Best Practices Data Center Safety

       The purpose of this article is to provide a basis of "Best Practices Data Center Safety" for data center management and infrastructure. Local business reasons, local governmental code or other circumstances may mitigate the implementation of Data Center Electrical. This can be applied to your business.


General development for good Back-protection habits:

• Exercise regularly for strong, flexible muscles
• Avoid or control stress
• Do not overestimate your own strength
• Walk, do not run, to prevent slips and falls
• Sleep on a firm mattress, either on your side with your knees bent or on your back with your knees elevated

Seek Alternatives to lifting:

• Use equipment: hoists, hand trucks or dollies, rather that lifting when possible
• Push, do not pull, loaded trucks or dollies
• Break a large load into several small ones
• Get a helper to lift heavy or awkward objects
• Plan jobs and work areas to minimize the need to move tools and materials

Before you lift:

• Plan straightest, fastest and clearest route to your destination
• Look for places to stop and rest along the way
• Remove any objects you may trip over before starting to move the object
• Try to have a waist high surface for loading
• Make sure the area where you will unload is clear
• Check the object you will be carrying for rough or jagged edges or slippery surfaces
• Lift properly, a corner of the object to check weight and stability
• Wear gloves with good grip, safety shoes with reinforced toes and nonskid soles, and clothing that fits snugly (may just want to limit this to gloves but to be aware of the others as a risk possibility)
• Warm up with gentle bends and stretches

Lift correctly:

• Stand close to load, with feet firmly on the floor, about shoulder width apart, with toes pointing in an outward position
• Squat down close to the load with back straight, knees bent, stomach muscles tight
• Place hands on the diagonally opposite corner of the load so one hand pulls the load toward you and the other hand lifts
• Grip load firmly with both hands, not just the fingers
• Bring the load as close as possible to your body, with weight centered over you feet, lock arms and elbows into side and chin into neck
• Stand up slowly, keep your back straight and let your legs do the lifting
• Move forward with small steps with the load close to the body and not above waist high
• Change direction by moving feet not by twisting

Unload properly:

• Lower body slowly, with knees bent so legs do the work
• Position hands so fingers will not be caught under the load
• Place load on edge of surface and slide it back
• Fire suppression systems should be tested twice yearly at a minimum for proper operation. Local codes may require more frequent testing.
• Fire extinguishers should be checked monthly for proper certification and levels.
• No equipment may be moved without data center management permission.
• Workstation areas (tables, desks, etc) that are used on more than an intermittent basis should comply with CITC ergonomic standards.
• No data cables should be run across aisle ways, including extension cables or power cables.
• Alarm procedures should be reviewed on an annual basis for compliance with local and national codes; and, adherence to your business safety policies.
• The location of all fire extinguishers should be clearly marked
• The location of all safety equipment should be clearly marked
• The location and operation of all EPO's, fire suppression and alarm switches should be clearly marked
• Each telephone in the data center should have an up to date contact list and emergency procedures listing attached nearby
• Each door exiting the data center should have a telephone, flashlight, floor puller, fire extinguisher and emergency procedures
• Each major piece of infrastructure equipment (PDU/CPC,  air handlers) should have an emergency contact number attached to it
• Fire stopping between spaces is consistent and well done
• Fire detection heads are on flexible conduit for easy relocation
• The following activities have been restricted from inside the Data Center, except as specifically authorized by the your IT manager

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Best Practices Data Center Electrical

      The purpose of this article is to provide a basis of "Best Practices Data Center Electrical" for data center management and infrastructure. Local business reasons, local governmental code or other circumstances may mitigate the implementation of Data Center Electrical.
       It should be understood that the implementation of best practices Data Center Electrical may require long term processes to be implemented, capital or expense funding and that the corrective actions will be ongoing.

• Two electricians should be required for all “hot” electrical work.
• Infrared inspections of all PDU/CPCs should be performed yearly. Circuits that indicate readings 10 – 20% more than the norm should be noted and investigated.
• Unused circuits should be turned off at the PDU/CPCs.
• All PDU/CPCs should have a ground strap connected to the raised floor or ground.
  •Harmonic distortion, both voltage and current, measurements should be performed yearly or when substantial amounts of new equipment are installed; or major changes in the data center occur.
• The signal reference grid should be checked for integrity and measured ground resistance on a yearly basis.
• The proper labeling of PDU/CPC circuit breakers and circuits should be checked on a yearly basis. Panel schedules should be updated immediately when circuits are added or de-installed
• Loads on PDU/CPCs should be evenly distributed across the phases in order to reduce harmonics.
• An independent ground wire, should be run with each circuit. Circuits should never share ground wires.
• An independent neutral wire should be run with each circuit. Circuits should never share neutrals. The sizing of the neutral conductor depends on the load and the harmonics present.
• Watertight receptacles should be used beneath the sub-floor if chilled water air handlers are installed in the space.
• Use of 'pin and sleeve' receptacles should be used. If not available, or used, twist-lock receptacles should be raised off the floor by approximately 1 5/8".
• Branch circuits should be designed with the following factors: 1200 VA on 15 Amp, 120 Volt circuits; 1800 VA on 20 Amp, 120 Volt circuits and 3600 VA on 30 Amp, 120 Volt circuits. The minimum conduit size should be 1/2". Individual neutral and ground conductor in each computer receptacle branch circuit with a 3% maximum voltage drop at the furthest outlet in branch circuits and a 5% maximum voltage drop from the main power source to the load.
• The grounding scheme design should provide equal ground potential for all metal supports, equipment enclosures, racks, raceways and raised floor.
• The IEEE Emerald Book should be the standard for grounding all facilities (signal reference grid).
• Unused Seal-Tight circuits should be removed from the sub-floor. This is NFPA code requirement; and, it helps to insure PDU/CPC panel schedules are kept current. Additionally, unused circuits impede proper airflow.
• When using standard 110VAC NEMA 5 plugs, tie wrap the plugs to the receptacles to insure that the plugs do not come loose. Some locations may choose not to allow these circuits under the floor in order to prevent unauthorized personnel from utilizing those circuits.
• All circuit breakers should be marked with a color coded schema to indicate whether they are normally open or closed. This includes PDU/CPC mains and branch circuits.
• Manual EPO switches should be setup as a multiple step device and protected with a cover. If the cover is lifted, an alarm is sounded indicating imminent activation. The EPO switch should have a back-lit and a printed warning attached. The location and layout of the EPO switches should be consistent for each location in order to reduce confusion. Note, check with the manufacturer of the EPO system and relevant UL & NRTL code before any modifications to the EPO system.
• UPS power in the data center will only be used for computer and communications equipment. At no time will the UPS power be used for test, construction, personal and janitorial equipment
• At no time will a IT workforce member operate a PDU or main circuit breaker without consulting office management personnel.

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Best practices Data Center Temperature

     The purpose of this article is to provide a basis of "Best practices Data Center Temperature" for data center management and infrastructure. Local business reasons, local governmental code or other circumstances may mitigate the implementation of these best practices.

Air Conditioning & Cooling (Air Handlers, CRAH or FCU units)

• Air handers should be equipped with filters. These filters should be checked weekly and changed as needed. Pleated filters should be equipped with pre-filters.
• The relative humidity should be set in the 55 – 60% RH range.
• Air handlers should be equipped with output thermostats. These thermostats should be tied into a master monitored console with trip point setup to activate an alarm.
• Air handlers should not be installed back to back. The resulting vortex effect on the discharge may actually reduce flow.
• Air handlers should not be located close to high heat load equipment. The static pressure in front of the air handlers is actually very low due to the high velocity of the air handler's discharge. The low static pressure may cause hot air above the raised floor to be sucked into the sub-floor. This problem may be pronounced with high-static-output air handlers.
• Air hander placement and the number of air handlers should be such that if any one air handler fails, the remaining units will provide sufficient pressure and flow to cool the equipment.
• The room's humidity and cooling should be checked on a semi-annual basis with independent measuring equipment for data centers that do not experience a high rate of change. For those data centers that experience constant change, this time frame should shrink.
• Any sub-floor impediments to proper airflow should be reviewed. Old cabling should be removed, and large cable bundles should be spread out.
• Air handlers should be checked on a regular basis for proper operation and unit performance. Sensors should be check against independent measurement devices.
• Spot temperature and relative humidity measurements should be made on a regular basis with calibrated independent instruments.
• The height of the raised floor contributes to adequate airflow. This coupled with the static output pressure from the air handlers will determine where physical hot spots may arise in the data center. With a two foot raised floor, under ideal conditions, a typical air handler will have enough static pressure for normal flow at 30 feet.
• The residual chilled water piping stubs that remain after de-installation of air handlers should be removed.
• The design of the equipment racks will contribute to adequate airflow. For racks that contain high heat loads, fully perforated front doors, or no doors, are preferential.
• Air handlers should be checked for excessive dehumidification caused by low coil temperatures. Excessive dehumidification will cause corrosion in the fan coil units. This can readily be checked if the coil units are wet
• Condensate drains under the air handlers should not drain into open floor drains
• Water piping for the humidifiers should be supported so that unintentional breakage of the lines do not occur
• The discharge area of the air handers should be kept clean so that dust, dirt and debris are not blown into equipment intakes
• An active biocide program should be initiated to prevent growth in the condensate drains for the CRAHs

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Server Backup SLA example

What this will do for your business, Server Backup:

• Safeguards your data. 
• Meets corporate compliance requirements, ensures that your data is compliant with Policy as it relates to data protection. 
• Provides offsite retention for backed up data in case of Disaster Recovery (including a complete site failure or an individual server failure). 
• Recovers individual files or data bases in the event that data becomes corrupted (see also Server Restore). 
• Standardized infrastructure allows recovery of data at any Server Backup supported site.

      The Server Backup Product offers different levels of backup and offsite storage to meet the customer’s business data requirements. Server Backup offers different levels of service.  In order to achieve the service expected by the clients, and their users, Server Backup will enter in to a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for each service.

SLA-Coverage

SLA Category	Daily Full Backups
Successful Backup Target1	100%
Backup Schedule	Full backups2 done daily
Tape Offsite Frequency	Daily (next business day after backup completion)
Successful Restore Target1	100%
Backup Retained	60 days after being created
Data Integrity Target1 – as related to tape media	100% accuracy
Backup Server Availability Monitoring	Included
Routine Infrastructure Management	Included
Release Management	Included
Initial Client Server Set Up and Configuration	Included
Tape transportation fees for recoveries	Time & Materials
Data recoveries	Time & Materials
Audit IP Compliance Responsibility	Server Backup

SLA Category	Monthly Full Backups
Successful Backup Target1	100%
Backup Schedule	Full backups1 done once a month, differential backup1 done mid-month with daily incremental backups1 on the days when the full and differential backups do not run.
Tape Offsite Frequency	Monthly
Successful Restore Target1	100%
Backup Retained	90 days after being created
Data Integrity Target1 - as related to tape media	100% accuracy
Backup Server Availability Monitoring	Included
Routine Infrastructure Management	Included
Release Management	Included
Initial Client Server Set Up and Configuration	Included
Tape transportation fees for recoveries	Time & Materials
Data recoveries	Time & Materials
Audit IP Compliance Responsibility	Server Backup

Terms and Conditions

Products Responsibilities

   a. The backup server will reside in a physically secure data center.

   b. Server Backup will ensure that the backup infrastructure complies with Information Protection Standards. 

   c. Server Backup will ensure that all backup servers comply with ITC infrastructure hardware and software standards. 

   d. Server Backup will perform due diligence to ensure that all Backup servers have adequate virus protection.

   e. Server Backup will ensure the tape media is stored in a physically secure environment whether onsite or offsite, as well as during transportation. 1

   f. Server Backup will maintain an inventory of backup media to allow timely backup/restoration of financial information and reviewed on a regular basis for accuracy. 1 

   g. Because many of the components of the computing infrastructure are not controlled by Server Backup, uptime of the backup infrastructure cannot be guaranteed.  Server Backup therefore only guarantees the uptime for the backup servers (see item f above). 

   h. Server Backup will provide the Legato NetWorker Client server-related licenses. (Or any other tools)

   i. Server Backup will ensure that new upgrades of backup software have been fully tested in the lab environment before being rolled out into the production environment.

   j. Server Backup will test new releases and submit to Release Management for packaging of new Windows based Legato NetWorker software.  It is Release Management’s responsibility to notify customers when the new versions are available.  For new versions of UNIX based Legato NetWorker software, Server Backup will test and make it available in a shared folder.  Server Backup will notify customers via email of the availability of the new software.  

   k. Server Backup will use its discretion in scheduling backups to normally occur between (6PM to 6AM)2 local time. Server Backup is not required to notify customers when their systems will be backed up outside of the normal backup window unless requested by the customer. 

   l. Server Backup may run make up backup jobs during business hours to attempt to meet the 100% backup target unless specifically requested by the customer not to do this.

   m. Server Backup provides a basic set of backup completion and usage reports 

   n. Client servers using an inordinate amount of resources will be asked to pay extra for the resources or move to a dedicated/customized backup environment.

   o. Server Backup does not guarantee that files which are open during the backup process will actually be backed up.  The exception to this is the normally open Windows System Files.

   p. Server Backup will work with the customer upon customer request to test the data restore process  to validate that critical financial information can be timely restored when needed. 

Customers Responsibilities

  a. All client servers that request backups must comply with Server Backup conditions for using the backup service. (Refer to Criteria for Backup Service)  Additionally, changes to the client servers which impact their compliance with the required criteria for backups could void the SLA. If the SLA is voided all effort necessary to complete backup and recovery services will be billed on a time and materials basis to the customer.

  b. All customers are responsible for keeping the Legato NetWorker Client software current, including the OS versions (Refer to Criteria for Backup Service). 

  c. Customer is responsible for ensuring that the backup services are running on the machine.

  d. All customers are responsible for coordinating testing backup & recovery services for their servers when major upgrades occur.  Unless testing is done we cannot guarantee recoverability of the server or the success of backups.

   e. Customer is responsible to ensure that there are adequate client server resources available when restores are requested.  This means including adequate disk space as well as ensuring that the machine meets the criteria for backups.  (Refer to Criteria for Backup Service)

   f. Customers will provide a designated customer contact/support person. Customer contact information includes name, phone number and page (if available).  Customer will also provide billing information for the service as specified in the SOW.  Customer is required to maintain the accuracy of this information.  

   g. Customers will notify Server Backup of any proposed changes in workload or resource requirements that may affect the system’s resource capacity. For example, additional requirements for disk capacity.

   h. Customers will request subscription, changes, adds and deletes through AppHost.

   i. Customer is responsible for notifying Server Backup whenever their server will be unavailable for backups for an extended period of time (for more than 1 day). Customer is responsible for notifying the DIG team when the server is online and ready for backups to resume.

   j. Customers will provide Server Backup with two weeks notice if system availability is impacted during the backup window. Server Backup will reschedule the backups, based on business/Server Backup requirements.

   k. Customer is responsible for subscribing to change management process if they wish to be notified when the backup server is not available.

   l. Customers will be aware that recoveries are charged on a time and materials basis.

   m. Customers will participate in the recovery process by ensuring their application will run once the data has been recovered.

   n. Customer is responsible to work with Server Backup to test backups when backup service is initiated.  If possible, customer will work with Server Backup to test a restore when backup services are initiated.2

   o. Customers will periodically review (at least annually) their backup subscription level to ensure that their changing business requirements are met.

Service Level Exceptions

   a) In the event of a site disaster, Business Continuity Planning (BCP) processes takes precedence over normal backup services. 

   b) Additionally, backups may be rescheduled to free up backup infrastructure resources in order to perform required restores.  

   c) In the event of a major problem with a backup server, backup services cannot be provided while the backup server is being repaired.  This means that missed backup jobs will not be rescheduled if the repair takes more than a day.

   d) If critical data needs to be restored while a backup server is down because of unscheduled outage, it is possible to restore the data using a different backup server.  However, the process for doing this takes longer for performing this restore and requires customer approval. Criteria for Backup Service

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Backup and Recovery Guidelines

      Following is a summary of the guidance which can be distributed to a larger IT community. Server backups are performed for business continuity and system/disaster recovery purposes.  

       Specific file recoveries from server backups are possible when adhering to the following criteria:  The server backups must be overwritten every 30 days or less for email servers and 90 days or less for all other servers. Note: For most enterprise Hub, the personal drive and share all drive tape backups are only retained for 60 days or less. (If your site uses Networker, VERITAS or other backup tools to perform backups, this means the savesets must be marked as expired every 30 days or less for email servers and 90 days or less for all other servers.)

Guidance on Specific File Recovery Request
Each request for specific file/folder recovery should be evaluated using the following guidance:  

1. If the request is associated with a system outage, then recovery would likely be necessary. Business continuity and system/disaster recovery procedures should be followed. 
2. Any file recovery request for information past the retention timeframes, requires the approval of the IT Manager.
3. Before restoring from server backup, verify that the information cannot be located online:
     a. Support personnel should check the requestor’s recycle bin and temp folders.
     b. Support personnel should check that the information has not been moved elsewhere on the server by searching several folder levels above the requested recovery location on the server. This will prevent the recovery of duplicate information. 
4. Verify ownership of recovery information:
     a. If the person is requesting personal file recovery, validate that the requestor’s ID matches the ownership of the personal file being recovered.  If the requestor is not the owner of the data, approval from IT Manager is required.
     b. If the requested information comes from a shared area (e.g. share all), the support person should secure approval from the requestor’s supervisor by email to ensure the request is valid.

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Benefits of VMware

Introduction 
     Virtual servers provide benefits in several fields: higher availability, faster deployment, lower cost, lower energy use, and simpler upgrades. 

High availability
     VMware's VMotion technology enables the live migration of running virtual machines. Virtual machines do not need to be shut down for the vast majority of physical server maintenance events or virtual-environment patching. The VMware infrastructure will detect physical server failures and automatically restart VMs on another host.

Dynamic load balancing
     The VMware infrastructure automatically distributes the load across a cluster of physical servers to ensure the maximum performance of all running virtual machines.

Hardware flexibility
     Changing the resources available to a virtual machine is possible through a simple configuration change. Storage, processor, and memory resources can be matched to actual resource usage throughout the lifetime of the hosted application.

Reduced power consumption - 95% savings 
     With virtualization, a single physical server can host tens of virtual machines; this reduces the power consumed per system. 

     Each typical physical server consumes 200-300 Watts each. In contrast, the VM machines host 30 virtual servers for a total of 400 Watts, meaning each virtual server instance uses about 14 watts apiece. That's approximately a 95% reduction in energy use per server. 

Fast provisioning
     Procuring a physical machine can take days or weeks. In contrast, a virtual machine can be provisioned in one business day. 

Lower overall cost - 75% savings 
Server consolidation reduces the cost of servers, makes more efficient use of data center space, and reduces energy consumption; all of these factors reduce the total cost of ownership. Over a three-year lifecycle, a virtual machine costs approximately 75% less to operate than a physical server.

Typical workloads cost less than $500/year to host on the VMware infrastructure.

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HP Power Calculator Program

      For anyone who are using or planning to use HP server, this help for calculate PDU before connect to the UPS. HP ProLiant Servers - Online HP Power Calculators The HP Online Power Calculator has been replaced by the HP Power Advisor for HP ProLiant G6 servers and beyond. Use the HP Power Calculator for HP ProLiant G5 and earlier server models. 

       The HP Power Advisor is a tool provided by Hewlett-Packard to assist in the estimation of power consumption and proper selection of components including power supplies at a system, rack, and multi-rack level. A variety of additional features are also provided including a condensed bill of materials, a cost of owner ship calculator, and a power report. 

Details
       The HP Power Calculator utility reduces the research and guess-work for determining power requirements of systems based on ProLiant servers. Each calculator provides precise data that planners can use to accurately predict power and cooling requirements for single systems and, consequently, for racks of systems

       HP develops a unique Power Calculator for a specific ProLiant server using data collected from server tests. Each test starts with a system fully-configured with the maximum number of processors, memory, hard drives, expansion cards, and power supplies. Proprietary software is used to exercise the processors and all peripherals while voltage and current measurements are taken. Tests are repeated for all levels of processor support at all speeds, with different memory amounts and hard drive sizes. Revised or updated servers are retested during development cycles to ensure calculator integrity.
 NOTE:  HP Power Calculator is intended to be a conservative estimator of power. No two software programs will consume exactly the same amount of power. Even programs that report the same CPU utilization will have different power consumption characteristics, based on the exact mix and sequence of instructions being executed. The programs used as the measurement reference for the HP Power Calculator were intended to consume as much or more power than actual user applications. 

Downloads

Please download and read the "HHP Power Advisor utility: a tool for estimating power requirements for HP ProLiant server systems".

   Click here to download the HP Power Advisor utility White Paper .

HP ProLiant G6 Servers 

With the release of the new ProLiant G6 Server family, HP has also launched the new HP Power Advisor. This tool will replace the Power Calculators for G6 servers and beyond. You can find the tool along with more information at the following URL.

   Click here to access the "HP ProLiant Energy Efficient Solutions" web page .

Reference: HP Power Calculator Program | powercalcs | DL385G5

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