Data Center Design

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What Does Data Center Design Mean?

Data center design is the process of modeling and designing a data center's IT resources, architectural layout and entire infrastructure. It enables the logical conception of a data center prior to development or implementation in an organization or IT environment.

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Although data center is a broad term that includes various processes and techniques, a data center design may be in the form of documents, modeled diagram systems or a combination of both.

Techopedia Explains Data Center Design

Data center design serves as they key design phase of data center development, where system architects create a documented and diagrammatic, logical view of a data center. It is typically an extensive process that covers all of a data center's essential computational and non-computational parameters. The computing aspect of data center design may incorporate any of the following:

  • Number and type of required servers
  • Network layout and equipment
  • Enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), data center management or any other required software

Similarly, data center design's non-computing aspect includes but is not limited to the following:

  • Physical facility that houses all equipment
  • Data center power, cooling and ventilation systems
  • Physical data center security, disaster recovery and business continuity planning.
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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.