In March 2009, data center discussions increasingly revolve around how to deliver continuous uptime while keeping capital and operational expenditures in check. IT leaders start to look beyond simple N+1 redundancy and begin integrating smarter, virtualized architectures that can failover seamlessly...
Power distribution is one of the most scrutinized aspects in 2009 planning cycles. Companies begin to adopt modular UPS designs and dual-feed PDUs, which allow data centers to scale capacity without downtime. Virtualization also enables infrastructure managers to spin up backup workloads in geographically redundant locations. ESX 3.5 remains the virtualization platform of choice, providing reliable HA clustering for VM failover.
Thermal zoning and hot aisle/cold aisle containment continue to mature. CFD (computational fluid dynamics) modeling tools help simulate airflow and identify hotspots before equipment is deployed. This preemptive thermal design dramatically improves reliability, especially as blade server densities push rack power envelopes above 10kW.
Storage and SAN configurations also see architectural updates. Active-active multi-controller SAN arrays are increasingly deployed to ensure no single point of failure. The 2009 environment sees many shops standardizing on Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) pilots as Cisco, Brocade, and HP expand support for converged infrastructure.
Physical security does not take a backseat. Biometrics, mantraps, and logging controls are common in Tier 3+ designs. However, the trend now is toward better integration with logical access control, enabling a seamless audit trail from user ID to rack access.
From a cabling and switching standpoint, organizations adopt more structured approaches. Color-coded, labelled patch panels and top-of-rack (ToR) switches enable easier tracing and faster troubleshooting. This is crucial in high-density environments.
Environmental monitoring with SNMP-enabled sensors becomes common across DC floors, integrating into monitoring platforms such as Nagios or HP OpenView. Alerts for humidity, temp, and airflow are used proactively to schedule maintenance, avoiding reactive outages.
As cloud computing begins its ascent, many mid-size IT departments still opt to run private virtual clusters. These clusters leverage existing real estate while allowing for elastic VM provisioning. It’s a hybrid approach—a stepping stone for future cloud migrations.
Ultimately, the 2009 push toward resilient infrastructure is not just about uptime—it’s about business continuity. When an outage occurs, the question is no longer "when will services be restored" but "why weren’t we already running from somewhere else?"
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