Design Considerations

When Planning a New Data Center

John Jones, M.B.A.
Vice President for Information Technology
Indiana Wesleyan University

Eric Sank, P.E., RCDD

Design Collaborative, Inc.

Data Center Design a Case Study.

History of the IWU Data Center

Challenges
Charge
Frustration
Partnership

Understand your needs.

Present Equipment + Growth

Racks
Layout
Misc. Equipment

Location, location, location...

Security
Access to fiber/copper
Accessibility
No Foreign Services
Visibility

Reliability

How Critical are Processes

Uptime Institute
www.uptimeinstitute.org
Tier Classification

Reliability Tier Classification

Tier 1
Single Path cooling & electrical
No redundancy
99.671% availability (28 hours/year)

Reliability Tier Classification

Tier 2
Single Path cooling & electrical
Redundant capacity, single path
Raised floor, UPS, engine generator
99.741% availability (22 hours/year)

Reliability Tier Classification

Tier 3
Active & Passive delivery paths
Redundant Capacity
Concurrently maintainable9
99.982% availability (1.6 hours/year)

Reliability Tier Classification

Reliability Tier Classification

Tier 4
Dual active delivery paths
N+1 redundancy
Concurrently maintainable
99.995% availability (.4 hours/year)
Clean out your desk!

Power Distribution

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

Power Distribution

Design Considerations
Does electrical service have adequate capacity?
Need at least one feed from building utility
service.
Distribution type panel on output of transfer
switch

Power Distribution

Rules of Thumb
200-400 watts/sq f.t total electrical load for
data center including A/C
Cost is dependent on distance from service.

Emergency Generator

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

Emergency Generator

Design Considerations
Powers A/C, UPS, lights & other critical equip.
Fuel choice natural gas vs. diesel
Transfer switch programmed transition
Indoor vs. Outdoor
Accessories heater, charger, etc

Emergency Generator

Rules of Thumb
Size the generator 2-3 times the KW of
UPS/equipment load.
Estimate $250-$300/KW for installed price

UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

...brown cant do
this for you.

UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

...brown cant do
this for you.
Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

UPS

Design Considerations
Required watts.
Actual vs. rated loads
Availability N, N+1, 2N
Single Unit vs multiple, rack mounted UPS
Dual Conversion vs. standby
Location
Battery type, time, weight
Bypass static and wrap-around
Flywheel Technology
Limit battery recharge when on generator

UPS

Rules of Thumb
70-100 watts/s.f. for standard equipment
layout. Can go up to 200-300 watts/s.f.
5-7 years life for maintenance free batteries
and 10-14 years for lead-acid batteries.
$500-$800 per KW.
3 ft. maintenance clearance required in front
and possibly on the sides

Air Conditioning

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

Air Conditioning

Design Considerations
Sawcut for Drains
Redundancy N+1, 2N
Clearance Around Units (maintenance)
Outdoor Condensing Units
Humidity concerns
Refrigerant preferred over chilled water

Air Conditioning

Rules of Thumb
$800-1000 per KW of electric load. ($1600-2000
for 2N redundancy)
Footprint up to 20 s.f. each for up to approximately
100 kw.
18 is minimum preferred height for raised flooring.

Fire Detection

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

Fire Detection

Design Considerations
Standard smoke detectors vs. VESDA
Smoke detectors not required beneath raised floor

Rules of Thumb
Approx. $150 per device for standard fire alarm
system
Approx. $5/s.f. for VESDA

Fire Suppression

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

Fire Suppression

Design Considerations
Wet system acceptable no piping in data center
FM200 has replaced Halon as agent

Rules of Thumb
Cost - $35,000 for 1,000 s.f. and $10,000 for each
additional 1,000 s.f.
Need space for control panel and tanks. Plan on 4
s.f. for the tank per 1,000 s.f. of data center.

Security

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

Security

Design Considerations/Rules of Thumb

Security/Card Access
Approximately $2,500 per door, including card
reader, headend/controller, and door hardware.

Racks

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

Rack - Enclosures

Design Considerations
Hot aisle cold aisle lay out
3 min. working clearance on both front and back
Include cable management vertical /horizontal
Avoid heat dams caused by cabling in rear of rack

Rack-Enclosures

Rules of Thumb
Costs Up to $3,500 for specialized racks
Can include UPS, A/C, and monitoring
Sizes 24-32 widths, 30-44 depths
Cable management can help air flow

Branch Circuits, PDUs, Strips

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

Branch Circuits, PDUs, Strips

Design Considerations
# of servers/circuit/rack ensure plug strips have enough plugs
Is monitoring of load on each circuit required? Can be
accomplished at panel or at plugstrip. Access info via local
readout or by web server
Branch circuit wiring typically run beneath raised floor.
Power distribution can be built-in in some racks.
Blade servers will require a 208 volt feed instead of 120v.
Dual corded loads and 2N redundancy

Branch Circuits, PDUs, Strips

Rules of Thumb
Approx. 4-6 1U servers for each 20 amp circuit
Approx. $350 per 20 amp circuit run from panelboard
to rack
Approx. $300 each for vertical plug strips in rack.

Cable Trays

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

Cable Trays

Design Considerations
Data cabling overhead power wiring below
Wire basket type tray or traditional steel/aluminum
ladder type.
Cabling can be integrated into racks

Rules of Thumb
$20-$30 per lin. foot cost for basket tray (84)
$40-$60 per lin. foot for ladder type tray.

Monitoring

Design Considerations

Monitoring

Design Considerations
Provide for monitoring/annunciators on critical systems
like UPS, generator, fire alarm, fire suppression, air
conditioning, and batteries.
Control panel on equipment is most cost-effective and is
typically included with equipment.
SNMP available for most equipment.
HTML available for monitoring of most equipment
Often the first item cut for cost savings.

Raised Floor

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb

Raised Floor

Design Considerations
Adequate space for wiring and air flow. 18 is minimum
Include grounding of pedestals.
Ramp will be required for ADA. 1:12 slope means an 18
ramp is required for 18 raised floor
Consider depressed slab so ramp is not required
NEC requires removal of abandoned cable when doing any
renovations.
Include 20% perforated tiles for air distribution in front of
racks.

Raised Floor

Rules of Thumb
Approx. $25/s.f. + $5-$10,000 for ramp

General Construction

Design Considerations
Rules of Thumb
Fees/Permits/Gen. Items

General Construction

Rules of Thumb
Data center should a have vapor barrier for humidity
control.
What level of security is needed? CMU vs. Stud/Drywall
Ancillary Spaces Needed?
Staff workstations
Storage
Rooms for UPS, Fire suppression, etc

General Construction

Rules of Thumb
Approximately $150 per s.f. for new construction of
the ancillary spaces (outside of data center)
Approximately $40-$80 s.f. for remodeling existing
spaces new floors, ceilings, lights, etc

General Construction

Fees/Permits/General Items
If replacing an existing data center, include costs for
move/changeover to new location
Arch/Engr fees 8-12% of construction costs.
General Conditions: Mobilization, fees, permits, utilities by
general contractor 5-10% of construction costs.
Contingency: include costs for unforeseen conditions. 10%
for cost estimates and 3-5% after bidding.

Bidding A Case Study

Existing conditions
Program
Location
Costs

Bidding A Case Study

Existing conditions
Program
Location
Costs

Bidding - Costs

- Total Costs

Bidding - Costs
Electrical Costs
200 KW Generator

$48,000

Data center PDUs, branch circuits

$ 5,650

Cable Tray

$ 1,300

Misc. elect costs lights, outlets, fire alarm

$27,350

80 KW UPS (alternate)

$40,600

Total Electrical

$82,300

$/sq ft Data Center

$137/sq ft

$/sq ft Entire Project

$ 62/sq ft.

- Total Costs

Bidding - Costs
Mechanical Costs
(2) A/C units, 77 KW capacity each -

$128,000

Sprinklers -

3,000

Misc. piping, -

9,500

Total Mechanical -

$132,260

$/sq ft Data Center -

$220 /sq ft.

$/sq ft Entire Project -

$ 99 /sq ft.

- Total Costs

Bidding - Costs
General Construction Costs
Raised floor 600 sq ft.

$21,000

Walls, doors, flooring, ceilings -

$23,000

Total General Trades -

$44,000

$ /sq ft Data Center -

$73 /sq ft

$ /sq ft Entire Project -

$33 /sq ft

- Total Costs

Bidding - Costs

Miscellaneous Costs
Equipment Racks - $5,000.00 allowance to be
purchased direct by IWU.
Card Access - $2,500.00 allowance for 1 card
reader to be purchased direct by owner

- Total Costs

Bidding - Costs
Overhead/Fees/Contingency Costs
Construction management fees -

$21,500

A/E Design Fees -

$28,500

Contingency -

$ 5,800

Printing, State Fees -

$ 1,250

Total Indirect Costs -

$57,050

$ /sq ft Data Center -

$95 /sq ft

$/sq ft Entire Project -

$43 /sq ft.

- Total Costs

Bidding - Costs
Total Construction Costs
Electrical

$ 83,000

Mechanical

$132,260

General Construction

$ 44,000

Misc. Equipment

Overhead/Fees/Contingency

$ 57,050

Total

$323,810

$/sq ft data center

$540 /sq ft

$/sq ft total project

$243 /sq ft

- Total Costs

7,500

Thank you!