Data Center Migration
Before migrating your company’s data, it’s helpful to think through the questions you need to ask to ensure the data center you choose is the right fit for your needs. Most data centers today boast high security, disaster recovery and near-perfect uptime. Asking the right questions can help you determine exactly what these promises mean.
Below, we outline a solid checklist of questions to ask potential facilities in order to help you choose a data center that fits your needs.
Facility Infrastructure
What is the tier classification of the facility (Tier I-IV)?
Data center tiers define uptime and redundancy:
- Tier I: Basic, 99.67% uptime, for low-cost needs
- Tier II: Partial redundancy, 99.75%, for SMBs
- Tier III: Fully redundant, 99.98%, supports maintenance
- Tier IV: Fault-tolerant, 99.995%, with zero downtime
What type of power redundancy is available (N, N+1, 2N)?
Redundancy levels define data center reliability:
- N: Basic setup, no redundancy, limited uptime
- N+1: Adds backup components to ensure availability during maintenance or failures
- 2N: Fully fault-tolerant with duplicate systems, guaranteeing zero downtime
Choose based on your uptime needs, operational criticality, and budget constraints.
How is the cooling system designed to handle high-density workloads?
Data center cooling systems deploy efficient cooling strategies. These can include air-based systems, such as CRAC units and row-based cooling, as well as water-based systems like chiller plants and cooling towers.
What backup systems (generators, UPS) are in place to handle outages?
Backup systems are designed to kick in when an outage occurs, ensuring that critical data and services remain available. These systems include generators, UPS, redundant systems and cloud backup services.
How frequently are infrastructure components tested and maintained?
Similar to maintaining your car, regular check-ups and maintenance help prevent breakdowns and keep your vehicle running smoothly. In a data center environment, regular inspections prevent equipment failures and data loss, coupled with scheduled maintenance to help reduce downtime and ensure continual operation of your critical systems.
Costs and Billing
What is the data center’s pricing model, and how do they break down costs?
Some data centers bill based on the amount of data transferred (“metered” billing), while others charge a flat rate. You’ll want to carefully understand how you are being charged and ensure that the pricing model of the data center aligns with your company’s data needs.
Disaster Recovery and Resilience
Is the facility located in a low-risk area for natural disasters?
Data centers located in areas of high-risk threats like hurricanes, earthquakes and floods require special considerations and protocols in place to avoid or lessen the impact of these threats.
What disaster recovery services does the data center offer?
Special consideration for disaster recovery services includes redundant power and cooling systems, waterproof and flood-resistant infrastructure, earthquake-resistant systems and business continuity planning in the event of a natural disaster.
Are offsite backups and geographic redundancy included?
Some data centers provide offsite backups and geographic redundancy, which in essence means automatically transferring critical data to secure locations outside of the main facility. Distributing data across multiple geographic locations ensures business continuity in case of disaster or system failure.
Compliance and Certifications
Which industry standards and certifications does the data center comply with?
Compliance with industry standards and certifications is crucial for ensuring the security and reliability of your data center. Look for providers that meet or exceed regulations such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, and SSAE 18 to ensure your data is protected and your business remains in compliance.
Monitoring and Support
What monitoring tools are available to track infrastructure performance?
Tracking performance and identifying potential issues is part of maintaining a data center facility. Monitoring servers, networks, storage, power and cooling, logistics and application performance are a few critical areas that need continuous assessment and supervision.
Is on-site support available 24/7?
A reputable data center should have on-site trained personnel both during and after hours to provide immediate support from basic troubleshooting to critical issue resolution.
What are the response times for critical issues?
Response times for critical issues in a data center are typically measured in minutes or hours. A general guide would be:
- Critical issues affecting multiple systems or services—response time of 15 minutes or less with a resolution time under 1 hour.
- High-priority issues affecting a single system or service—response time of 30 minutes or less with a resolution time under 2 hours.
- Medium priority issues affecting a single system or service—response time of 1 hour or less with a resolution time under 4 hours.
- Low-priority issues do not affect a system or service—response time of 2 hours or less, with a resolution time under 8 hours.
Are remote hands services included or available for an additional fee?
Remote hand services mean a data center is able to provide technical support and assistance to its customers remotely. Depending on your SLA, this may be included in the pricing model or come as an added cost.
Related article: 11 Features Every Robust Data Center Needs
Migration Assistance
Does the data center provide migration support or consulting services?
Any reputable data center typically offers migration support and consulting services. This may include migration consulting, planning and execution of moving your IT infrastructure to a data center. The costs involved will vary and could be hourly or a flat fee per project.
Are there experienced staff or partners to assist with the migration process?
Migrating your IT infrastructure to a data center is a major decision that involves significant planning. Your data center migration consultant should be an expert in every step of the migration process. Be sure to ask about their experience and track record.
What tools are available for migrating data and workloads?
The benefits of using migration tools include efficiency, minimizing downtime, accuracy and reduced cost savings over a manual migration process. The following are some typical business tools that data centers use to streamline this process.
- Server migration tools: Microsoft Azure Migrate, Amazon Server Migration Service, VMware vSphere Replication, etc.
- Database migration tools: Microsoft SQL Server Migration, Oracle Database Migration Workshop, MySQL Workbench, etc.
- Storage migration tools: NetApp Storage Migration, EMC Storage Migration, HPE Storage Migration, etc.
- Cloud migration tools: AWS CloudFormation, Azure Resource Manager, Google Cloud Deployment Manager, etc.
- Automation tools: Ansible, Puppet, Chef, etc.
Exit Strategy
What is the process for decommissioning and migrating out of the data center if necessary?
If your business requirements change or you decide a particular data center is not the right fit for your business, exiting should be as painless and hassle-free as possible. The same careful planning that went into migrating your infrastructure to a data center should also be carried out when exiting. The process of exiting should be considered and made clear upfront as part of your initial assessment. Planning, data collection, decommissioning, or migration planning and execution, as well as verification and testing, are all steps in this process.
How are data and equipment handled securely during the exit process?
During the exit process, data and equipment are handled securely through backups, encryption, and access controls. Equipment should be tagged, stored in a secure environment, and erased of data before decommissioning. Physical security measures, including access control and secure transportation, also ensure the safe handling of equipment. Verify with your potential data center facility the precise exit process.
Are there added fees or penalties for ending the agreement?
It’s important to ask about any fees or penalties that might be incurred by ending your data center agreement before its term is up. There are often fees and penalties associated with early termination of your agreement, including early termination fees, cancellation fees, liquidated damages, and penalty fees for non-renewal. Review this thoroughly before signing any agreements.
If you’re interested in learning more about data center solutions, get in touch with one of our data center experts.
