Old Configuration

The old configuration that we will be replacing is split among three different data centers. I use the term data center very loose in this blog. For the most part we have server/network closets not true data centers, but since we call them data centers in day to day business that is how I will refer to them. I may also abbreviate data center as DC (It saves time typing). All of the buildings at this site are numbered so I will reference them that way in this blog. We have one largish (approximately 600 sqft.) data center in building 1103 that we share with another University. We have a medium sized (around 300 sqft.) in building 1020, and a small (120 sqft.) in building 1022.

I will update this post later on with the run down of systems etc. in each of these at a future date, but for now I will just explain some of the plan for all of this.

Since our server resources were grown rather piecemeal before I got here, we ended up with servers located in each of these rooms. I plan to change that for the most part. Not a single one of these rooms has all of the proper infrastructure to truly support a data center. Two of them don't have backup powered cooling, yet they have generators so that the servers can cook themselves to death in the event of a power outage. The third in building 1020 doesn't have generator power at all. Seeing as our site was pretty severely impacted by Katrina (Some structural damage and power out for at least a couple of weeks) and we are in a bit of a hotbed for electrical storms and tornadoes I decided we need to fix this. Instead of re-outfitting each DC which would possibly entail shutting down systems dealing with construction mess, and LOADS of bureacrecy, I decided we should just build a new one.

The Back Story

When I arrived at my current job three years ago I came upon a wealth of new career experiences. Not only did my position involve the same desktop support routine that my previous position contained, but also a relatively new responsibility of systems administration. I had done a little bit of tinkering with servers in the past and even setup a few systems for use by my colleagues at my previous office, but nothing on the scale of what I had encountered at my new job. Now this isn't to say that all of a sudden I had hundreds of servers thrown on my shoulders. It is a relatively small site that I was taking care of (less than 200 users), but due to the nature of the research going on server resources were in fairly high use at the site. To boil it all down when I got here there were about 15 servers being used for one thing or another. I am essentially the sole IT person for this site of the university I work for. I do have access to additional resources, people, etc. but for the most part I am on my own. Don't get me wrong it is a lot of responsibility and even more work, but I love it. I had a lot of learning to do, and I still learn more almost daily.