules of thumb can help to put things
in context and understand how different
elements drive expenses.

Globally, costs are determined in two ways:
• The first, naturally enough, is the total amount of
data center equipment, which is related to the size
of the data center.
• The second is the level of availability required of the
data center.ATier I data center with basic non-
redundant infrastructure will be less expensive to
equip than aTier IV data center with full fault
tolerance.

Typical Equipment Required
We can split equipment into two categories:
• The first is the end-user IT equipment, including
servers, storage units, and network equipment.
• The second is “all the rest,” meaning the additional
equipment required to allow the end-user IT
equipment to function usefully and reliably.

The notions of “scale up” and “scale out” apply
less here, even though it is possible to retrofit
an existing data center to take it to a higher tier
of availability. Basic items are:

• Electrical systems – including main switchgear, power distribution units,
intermediary distribution, and data center lighting
• Critical support equipment, -- such as diesel backup generators and UPS
equipment
• Internal fittings -- including the access floor and ceiling systems
• Mechanical systems -- including HVAC
• Fire protection system
• Plumbing system
• Monitoring and security systems -- facility management, CCTV, and
building access system
• Core networking installation -- shared between different end-user IT
installations

Other non-negligible items are the
construction costs of the data center, including
the cost of the real estate (highly variable),
building, structural steel, walls, and floors.

Sample Price Tags
Let’s start with a modest data center size for
housing 10 cabinets (standard 19 inch x 73.5
inch/42U) of end-user IT equipment.

Estimates will always vary, but a web simulator based on
previous data center project costs might indicate prices for
aTier I data center on the order of:
•$222,000 for power equipment (electrical, backup,
lighting)
•$48,000 for HVAC, plumbing, floor and ceiling systems,
and fire protection
•$14,000 for monitoring, security and core networking.

If you wanted to equip aTier IV data center
instead, each price would almost double. (Add
an extra 80% to 90%.)

Data Center Size and Crossover Points
As the number of cabinets increases, so, of
course, do these equipment costs.What is of
interest to many companies is the relationship
between a DIY approach and a data center
rental or colocation solution.

At lower levels, a colocation solution is more
economical.The crossover point where it
becomes financially feasible to think about
building your own data center might be around
the 75 cabinet level for aTier I facility, and 120
cabinets for aTier IV facility.

However, this analysis only takes into account the data
center equipment costs described here.
Additional factors are costs of ownership
(maintenance, repair, upgrades) and costs of qualified
personnel to run the facility.You can look forward to
hours of fun with that financial spreadsheet model
before you get a definitive answer!

Where is the crossover point for your
organization in terms of building your
own data center or using a service?

Tell us how this works for your business
with a line of two in the Comments
section below.

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What Does Data Center Equipment Cost? (SlideShare)

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What Does Data Center Equipment Cost? (SlideShare)