Learn How to Build a Data Center

Data centers are the backbone of modern business operations, providing the necessary infrastructure for data storage, management, and processing. These facilities play a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth functioning of IT and communication systems, facilitating cloud computing, e-commerce, data analysis, and much more.

Their importance has grown exponentially with the digital transformation of businesses, highlighting the need for reliable, efficient, and scalable data management solutions. Constructing a data center (or DC) involves a comprehensive approach, starting from the initial planning and design phase to the final implementation and operational stage.

This guide outlines the essential steps on how to build a data center, aiming to equip IT professionals, data center managers, and businesses with the knowledge to create a facility that effectively meets their specific needs and supports their operations efficiently.

Step 1: Assess your data center needs

Defining the purpose and scope

The foundation of a successful data center project lies in clearly defining its purpose and scope. This includes understanding the core functions the data center will serve, such as hosting websites, supporting cloud storage, or managing enterprise data. Identifying these objectives early on is absolutely crucial, as all subsequent planning and design decisions devolve from form effectively following function.

Plan ahead: Identifying requirements

• Current and future data storage needs: The IT sector is witnessing a significant surge in data volumes, prompting manufacturers to unveil hard drives currently ranging from 22 TB consumer-grade drives and 30 TB data center-ready units to 50-plus TB units expected in 2026 – with bigger models to come – while also discussing the advent of Petabyte-scale SSD storage tailored for the next generation of data centers. Given this rapid evolution, strategic foresight in planning is essential.
• Processing power and network bandwidth: The growth of cloud services, big data analytics, and machine learning models demands ever-increasing processing power and network bandwidth. Modern data centers now require high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities and ultra-fast network infrastructures to handle the voluminous data and complex computations. As technologies like 5G IoT and various AI applications become more pervasive, data centers must adapt to support ever-higher data transmission rates and volumes at ever-lower latency. Planning for expandable and upgradable network infrastructure is essential to accommodate these burgeoning demands. At the intersection of processing power also lies edge computing, which has proved a highly successful strategy for load management at large scale in such real-world deployments as Azure Cloud.
• Growth projections and scalability options: Anticipating future growth and ensuring scalability is crucial for long-term data center viability. This involves not just scaling up physical infrastructure but also leveraging cloud-based services for flexibility and cost efficiency. Scalability planning encompasses understanding trends in technology adoption, data volume growth, and application requirements. Implementing modular design principles can provide the agility needed to scale operations seamlessly, allowing for incremental expansions in processing power, storage capacity, and network capabilities as demand grows.
• Geographical location of clientele: The geographical distribution of a data center’s clientele significantly impacts its design and operational strategies. Data sovereignty laws may dictate where data must be stored and processed, influencing site selection. Proximity to users also affects performance; closer data centers can reduce latency, improving user experience for time-sensitive applications. Additionally, understanding regional risks, such as natural disasters, and market dynamics, such as energy costs and availability, is vital for strategic planning and ensuring reliable service delivery to the targeted user base.

Properly evaluating both present and anticipated future needs is crucial for designing a data center that can grow with your business. This foresight prevents costly redesigns or expansions down the line. MSPs, for instance, that primarily operate from rented space in third-party data centers, often find their moving costs higher than expected, both financially and reputationally.

Power and cooling needs analysis

The selection and deployment of hardware dictate the power and cooling requirements of a data center. Efficient power usage and effective cooling systems are vital for operational integrity and sustainability. Calculating these needs involves understanding the power supply, cooling loads, and the potential for energy recovery and reuse. In the current landscape of an increasingly environmentally conscious IT industry and the legislatures governing it, many data center-friendly locations offer additional incentives for the use of renewable technologies, such as the US’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) or Germany’s Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG). Creative data center placement could potentially partly offset or even fully externalize some of these needs.

Budgeting

Creating a detailed budget is a critical step, encompassing:

• Capital expenditures (CapEx) for infrastructure, equipment, and building costs.
• Operational expenditures (OpEx) including energy, maintenance, and staffing.
• Incorporating a contingency plan for unexpected expenses ensures financial preparedness throughout the project.

Step 2: Designing the data center infrastructure

Understanding common data center design and infrastructure standards

Before proceeding with design planning, there are standards under this step that you can base your data center infrastructure design on. Here are some of them:

• Uptime Institute Tier Standard: The Uptime Institute Tier Standard pertains to design principles that focus on proper construction and dictate how resilient a data center is based on four levels of redundancy and reliability.
• EN 50600 series: The EN 50600 series is a European design standard emphasizing the importance of proper IT cable and network design to ensure data center efficiency. This standard also includes redundancy and reliability concepts that drew inspiration from the Uptime Institute Tier Standard.
• ANSI/TIA 942-B: This design standard mainly reiterates the significance of building trades, IT, maintenance, and even fire preventive practices ANSI/TIA 942-B enforces comprehensive standards to ensure that facilities are designed to support critical IT systems with high levels of reliability, scalability, and security.
• ANSI/BICSI 002-2019: Based on the “Data Center Design and Implementation Best Practices” document, ANSI/BICSI 002-2019 pertains to the design aspects that encompass heat rejection, cooling systems, lithium-ion battery technologies, and integration of Open Compute Project initiatives into the data design principles.
• ASHRAE: These guidelines may not have a direct correlation with IT but can be valuable in retrospect for ensuring the environment and energy efficiency when building a data center. ASHRAE gives guidelines for designing and implementing heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and related fields.

Selecting a location

Choosing the right location is influenced by factors such as climate, which affects cooling costs, geographical stability to avoid natural disaster risks, and proximity to network backbones for connectivity.

Creating a floor plan

An efficient floor plan:

• Maximizes space utilization: Strategically plan the layout to allocate space for current infrastructure while reserving areas for future technology upgrades, ensuring the data center can evolve without wasting resources.
• Facilitates hardware installation and maintenance: Design pathways and spaces that allow for easy access to all hardware components, enabling efficient installation, upgrades, and maintenance activities without impacting adjacent operations.
• Supports future expansion: Incorporate modular design elements and flexible infrastructure solutions that can be easily adapted or expanded, allowing the data center to scale up operations or capacity in response to future demands.
• Is designed with accessibility in mind: Ensure that the layout includes sufficient clearance for both personnel and equipment movement, with thoughtful placement of critical systems to enhance operational efficiency and safety. Co-locating or sub-hosting rack space each also comes with its own host of security and access issues – make sure you have considered all the angles, both literal and figurative.

Power distribution and backup

Ensuring uninterrupted power involves:

• Robust power distribution networks: While not all regions have a choice of electricity providers, one happy byproduct of the current trend toward renewable power source diversity is the de facto increase in power system resilience.
• Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems: Some of the biggest power projects being built right now are essentially industrial-scale UPS systems. With the economies of scale enabled by the advent of the giga-scale battery manufacturing plants required to fulfill our needs, data center-scale UPS systems are becoming both increasingly efficient and affordable.
• Backup generators for emergency situations: While this could feel like a backup to a backup to a backup at this point, it is vital not to overlook this aspect. Even in the US, emergency fuel supply deliveries by water to certain DCs help to maintain service uptime, providing vital communications services to governmental and civil emergency efforts as well as victims during natural disasters. A data center isn’t just for this fiscal year – if you’re building a DC and you’re not planning for “five nines of uptime forever,” you’re doing it wrong.

Cooling and HVAC systems

Designing effective cooling and HVAC systems goes beyond merely keeping hardware within safe operating temperatures – it is a crucial factor in achieving a high level of energy efficiency within a data center. By utilizing advanced cooling methodologies, such as liquid cooling, aisle containment, or environmentally integrated solutions, designers can significantly reduce the energy consumption associated with maintaining optimal conditions.

This not only lowers operational costs but also contributes to the data center’s sustainability goals by decreasing its overall carbon footprint. Effective cooling design involves a detailed analysis of the data center’s layout, heat load distribution, and climatic conditions, ensuring that cooling resources are deployed in the most efficient manner possible.

Security and access control

Implementing comprehensive security measures, including physical barriers, surveillance systems, and biometric access controls, safeguards the data center against unauthorized access and potential breaches. By integrating advanced security technologies such as AI-powered surveillance and real-time intrusion detection systems, data centers enhance their defense against sophisticated cyber-physical threats, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of stored information.

Sustainable design principles

Incorporating energy-efficient technologies and green practices, such as renewable energy sources and efficient cooling mechanisms, minimizes the environmental impact of data center operations. The adoption of smart energy management systems and the use of natural resources for cooling, like geothermal or outside air, further enhance the sustainability of data center operations, significantly reducing energy consumption without compromising performance. We will discuss more about sustainability and environmental impact below.

Step 3: Review regulatory and compliance

Regulatory compliance is a critical aspect of data center planning. It ensures that the data center adheres to various laws and regulations, data privacy, security, and the overall operation of the business. These regulations are also location-specific, which data centers should also consider.

Here are some key regulations and their implications for data center design and infrastructure:

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

GDPR is a regulation under European Union law that focuses on data privacy and security. Critical considerations that a data center must consider to ensure compliance with GDPR are encryption, access control, and robust security protocols. Failure to comply with GDPR may result in penalties and other associated negative effects.

• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

In the United States, HIPAA is a regulation that aims to uphold the security of protected health information (PHI) and safeguard PHI from unauthorized access and usage. To comply with HIPAA, a data center must conduct regular risk assessments and implement security measures religiously.

• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

PCI DSS regulation applies to entities storing, processing, or transmitting payment card information. If a data center handles payment data, including credit or debit cards, it should ensure a secure environment to protect this information. Protective actions may include access controls, data encryption, security audits, and more. These protections should be in place to prevent fraud and cardholder data breaches.

• Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)

FISMA, or Federal Information Security Management Act, is a United States regulation that applies to federal agencies and contractors, requiring them to implement comprehensive information security programs. It’s critical for data centers affiliated with agencies and contractors to comply with FISMA in that they have to meet stringent security standards to protect federal data from cyber threats. Conducting risk assessments, monitoring systems, and ensuring ongoing audits are ways to ensure FISMA compliance.

• Other Relevant Regulations

Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX): SOX requires public companies to maintain accurate financial records and internal controls.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA): GLBA protects the privacy of customer financial information.

Data Breach Notification Laws: A Data Breach Notifications Law requires businesses to notify individuals and authorities of data breaches.

Step 4: Procuring equipment and infrastructure

Evaluating vendors and suppliers

Selecting vendors and suppliers involves assessing their reliability, product quality, support services, and projected long-term sustainability. It is also crucial that your service providers display insight into (and alignment with) your project’s technical and budgetary requirements. Properly evaluating vendors and suppliers not only ensures a match with current needs – it secures a partnership that can evolve with future technological advancements and market demands. Choosing the right vendor(s) can significantly streamline the rest of these processes. This proactive approach also fosters a resilient supply chain.

Selecting servers, networking, and racks

Choosing the right mix of servers, networking equipment, and rack solutions is crucial for meeting performance and scalability requirements. Factors such as processing power, storage capacity, and energy efficiency guide these decisions. When selecting these kinds of equipment, it’s essential to consider the interoperability of these systems to ensure seamless integration and optimal performance across your IT infrastructure.

Storage solutions and backup systems

Ensuring data integrity and availability requires reliable storage solutions and robust backup systems. Considerations include data redundancy, recovery capabilities, and storage scalability. In terms of storage solutions and backup systems, prioritizing systems that offer advanced encryption and security features can further protect data from unauthorized access and cyber threats – air-gapped and offline backup storage have never been more relevant.

Power supply and cooling equipment

Acquiring the right power supply and cooling equipment is vital for operational stability. This includes efficient UPS systems, precision cooling units, and environmentally friendly refrigerants. For power supply and cooling equipment, opting for solutions that offer smart, adaptive controls can significantly enhance energy efficiency, reducing operational costs while maintaining optimal environmental conditions.

Step 5: Installation and configuration

1. Setting up racks and cabinets: Proper installation of racks and cabinets involves considering weight distribution, ease of access, and future scalability. Organizing these components efficiently lays the groundwork for a well-managed data center.
2. Installing hardware: The installation process for servers, switches, and other hardware must be meticulously planned to ensure seamless integration into the data center infrastructure. This phase also includes comprehensive testing to verify functionality and performance.
3. Cable management: Effective cable management enhances airflow, simplifies maintenance, and improves overall safety. Strategies include using cable trays, racks, and labeling for easy identification.
4. Configuring devices: Configuring networking and storage devices for optimal performance involves setting up IP addresses, storage protocols, and data pathways. Ensuring redundancy in these configurations enhances reliability and data availability.
5. Testing equipment: Before going live, all equipment must undergo rigorous testing to confirm its operational readiness. This includes load testing, performance benchmarking, and security vulnerability assessments.

Step 6: Network and connectivity

1. Establishing internal network infrastructure: Configuring a robust internal network infrastructure is key to efficient data center operations. This involves setting up switches, routers, and firewalls to manage data flow and protect against intrusions. Quite separately from the next point, ideally you would also have failsafe out-of-band internal communications in the event of natural disasters or cyberattacks.
2. Implementing redundant networking: Redundancy is critical for ensuring high availability and reliability. Strategies include redundant network paths, failover systems, and load balancing to distribute traffic evenly across network resources. High levels of scheduled preventive maintenance are advisable here.
3. External network connections: Connecting the data center to external networks and the internet requires careful planning to ensure sufficient bandwidth, low latency, and secure connections. This includes negotiations with ISPs and compliance with industry standards for data transmission. Industrial parks and other enclaves often have a preferred ISP, but don’t be afraid to shop around.
4. Security and firewall configurations: Protecting the data center from cyber threats involves configuring firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and implementing strict access controls. Regular security audits, penetration tests, and updates are necessary to address emerging vulnerabilities.

Step 7: Disaster recovery and business continuity planning

Data centers should always err on the side of caution. This is why disaster recovery is paramount in data center planning to ensure business continuity and prevent downtime and disastrous consequences. Here are some key components that need to be considered in data center planning concerning disaster recovery:

Internal network infrastructure

• Switches: Managing data traffic plays an important role in a data center. Switches are components and devices that function as connections within a specified network. They are responsible for ensuring efficient communication between devices within a network in a data center.
• Routers: Routers direct data packets to their assigned destinations by connecting networks within and outside the data center.
• Firewalls: Unwanted traffic should be filtered and blocked in a data center. Firewalls are responsible for this task by acting as security gateways to prevent cyber threats. They are essential for ensuring the security of the data center’s internal network.

Redundant networking

• Multiple network paths: When planning a data center, redundant network paths should be considered to provide alternative routes for data traffic in case of failures or outages.
• Failover systems: Failover systems should be in place and configured to automatically trigger a switch to backup networks in case of crucial network failures.
• Load balancing: Load balancing pertains to the even distribution of network traffic across multiple links to improve performance and reduce congestion.

External network connections

• Internet connectivity: A data center is required to have and maintain reliable high-speed internet connections to connect to internal and external networks.
• WAN connections: Data center planning also involves implementing Wide-Area Network (WAN) connections. WAN plays an important role in connecting data centers to remote locations and other data centers.
• Network peering: Network peering refers to arrangements with other providers to optimize connectivity and reduce cost.

Security and firewall configurations

• Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS): Deployment of IDPS should also be considered to monitor network traffic for signs of unauthorized access or malicious activity.
• Firewall rules: Firewall rules are configurations that enforce strict rules to filter and block unwanted traffic.
• Access control lists (ACLs): Deployment of ACLs is also vital in a data center to control access to specific resources within the data center network.
• Virtual private networks (VPNs): VPNs are widely used in operations, including data centers, to create and maintain secure connections between the data center and remote users or offices.
• Regular updates and patches: Updates and patches keep network devices and software up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates. This helps eliminate vulnerabilities and prevents destructive threats.

Step 8: Environmental impact and sustainability

A data center can leave a substantial environmental impact with the energy it utilizes. This is why a data center’s environmental impact should also be communicated and studied to ensure the implementation of sustainable practices. Some critical factors under environmental impact and sustainability are as follows:

• Energy consumption: Data centers are often energy-intensive facilities, consuming significant amounts of electricity to power servers, networking equipment, cooling systems, and other infrastructure. Analyzing energy consumption patterns helps identify areas for improvement and reduction.
• Water usage: Cooling systems in data centers often rely on water for heat exchange. Assessing water usage is crucial, especially in regions with limited water resources.
• Waste generation: Data centers produce various types of waste, including electronic waste (e-waste) from obsolete equipment, packaging materials, and general waste from daily operations. Analyzing waste generation helps identify opportunities for recycling and waste reduction.

Step 9: Cost analysis and future trends

Every data center planning should look into cost analysis to guarantee that the facility can be well-maintained. Adjacent to cost analysis, future-proofing of the facility is another factor to consider in building a data center. Cost analysis involves the following:

Capital expenditures (CapEx):

• Land acquisition or lease costs
• Construction costs, including building materials, labor, and permits
• Equipment costs, such as servers, storage, networking devices, and power infrastructure
• Installation and configuration costs

Operational expenditures (OpEx):

• Energy costs (electricity, cooling)
• Maintenance and repair costs
• Staffing costs (IT personnel, facilities management)
• Network and internet connectivity costs
• Security and compliance costs

Total cost of ownership (TCO):

• Edge computing: As the demand for real-time data processing and low-latency applications grows, edge computing is becoming increasingly popular. This involves deploying data centers closer to end-users to reduce latency and improve performance.
• Hybrid cloud: Many organizations are starting to adopt hybrid cloud models, combining on-premise data centers with cloud-based services. This is a modern step in ensuring flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency.
• Automation and AI: Automation and utilization of artificial intelligence are also being adopted by many data centers to maximize productivity, enhance output, reduce human error, and ensure optimal resource utilization.
• Modular data centers: Modular data centers are also in demand because they help with faster deployment, scalability, and reduced construction costs.
• Reliance on colocation facilities: Some organizations opt to lease space in colocation facilities. This is because of cost-efficiency and the advantages of shared infrastructure and expertise over building their own data centers.

Creating the data ecosystems of the future

Building a data center is a complex, multifaceted project that demands careful planning, strategic decision-making, and meticulous execution. Each step, from assessing needs to installing and configuring infrastructure, contributes to creating a robust, efficient, and scalable data center.

The success of a data center hinges on thorough planning, precision in execution, and proactive management. These elements ensure that the data center can support current operations while being adaptable to future technological advancements and business growth. 

As data centers become increasingly complex, integrating comprehensive IT management solutions like NinjaOne’s Enterprise IT Management can significantly enhance operational efficiency, security, and scalability. NinjaOne offers a suite of tools designed to streamline data center operations, offering IT professionals the resources needed to manage modern data infrastructures effectively. Businesses are encouraged to explore how NinjaOne can support their data center projects and broader IT management goals, ensuring they stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.