This handbook offers a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research achievements in the field of data centers. Contributions from international, leading researchers and scholars offer topics in cloud computing, virtualization in data centers, energy efficient data centers, and next generation data center architecture. It also comprises current research trends in emerging areas, such as data security, data protection management, and network resource management in data centers. Specific attention is devoted to industry needs associated with the challenges faced by data centers, such as various power, cooling, floor space, and associated environmental health and safety issues, while still working to support growth without disrupting quality of service. The contributions cut across various IT data technology domains as a single source to discuss the interdependencies that need to be supported to enable a virtualized, next-generation, energy efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly data center. This book appeals to a broad spectrum of readers, including server, storage, networking, database, and applications analysts, administrators, and architects. It is intended for those seeking to gain a stronger grasp on data center networks: the fundamental protocol used by the applications and the network, the typical network technologies, and their design aspects. The Handbook of Data Centers is a leading reference on design and implementation for planning, implementing, and operating data center networks.

Provides the fundamentals, technologies, and best practices in designing, constructing and managing mission critical, energy efficient data centers Organizations in need of high-speed connectivity and nonstop systems operations depend upon data centers for a range of deployment solutions. A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. It generally includes multiple power sources, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning, fire suppression) and security devices. With contributions from an international list of experts, The Data Center Handbook instructs readers to: Prepare strategic plan that includes location plan, site selection, roadmap and capacity planning Design and build "green" data centers, with mission critical and energy-efficient infrastructure Apply best practices to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions Apply IT technologies such as cloud and virtualization Manage data centers in order to sustain operations with minimum costs Prepare and practice disaster reovery and business continuity plan The book imparts essential knowledge needed to implement data center design and construction, apply IT technologies, and continually improve data center operations.

"This book covers a wide spectrum of topics relevant to implementing and managing a modern data center. The chapters are comprehensive and the flow of concepts is easy to understand." -Cisco reviewer Gain a practical knowledge of data center concepts To create a well-designed data center (including storage and network architecture, VoIP implementation, and server consolidation) you must understand a variety of key concepts and technologies. This book explains those factors in a way that smoothes the path to implementation and management. Whether you need an introduction to the technologies, a refresher course for IT managers and data center personnel, or an additional resource for advanced study, you'll find these guidelines and solutions provide a solid foundation for building reliable designs and secure data center policies. * Understand the common causes and high costs of service outages * Learn how to measure high availability and achieve maximum levels * Design a data center using optimum physical, environmental, and technological elements * Explore a modular design for cabling, Points of Distribution, and WAN connections from ISPs * See what must be considered when consolidating data center resources * Expand your knowledge of best practices and security * Create a data center environment that is user- and manager-friendly * Learn how high availability, clustering, and disaster recovery solutions can be deployed to protect critical information * Find out how to use a single network infrastructure for IP data, voice, and storage

Master the basics of data centers to build server farms that enhance your Web site performance Learn design guidelines that show how to deploy server farms in highly available and scalable environments Plan site performance capacity with discussions of server farm architectures and their real-life applications to determine your system needs Today's market demands that businesses have an Internet presence through which they can perform e-commerce and customer support, and establish a presence that can attract and increase their customer base. Underestimated hit ratios, compromised credit card records, perceived slow Web site access, or the infamous "Object Not Found" alerts make the difference between a successful online presence and one that is bound to fail. These challenges can be solved in part with the use of data center technology. Data centers switch traffic based on information at the Network, Transport, or Application layers. Content switches perform the "best server" selection process to direct users' requests for a specific service to a server in a server farm. The best server selection process takes into account both server load and availability, and the existence and consistency of the requested content. Data Center Fundamentals helps you understand the basic concepts behind the design and scaling of server farms using data center and content switching technologies. It addresses the principles and concepts needed to take on the most common challenges encountered during planning, implementing, and managing Internet and intranet IP-based server farms. An in-depth analysis of the data center technology with real-life scenarios make Data Center Fundamentals an ideal reference for understanding, planning, and designing Web hosting and e-commerce environments.

Data Centers are the drivers of the digital economy. Understanding how data centers are designed, how they work and how they interact with the services we use is key towards building a great career in a digital world. This book will provide the reader with a firm foundation for understanding Data Center design.

Cloud Data Centers and Cost Modeling establishes a framework for strategic decision-makers to facilitate the development of cloud data centers. Just as building a house requires a clear understanding of the blueprints, architecture, and costs of the project; building a cloud-based data center requires similar knowledge. The authors take a theoretical and practical approach, starting with the key questions to help uncover needs and clarify project scope. They then demonstrate probability tools to test and support decisions, and provide processes that resolve key issues. After laying a foundation of cloud concepts and definitions, the book addresses data center creation, infrastructure development, cost modeling, and simulations in decision-making, each part building on the previous. In this way the authors bridge technology, management, and infrastructure as a service, in one complete guide to data centers that facilitates educated decision making. - Explains how to balance cloud computing functionality with data center efficiency - Covers key requirements for power management, cooling, server planning, virtualization, and storage management - Describes advanced methods for modeling cloud computing cost including Real Option Theory and Monte Carlo Simulations - Blends theoretical and practical discussions with insights for developers, consultants, and analysts considering data center development

Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals For many IT organizations, today''s greatest challenge is to drive more value, efficiency, and utilization from data centers. Virtualization is the best way to meet this challenge. Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals brings together the comprehensive knowledge Cisco professionals need to apply virtualization throughout their data center environments. Leading data center expert Gustavo A. A. Santana thoroughly explores all components of an end-to-end data center virtualization solution, including networking, storage, servers, operating systems, application optimization, and security. Rather than focusing on a single product or technology, he explores product capabilities as interoperable design tools that can be combined and integrated with other solutions, including VMware vSphere. With the author''s guidance, you''ll learn how to define and implement highly-efficient architectures for new, expanded, or retrofit data center projects. By doing so, you can deliver agile application provisioning without purchasing unnecessary infrastructure, and establish a strong foundation for new cloud computing and IT-as-a-service initiatives. Throughout, Santana illuminates key theoretical concepts through realistic use cases, real-world designs, illustrative configuration examples, and verification outputs. Appendixes provide valuable reference information, including relevant Cisco data center products and CLI principles for IOS and NX-OS. With this approach, Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals will be an indispensable resource for anyone preparing for the CCNA Data Center, CCNP Data Center, or CCIE Data Center certification exams. Gustavo A. A. Santana, CCIE® No. 8806, is a Cisco Technical Solutions Architect working in enterprise and service provider data center projects that require deep integration across technology areas such as networking, application optimization, storage, and servers. He has more than 15 years of data center experience, and has led and coordinated a team of specialized Cisco engineers in Brazil. He holds two CCIE certifications (Routing & Switching and Storage Networking), and is a VMware Certified Professional (VCP) and SNIA Certified Storage Networking Expert (SCSN-E). A frequent speaker at Cisco and data center industry events, he blogs on data center virtualization at gustavoaasantana.net. Learn how virtualization can transform and improve traditional data center network topologies Understand the key characteristics and value of each data center virtualization technology Walk through key decisions, and transform choices into architecture Smoothly migrate existing data centers toward greater virtualization Burst silos that have traditionally made data centers inefficient Master foundational technologies such as VLANs, VRF, and virtual contexts Use virtual PortChannel and FabricPath to overcome the limits of STP Optimize cabling and network management with fabric extender (FEX) virtualized chassis Extend Layer 2 domains to distant data center sites using MPLS and Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV) Use VSANs to overcome Fibre Channel fabric challenges Improve SAN data protection, environment isolation, and scalability Consolidate I/O through Data Center Bridging and FCoE Use virtualization to radically simplify server environments Create server profiles that streamline "bare metal" server provisioning "Transcend the rack" through virtualized networking based on Nexus 1000V and VM-FEX Leverage opportunities to deploy virtual network services more efficiently Evolve data center virtualization toward full-fledged private clouds -Reviews - "The variety of material that Gustavo covers in this work would appeal to anyone responsible for Data Centers today. His grasp of virtualization technologies and ability to relate it in both technical and non-technical terms makes for compelling reading. This is not your ordinary tech manual. Through use of relatable visual cues, Gustavo provides information that is easily recalled on the subject of virtualization, reaching across Subject Matter Expertise domains. Whether you consider yourself well-versed or a novice on the topic, working in large or small environments, this work will provide a clear understanding of the diverse subject of virtualization." -- Bill Dufresne, CCIE 4375, Distinguished Systems Engineer, Cisco (Americas) "..this book is an essential reference and will be valuable asset for potential candidates pursuing their Cisco Data Center certifications. I am confident that in reading this book, individuals will inevitably gain extensive knowledge and hands-on experience during their certification preparations. If you''re looking for a truly comprehensive guide to virtualization, this is the one!" -- Yusuf Bhaiji, Senior Manager, Expert Certifications (CCIE, CCDE, CCAr), Learning@Cisco "When one first looks at those classic Cisco Data Center blueprints, it is very common to become distracted with the overwhelming number of pieces and linkages. By creating a solid theoretical foundation and providing rich sets of companion examples to illustrate each concept, Gustavo''s book brings hope back to IT Professionals from different areas of expertise. Apparently complex topics are demystified and the insertion of products, mechanisms, protocols and technologies in the overall Data Center Architecture is clearly explained, thus enabling you to achieve robust designs and successful deployments. A must read... Definitely!" -- Alexandre M. S. P. Moraes, Consulting Systems Engineer -- Author of "Cisco Firewalls"

As computation continues to move into the cloud, the computing platform of interest no longer resembles a pizza box or a refrigerator, but a warehouse full of computers. These new large datacenters are quite different from traditional hosting facilities of earlier times and cannot be viewed simply as a collection of co-located servers. Large portions of the hardware and software resources in these facilities must work in concert to efficiently deliver good levels of Internet service performance, something that can only be achieved by a holistic approach to their design and deployment. In other words, we must treat the datacenter itself as one massive warehouse-scale computer (WSC). We describe the architecture of WSCs, the main factors influencing their design, operation, and cost structure, and the characteristics of their software base. We hope it will be useful to architects and programmers of today's WSCs, as well as those of future many-core platforms which may one day implement the equivalent of today's WSCs on a single board. Table of Contents: Introduction / Workloads and Software Infrastructure / Hardware Building Blocks / Datacenter Basics / Energy and Power Efficiency / Modeling Costs / Dealing with Failures and Repairs / Closing Remarks

Alger presents technologies, design strategies, and operational approaches that can help any company improve the energy efficiency and "eco-friendliness" of their IT facilities. He walks step-by-step through "greening" physical construction, power, cooling, and servers; then covers equipment consolidation, virtualization, and much more.

Data centers consume roughly 1% of the total electricity demand, while ICT as a whole consumes around 10%. Demand is growing exponentially and, left unchecked, will grow to an estimated increase of 20% or more by 2030. This book covers the energy consumption and minimization of the different data center components when running real workloads, taking into account the types of instructions executed by the servers. It presents the different air- and liquid-cooled technologies for servers and data centers with some real examples, including waste heat reuse through adsorption chillers, as well as the hardware and software used to measure, model and control energy. It computes and compares the Power Usage Effectiveness and the Total Cost of Ownership of new and existing data centers with different cooling designs, including free cooling and waste heat reuse leading to the Energy Reuse Effectiveness. The book concludes by demonstrating how a well-designed data center reusing waste heat to produce chilled water can reduce energy consumption by roughly 50%, and how renewable energy can be used to create net-zero energy data centers.