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Data Center Operations
What Are Data Center Operations?
Data center operations encompasses all of the systems, processes, workflows, tasks, and activities involved in the day-to-day management and successful operation of a data center.
The core purpose of data center operations is to optimize the quality, consistency, reliability, and value of data center services provided to customers, such as:
- Colocation services
- Managed application and workload hosting
- Cloud hosting
- Data storage
- Networking and connectivity services
- Data back-up and Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS)
- Load balancing
- Physical and digital security services
Data centers are staffed with a variety of operational roles, including operations managers, system and network administrators, security analysts, engineers, and data center technicians. A comprehensive approach to data center operations allows data centers to maximize performance and efficiency, effectively secure customer applications and data, ensure service reliability and business continuity for customers, and optimize costs.
8 Critical Data Center Operations Processes
Server Management
Server management ensures the effective and reliable operation of physical and virtual servers inside the data center. Server management tasks include things like monitoring server health and performance, performing routine maintenance and upgrades, and troubleshooting performance issues. Effective server management enhances service availability, optimizes workload performance, and helps prevent costly unplanned downtime.
Storage Management
Storage management is the ongoing process of managing storage area networks (SAN), network-attached storage (NAS), and other data storage systems inside the data center. Storage management involves tasks like capacity planning, provisioning data storage resources based on customer demand, data replication, back-up management, and compliance auditing.
Network Administration
Network administration encompasses the ongoing process of managing and maintaining the data center’s network infrastructure, including routers and switches, load balancers, gateways, cabling, and other network devices. Network administration tasks include network configuration, bandwidth allocation, performance monitoring, and troubleshooting issues to optimize connectivity for customers.
Power and Cooling Management
Data centers house significant numbers of servers, storage devices, and other computer equipment that must be consistently powered and cooled to support customer workloads. Power and cooling management is the ongoing process of ensuring that power and cooling systems in the data center are functioning effectively and efficiently.
Software Upgrades and Patch Management
Patch management is the ongoing process of scheduling and deploying patches for servers, applications, and network devices inside the data center. Effective patch management allows the data center to seamlessly install and begin operating the latest and most secure versions of their preferred software tools without any disruption to normal business operations.
Automation and Orchestration
Data centers use automation software tools to automate routine tasks like resource provisioning, network configuration, load balancing, data back-up, and patch management. Orchestration software is used to coordinate and automate data center operational tasks across multiple systems. Automation and orchestration technologies save time and reduce errors while making it faster and easier for customers to access data center services.
Security
Data centers host large quantities of customer data that must be effectively secured against both physical and digital threats. Data centers implement physical security measures like in-person security guards, restricted access, and video surveillance to prevent unauthorized access to the data center.
To protect against cyber threats, data centers are staffed with security teams who implement digital access controls, gather threat intelligence, manage vulnerabilities, implement security software tools, monitor the security status of the data center network, and respond to security incidents.
Data Back-up and Disaster Recovery
Data centers replicate customer data across multiple servers or multiple data centers in different locations to safeguard against data loss in the event of a data breach or unplanned service interruption. Data centers can also provide disaster recovery services, leveraging off-site data back-ups to rapidly restore customer data and operations in the event of a service interruption.
5 Key Job Roles in Data Center Operations
Data Center Operations Manager
A data center operations manager is in charge of daily operations inside a data center. This role is responsible for overseeing critical operational tasks, including infrastructure management (networks, servers, storage, etc.), coordinating maintenance activities, capacity planning, change management, physical security, risk management, and compliance.
An operations manager should keep track of data center industry trends, adopting new and emerging technologies and best practices to enhance service and remain competitive in the marketplace.
Facilities Manager/Building Operator
A facilities manager or building operator is responsible for managing the physical and environmental conditions of the data center. Critical responsibilities for a data center building manager include managing power distribution and cooling systems, safety and compliance, preventative maintenance, emergency response planning, and risk management.
Network Engineer
Network engineers are responsible for designing, implementing, managing, and troubleshooting the data center’s physical and virtual network infrastructure. This encompasses tasks like network architecture design, implementing network devices (routers, switches, load balancers, etc.), configuring virtual networks, network traffic and performance monitoring, troubleshooting connectivity issues, capacity planning, and technical support.
Data Center Technician
Data center technicians are responsible for technical tasks that require an in-person presence in the data center. They do the hands-on work of installing and configuring physical infrastructure inside the data center, including servers, endpoints, storage and network devices, and cabling. They are also involved in handling customer inquiries that require hands-on support in the data center.
Security Analyst
Data centers employ security analysts to safeguard their cybersecurity posture against digital threats. Security analysts are directly engaged in critical activities like threat intelligence gathering, vulnerability and patch management, security monitoring, threat hunting, and incident response that contribute directly to safeguarding customer workloads and data against digital adversaries.
Why is Data Center Operations Important?
Ensuring Business Continuity
Data center operation plays a critical role in ensuring business continuity for the data center and its customers. Conscientious management of power and cooling systems, capacity planning, and infrastructure performance (compute servers, storage, networking, etc.) helps ensure consistent and reliable service for customers while minimizing unplanned operational downtime.
Maximizing Performance and Efficiency
Effective data center operations help maximize the performance and efficiency of a data center, resulting in lower costs and improving the customer experience. Data centers use a variety of different monitoring technologies to measure the health and performance of data center infrastructure (networks, endpoints, power/cooling, etc.), diagnose issues, and uncover the best opportunities to enhance performance and efficiency. They also engage in tasks like capacity planning and resource optimization that help drive efficiency and reduce costs.
Securing Customer Applications and Data
Safeguarding data against physical and digital threats is crucial for data centers to maintain trust with their customers and avoid the painful consequences of a data breach. A robust approach to data center operations involves the implementation of physical and digital security measures that protect sensitive customer data against digital adversaries.
Maintaining Regulatory Compliance
Companies that collect and store sensitive data are often subject to regulatory compliance requirements with respect to data privacy and security. Data centers play an important role in supporting regulatory compliance for customers, implementing operational workflows and best practices to secure customer data and prevent unauthorized access.
Discover TierPoint’s Expert Approach to Data Center Operations
TierPoint’s data center services are supported by our expert approach to data center operations that guarantees exceptional service availability and performance for our customers.
Consolidate your workloads in a TierPoint data center and you’ll see how TierPoint leverages our deep experience in data center operations to deliver high-availability infrastructure, exceptional connectivity, robust disaster recovery capabilities, and reliable security for our customers.
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Book an intro call with us to discover how our expert approach to data center operations can help secure and optimize your most important applications and workloads.
