Questions tagged [datacenter]

is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems

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269 votes
15 answers
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I've inherited a rat's nest of cabling. What now?

You know, you see pictures like below and sort of chuckle until you actually have to deal with it. I have just inherited something that looks like the picture below. The culture of the organization ...
Chad Harrison's user avatar
75 votes
18 answers
28k views

Do you skip a rack unit between servers?

It seems like there's a lot of disagreement in mindsets when it comes to installing rackmount servers. There have been threads discussing cable arms and other rackmount accessories, but I'm curious: ...
Matt Simmons's user avatar
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65 votes
16 answers
251k views

What is the correct temperature for a server room?

When I was working in our server room, I noticed that it was very cold. I know that the server room has to be cold to offset the heat of the servers, but perhaps it is TOO cold. What is an ...
freddiefujiwra's user avatar
63 votes
10 answers
6k views

How to extinguish a small fire in a server rack to minimize damage to surrounding equipment?

Suppose I have a rack with several servers and other stuff. One of servers overheats severely and either starts smoking or catches fire while there's a serviceman nearby. If anything similar happens ...
sharptooth's user avatar
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57 votes
6 answers
62k views

What's the best fire suppression for a server room? [closed]

What is the state of the art in fire suppression for server rooms? What are the top priorities in choosing a good system?
Dennis Williamson's user avatar
56 votes
4 answers
7k views

Assessing equipment damage following a lightning strike - Should I have planned more?

One of my client's sites received a direct lightning hit last week (coincidentally on Friday the 13th!). I was remote to the site, but working with someone onsite, I discovered a strange pattern of ...
ewwhite's user avatar
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55 votes
6 answers
13k views

Why do we still use power supplies on datacenter servers?

Computers mainly need three voltages to work : +12V, +5V and +3,3V, all of them are DC. Why can't we just have a few (for redundancy) big power supply providing these three voltages to the entire ...
user avatar
54 votes
8 answers
4k views

How is fire spread in server rooms and datacenters?

Every now and then I read that a severe fire has happened in some datacenter, lots of equipment has been damaged and customers have gone offline. Now I wonder what is there to support and spread fire? ...
sharptooth's user avatar
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52 votes
6 answers
17k views

What are the pros and cons of having your own UPS attached to your own server hosted in a data center?

According to this comment by Tom O'Connor (slightly edited below): You can seriously cheese off a datacentre by putting an UPS inside your own rack. What are the risks to the data center should a ...
JonathanDavidArndt's user avatar
51 votes
7 answers
4k views

How to take full ownership of an IP address?

My business is... troublesome. What I do is legal in every country on earth, but some people don't like it, and make it so tough on my poor ISPs that I am forced to go looking for new providers more ...
darkAsPitch's user avatar
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49 votes
2 answers
99k views

Splunk is fantastically expensive: What are the alternatives? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Alternatives to Splunk? This has been discussed, but it has been several months, so it may be time to revisit it: Earlier discussion RE Splunk alternatives For the record, ...
Jonesome Reinstate Monica's user avatar
48 votes
7 answers
7k views

Cable Management Policy

We've all seen good and bad examples of cable management. What are objective, measurable requirements that can be used in a policy to maintain cabling order in the rack/server room/data center? I'm ...
Adam Davis's user avatar
  • 5,456
42 votes
8 answers
8k views

Server Room Temperature Control

We have a makeshift server room that contains a rack with half a dozen servers and some network equipment. The room is cooled by a dual-hose portable a/c unit that is vented into the attic. At this ...
Brandon's user avatar
  • 531
41 votes
3 answers
43k views

How do servers with redundant power supplies balance consumption?

I have several servers from the HP DL360 line (generations 5-8). Each of these servers has two power supplies installed. The 2 power supplies in each server are fed from different circuits. My ...
Travis Beale's user avatar
40 votes
34 answers
51k views

Monitoring server room temperature

I have a small server room with its own AC unit. Recently, the AC died, and the temperature increased from 70 F to > 90 F. We rarely go in this room, so I was lucky that someone happened to notice ...
34 votes
5 answers
2k views

Key Things to look for in a Data Center

I'm trying to build a simple checklist to determine the quality of a datacenter... where and what should I look for and how can I determine if what the owners say (e.g. "our UPS keep the data center ...
AX1's user avatar
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29 votes
3 answers
3k views

Illegal activities prevention system (child pornography, animal cruelty, …)

It is a very sensitive topic that requires a solution from our end. I have few servers that I rent to few people. I have all legal permissions and rights to scan over the servers. I want to prevent ...
user2253741's user avatar
28 votes
3 answers
26k views

Layer 4 vs Layer 7 Load Balancing

I am trying to decide between using a layer 4 load balancing solution for my datacenter or a layer 7 solution. Unfortunately (for my sanity, that is), my use case is simple enough that both solutions ...
Scrivener's user avatar
  • 3,146
27 votes
4 answers
2k views

What to look for in a datacentre ethernet switch

This is a Canonical Question about choosing a network switch for a datacentre When shopping for a networking switch that's going to be going into the top of a datacentre rack, what specific things ...
Mark Henderson's user avatar
25 votes
6 answers
14k views

Best practices for power cabling racks in DC

With network cables it is easy. I use velcro-ties, coloured cables, 0U vertical cable organizers from APC on side of the rack -- easy and neat. However with power cables it was always giving me ...
bart613's user avatar
  • 548
25 votes
1 answer
993 views

Zinc Whiskers in Data Centers

A message thread on this site from 2010 through an update in 2012 was on a server room that was closed due to zinc whiskers and they thought the flaking was from access flooring & its support. I ...
user156452's user avatar
23 votes
11 answers
25k views

Why datacenter water cooling is not widespread?

From what I read and hear about datacenters, there are not too many server rooms which use water cooling, and none of the largerst datacenters use water cooling (correct me if I'm wrong). Also, it's ...
Arseni Mourzenko's user avatar
22 votes
8 answers
33k views

Avoiding DNS timeouts when a DNSserver fails

We have a small datacenter with about a hundred hosts pointing to 3 internal DNS servers (bind 9). Our problem comes when one of the internal DNS servers becomes unavailable. At that point all the ...
Neil Katin's user avatar
21 votes
13 answers
3k views

Physical server security

A lot of time and columns are spent discussing securing a server from outside attacks. This is perfectly valid because it's easier for an attacker to use the Internet to break your server than it is ...
19 votes
1 answer
2k views

How to correctly move a server inside a rack up and down

Maybe a bit stupid question, but Sometimes (rarely but it happens) I need to move a server in a rack 1-2U up or down. What do you think, which of the ways is the most correct and useful and why? ...
disserman's user avatar
  • 1,850
18 votes
5 answers
116k views

What does "cross connect" means in Datacenters?

I have been doing some research on Datacenters and this is one of term that i have yet to wrap my mind around. I would appreciate if someone in the field could explain in simple terms what exactly ...
user56192's user avatar
  • 183
17 votes
7 answers
2k views

Why are datacenters built over a wide area instead of using taller buildings?

I've seen a lot of datacenters pictures and it seems that the owners prefer to build them over a wide area instead of building them using taller buildings. Why?
hsym's user avatar
  • 1,013
17 votes
8 answers
5k views

Using Y power cables in a datacenter

I've always assumed that using Y cables from the PDU to redundant PSUs in the same server was totally acceptable practice, however I was recently speaking to someone that said that their colo wouldn't ...
MDMarra's user avatar
  • 101k
17 votes
5 answers
7k views

What is meant when IT Infrastructure people refer to the "Stack"

Can someone please define what exactly is the "Stack". I know its an industry term but its very vague. I am referring to Infrastructure terminology not "Stack" in terms of memory allocation.
user avatar
17 votes
3 answers
29k views

Ideal humidity for a server room?

Most equipment is rated for a wide range of humidity (5 to 95% non-condensing, for instance). However, what is the ideal humidity? Higher humidity carries heat away from equipment a little better, ...
Adam Davis's user avatar
  • 5,456
17 votes
1 answer
2k views

Share /home between datacenters

I have two servers, placed at datacenters in holland and france. Both are running Debian Wheezy. I need to share /home between them, with good performance. There are 300-something users on the servers,...
user3850506's user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
647 views

What are the different classes of Internet Connection and how do they differ?

I'm looking for the technical differences between consumer and professional Internet connections. By "professional" I mean: The kind you can get at a datacenter The kind you can get at an office that ...
odemarken's user avatar
  • 347
14 votes
2 answers
25k views

How to manage a global VM startup order across the whole datacenter?

Suppose you have a fully virtualized VMware infrastructure: ESXi, vCenter, vMotion, HA, DRS, the whole package. Inside, you have lots of VMs, which at any given time may reside on one host or another ...
Massimo's user avatar
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13 votes
6 answers
10k views

free tool for datacenter documentation [closed]

Is there any free tools out there that can help to better document at datacenter, for information like servers in a rack, the group port it is connected to and etc?
Robert's user avatar
  • 241
13 votes
2 answers
1k views

What were your server room pain points, big wins and must haves? [closed]

Like many people on here I suspect, our server room has evolved over time. At the beginning we had a single server running Microsoft Small Business Server 2000 and it sat in the corner plugged in ...
Phil's user avatar
  • 3,198
13 votes
1 answer
6k views

What is the proper way to manage cabling behind patch panels?

I have a 4-post 19" rack with a 72-port 2U quickport patch panel where horizontal structured cabling terminates. The cables are bundled and enter the rack at the rear. From the back of the rack, ...
alx9r's user avatar
  • 1,653
13 votes
1 answer
6k views

What Data Center room routine maintenance tasks should be done?

Beyond the work done "inside" equipment (administration, programming, network config) there exists physical equipment and rooms. This physical room equipment needs care and feeding as well on a ...
TheCleaner's user avatar
  • 32.8k
12 votes
4 answers
6k views

Carbon neutral data center? [closed]

I stumbled upon https://www.climateneutraldatacentre.net/ after thinking about my company's carbon footprint. I know this is a very complex topic, and not just as trivial as where the energy comes ...
John's user avatar
  • 897
12 votes
5 answers
5k views

How do you deal with server noise? Hearing loss?

So we all work on servers, and some of us work around them as well. The sound is annoying and bad for our hearing. I wear earplugs when in the datacenter or earbuds which act kind of like earplugs ...
MathewC's user avatar
  • 6,987
11 votes
2 answers
5k views

Using 48v for servers

I'm currently in the middle of a process to specify and design a new server environment for graphics and video rendering. We know we want to use blades, and we're pretty sure of our vendor decisions. ...
Tom O'Connor's user avatar
  • 27.6k
11 votes
1 answer
558 views

Standard Bolt Pattern for Racks in Datacenters

Is there a "standard" way of bolting racks down that is interchangeable between vendors? At our datacenter we've standardized on a Damac rack for our builds. Because we're building in volume, the ...
Dan's user avatar
  • 113
10 votes
15 answers
10k views

Best floor of a tall building to locate your server room or data center [closed]

What reasons would you give for locating data centre in the basement instead of a upper floors?
Chris Huang-Leaver's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
5k views

How can you predict the amount of cooling needed for a particular piece of equipment?

Every summer we have to shut down some equipment due to a combination of outside temperature and high load. The air conditioners just can't keep up. As we cycle in new equipment and cycle out old, ...
Jon Ericson's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
5k views

VPN Server protocol or trick work in iran

I hope this question is consistent with the rules of the forum. Our access to the international internet from Iran has become very difficult. Only some specific VPNs work. Do you have any suggestions ...
dante velli's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
2k views

How common are dropped packets in communications within a data center?

Let's say I have 2 machines in the same data center but not necessarily in the same rack. How common would dropped packets be when sent using UDP between these two machines? I'm asking under the ...
z8000's user avatar
  • 802
9 votes
3 answers
5k views

Source of PDU De-Rating?

In researching PDU's I have noticed most cite a derated current at the 80% level. For example, 30A is derated to 24A: Tripp Lite: Raritan: Does anyone have anything that shows what agency this is (...
Kyle Brandt's user avatar
  • 84.3k
9 votes
3 answers
19k views

How to step down voltage from 208V to 110V

I have some racks that will be fed by 208V/20A circuits. These circuits will be conditioned and battery-backed by the facility in which these racks will live. 99% of the devices in the rack will be ...
Eric Dennis's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
5k views

Maxing out both PDUs in a rack with redundant power

If I have a rack full of servers using redundant power supplies, and I'm keeping the amps at 80% (16A of 20A), isn't this still asking for trouble in the event of a power loss on one of the circuits? ...
Matt Beckman's user avatar
  • 1,512
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

RedStation.com is heaven for ddos attackers, How to file complaint? [closed]

Sorry, I don't know where to open this subject. This is not the first time we have faced with a massive DDOS attack from one of servers in RedStation.com and even after we had contacted with their ...
Ehsan's user avatar
  • 247
8 votes
6 answers
1k views

Rack layout for future growth

We're getting ready to move to a new colo facility and I'm designing the rack layout. While we have a full rack, we only have 12U worth of hardware right now: 1x 1U switch 7x 1U servers 1x 2U server ...
bleything's user avatar
  • 183

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