ITIM Assignment

V.Shankara Narayan MBA

09094
A brief analysis of the characteristics of the
Data Center present in Amrita Vishwa
Vidyapeetam

Amrita School of Business

[Type the company

address]

[Type the phone number]

[Type the fax number]

3/2/2011
Contents

Features of Air Flow Design: ............................................................................................................... 3

Advantages:............................................................................................................................................ 3
Disadvantages:...................................................................................................................................... 3
Scalability of Network Design: ........................................................................................................... 3
Advantages:............................................................................................................................................ 3
Disadvantages:...................................................................................................................................... 4
Features of Network Design: ............................................................................................................... 4
WAN Links: ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Advantages:............................................................................................................................................ 6
Disadvantages:...................................................................................................................................... 6
Other Specific Features that you think needs changes: ........................................................... 6
Provision of Power: ................................................................................................................................. 7
Advantages:............................................................................................................................................ 7
Disadvantages:...................................................................................................................................... 7
Features of Air Flow Design:
Advantages:
The arrangement of air flow is indigenously developed keeping
the unique arrangement of data center in mind. There is a central
cooling unit which blows in cool air from the vents available in
the roof and as well as vents at the bottom in case of the Sun
SPARC system. The design is cost efficient and helps in
maintaining a temperature of about 30 degree celcius which is
ideal for a data center

Disadvantages:
A major disadvantage of the setup is that, the cooling is just
enough for the present crop of processors and systems. With an
increase in the number of hard drives and processors which
emanate more heat, the setup may not be sufficient and needs
to be looked upon.
Given limitation of space and construction option available, the
change in the flow of air into the rack in future may not be
possible.

Scalability of Network Design:

Advantages:
The design is of the data center at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetam is
good enough for more systems and supports scalability. There
are adequate empty slots to add new processing systems and
storage systems if necessary, in the future. Also, provisions are
available for more network equipments to be added, if the Data
center has to support more number of users in the future. As far
 as network cables are concerned, there is adequate slots to
connect more servers in the network if required.

With each color of wire representing the functions and usage, it

reduces the time analyzing and finding solution for the network
error.

Also, there is adequate amount of bandwidth available to

facilitate an increase in the number of users. As far today, only a
maximum of 10-20% of the bandwidth is used.

Disadvantages:
Although, the systems themselves have adequate space for
expansion, with a large number of slots available, it will be the
data canter itself which may come under question if there is a
need to expand.
The space for data center is very small and is adequate only for
the current systems. But in case more number of racks are to be
added in the future, there may be a scarcity of space which
needs to be addressed.
Also, one may be skeptical about the flooring which may need to
handle more weight in case new racks do come in. Hence that is
an issue which may need to be addressed.

Features of Network Design:

The data center in Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetam uses NAS
network which is very cheap to run and maintain. Also, this
facilitates easy access for storage across the network and is also
hassle free.
The data center may also incorporate SAN based data storage
mechanisms which may be costly but tend to support more
amount of data. As more and more students and faculties start
using the network for storing their academic works, it may
become essential to use a more advanced storage mechanisms.

IP based storage mechanisms can also be tried out where in

each user is allocated a specific IP which he/she can use to store
and access their individual data without any complications.

Almost all the data storage devices are RAIDed with suitable
mirror devices.

Backup of the data are made every specific intervals

automatically. Hence, data recovery in case of hardware failure
shall be relatively easy and a high availability time can be
maintained.

With a large amount of data storage available, it may also be

necessary to check whether all the storage devices are used
efficiently.

Devices which are unused only add to the maintenance costs

without contributing anything significant.

The prioritization of hard disk not possible and it makes things

complicated when specific files or folder needs be prioritized in
specific hard disk.
WAN Links:
Advantages:
The Wide Area Network (WAN) connections are provided by
following all the relevant standards and color procedures
effectively.

Utmost care has been taken to make sure that the source and the
destination of the cables utilize the same colors to avoid
confusion

In case of a network problem, color coding easily eliminates

problems by helping in identification of the problematic cable
and replacing it.

Also adequate ports have been provided to sort out all

connectivity issues. Also, there is adequate space within the rack
to handle the cables if necessary.

Fiber optic cables have been used wherever possible and that
translates into higher capacity.

Disadvantages:
Underground laying of cables has its own disadvantages as it may
be damaged by the elements of God and more importantly, rats.
Use of wireless solutions can be incorporated for seamless
connectivity.

Other Specific Features that you think needs changes:

The issue that comes to mind is mainly that of the data center
itself, which has been located in a busy location where there is a
large amount of students moving along the corridor.
 This may lead to security issues in future and also cripples
evacuation of the data center in case of a fire or earthquake.

On this account, the data center may be moved to a more subtle

location, away from the hustle and bustle of the main campus,
towards a more remote location within the campus and possibly
underground to avoid the said issues.

Provision of Power:
Advantages:
As far as power supply is concerned, the data center here at
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetam has a continuous power supply from
the TNEB office which is sufficient and adequate.

In case, the power supply from TNEB fails, the data center has
backup inline UPS(Uninterrupted Power Supply) which will take
care of the data center’s power needs for a few hours.

In addition to that, there is offline power supply in the form of a

generator which can provide power when necessary.

Disadvantages:

There were some inherent problems with the provision of power

supply sockets on the roof the data center which sometimes
limited the door of the data center racks.

With the power supply from the TNEB is erratic at best, it

becomes essential for the data center to rely more on its inline
power supply in the form of UPS more often. This may sometimes
cause more load on the UPS causing it to fail.
Conclusion:
While the data center at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetam may not be
a perfect example of one, it is still good and efficient enough to be
called one.