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Top factors to consider when assessing a colocation data center facility

LocationAnnualized Power Usage EfficiencyConcurrent MaintainabilitySustainabilityTrack Record

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Colocation data centers have become popular alternatives to proprietary facilities for several key reasons. These include:

Core competency: Businesses prefer to focus on what they do best. Colocation data center providers help make this possible by assuming responsibility for otherwise time-consuming upgrading and mainte-nance tasks. Pre-staffed personnel handle core facility operations, including management and oversight of power infrastructure, security and on-site monitoring mechanisms, proper airflow, bandwidth, con-nectivity and more.

Access to cost-efficient expertise: Colocation providers put trained professional engineers and operators at the helm to keep the data center operational and reliable. This means businesses circumvent the ongoing labor costs for operations personnel to maintain mechanical and electrical equipment; these cost savings can be reallocated to other business initiatives.

Moving OPEX to CAPEX: Organizations that need cost-effective tenancy for their IT equipment can procure it without land purchases, major construction projects and renovations. Disbursing costs in the form of relatively predictable OPEX is preferable to dealing with large, unpredictable investments that will likely require unforeseen capital expenditures such as end-of-life replacements, unplanned equipment failures and much more.

Flexibility and scalability: Tenants operate on contract terms, and can rent additional space incrementally to match their capacity growth rather than risk capital expenditures on expansions that may prove unnecessary down the road. Instead they can focus capital on growing their business.

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Maria Vargas, Director of U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge inspects a Munters cooling unit at Intergate.Quincy with John Sasser, Sabey Data Centers’ Vice President of Operations.

LocationA data center’s geography can directly influence TCO in several ways, the most crucial being the cost of energy in that region. The U.S. Pacific Northwest, and particularly Washington state is a prominent destination for colocation data centers because of proximity to affordable hydropower. Low energy costs contribute directly to a favorable TCO since power represents the most substantial recurring expense for data centers.

Climate stability and safe distance from flood threats and other natural disasters are also worth consider-ing, especially for disaster-recovery sites. Facilities in lower latitudes will experience higher temperatures and greater humidity, which will likely influence the cost of cooling.

While many rural areas make ideal locations for data centers, it’s worth noting that nearby agriculture sites generate dust, pollutants and even smoke from con-trolled fires. These environmental factors are not deal breakers, but it’s worth evaluating how the provider handles their top control air quality within the facility. Cooling methods, for example, can affect this. Indirect evaporative cooling, which involves adding water to hot air to lower its temperature, doesn’t bring in outside air, so it preserves air quality inside the data center. It also keeps the facility clean, which is a boon for the onsite IT teams, who will be exposed to cleanlier, more pleas-ant working conditions.

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A low annualized PUE indicates that the facility itself consumes very little

electricity beyond that of the tenant's IT equipment, lowering costs.

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Annualized power usage effciencyPower usage efficiency (PUE) is another strong indicator of the total cost of ownership (TCO). The metric is determined by dividing all power entering a facili-ty by the amount used to support the IT load (servers, switches, etc.). A 1:1 ratio is ideal, but even the most efficient facilities in the world have PUEs in the 1.1 range. Sabey’s most efficient data center at its Intergate Quincy campus in Washington has an average annualized PUE of 1.13. This means that, per year, the facility uses 0.13 kilowatts on cooling, lighting and other overhead sources for every 1 kilowatt used to power the IT load. A PUE of 1.13 is well below Uptime Institute’s estimated industry average of 1.58.

When assessing a colocation data center provider’s PUE claims, verify that they’re providing an average annual PUE, and not a theoretical PUE, or the lowest PUE achieved for that facility. January and July will have very different average PUEs, for instance, as the latter month will require additional cooling to compen-sate for higher external temperatures. An average annualized PUE will factor in all the extremes, and should be determined through robust, year-long sampling.

A low annualized PUE indicates that the facility itself consumes very little elec-tricity, and that most of cost of energy comes directly from the tenant’s IT equipment.

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John Sasser — standing next to mobile commissioning assistants

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Concurrent MaintainabilityFor mission-critical IT equipment, tenants demand no less than 99.999 percent availability, and it’s not hard to see why. Each minute of data center downtime may cost tens of thousands of dollars or more depending on the deployment. For its part, a colocation provider should not negatively influence a tenant’s ability to keep mission-critical servers running perpetually.

Electric room — Intergate.Ashburn

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Concurrent maintainability means that the data center can provide maintenance on any piece of mechanical or electrical equipment without disrupting power to the server, or for that matter, air quality, temperature and other factors that could negatively influence IT load uptime.

It’s no longer enough just to inquire about redundancy. Every data center that supports mission-critical servers is expected to seamlessly failover to backup systems. Tenants must also confirm that the colocation provider has clear procedures and protocols in place to prevent even a second of downtime during emergency or planned maintenance.

10Hot aisle containment —Intergate.Quiny

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SustainabilityFrom a TCO standpoint, a sustainable and highly efficient colocation data provider is a no—brainer. Using affordable hydroelectricity—and consuming as little of it as possible with a low PUE—translates to money saved. Hot-aisle containment, indirect evaporative cooling fitted with economizers that deactivate compressors and help funnel in cold air on frigid winter days are just a few examples of how a facility that prides itself on sustainability might attempt to reduce its carbon footprint.

Another factor worth considering is the provider’s commitment toward fostering a general culture of sustainability, for example, by recycling, helping clients recycle their computing equipment and achieving a strong Energy Star rating. These and other attributes aid organizations as they endeavor to reduce their carbon footprint and achieve corporate sustainability goals.

Rocky Reach Dam —Wenatchee, Washington

Wanapum Dam —Grant County, Washington

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Track recordThis is the final and most important evaluation benchmark. Tenants must establish complete confidence in the data center provider’s ability to maintain the standards outlines in SLAs. The closest thing to 100-percent assurance that a colocation data center can provide is a glowing track record, one that reflects a real-world dedica-tion to uptime, energy efficiency, sustainability, accurate and transparent billing, and strong customer service in existing facilities.

At the end of the day, customers need to make a determination of how much faith they’re going to put into the facility. There is no more powerful metric or benchmark than a track record that demonstrates credibility and success in the industry.

Contact us today at sabeydatacenters.com/contact

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See our principles of modular design in action. Request a tour today at sabeydatacenters.com/tour

12201 Tukwila Int'l Blvd, Fourth Floor, Seattle, WA 98168 • Tel: 206.281.8700

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