2-day Course in Data Center Operations and Maintenance

 

 

We are pleased to announced that the 2-day face-to face classroom training course in Data Center Operations and Maintenance was successfully launched in September 2 - 3, October 21 - 22 and November 8 - 9, 2022.

The course outlines a critical infrastructure system supports a typical data center and the main components facilitate a data center operations.

Designed for The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), HKSAR - Data Center Operators, Junior Facilities Engineers, System Administrators, etc., the course participants will learn data center facilities standards and best practices and will acquire basic knowledge in operating and maintaining data center critical facilities.

The Syllabus & Rundown (2-day, 14 Hours)


Day 1: 09:00 – 12:30

• Per-course Questions & Discussion
• Overview of Data Center – Raised Floor, Suspended
• Ceiling, Cabinet Layout, Cabling Management, Lighting, etc.

Day 1: 13:45 – 17:30

• Overview of Critical Power Supply – High / Low Voltage
• System, Switch System, UPS, Transformers, Fuel Tanks, Generators, etc.
• Introduction to TIA-942 Redundancy Levels – Rating levels (rated 1 to 4), N +1, 2N, etc.
• Earthing / Grounding and Bounding


Day 2: 09:00 – 12:30

• Fire Protection System
• Water Detection System
• Access Control System
• Building Management System
• Data Center Cooling – Chiller, CRAC, Cooling Towers, Hot / Cold Aisle, Containment, etc.


Day 2: 13:45 – 17:30

• Data Center’s Operation and Maintenance Strategies – UPS, Batteries, Chiller, Generators, Load Test, Maintenance Schedules, etc.
• Problem Handling and Incident Logging


Course Instructors


Ir C.K. Chan

CEng, CEnv, FSOE, FIplantE, MIET, MHKIE, CSME, REW H0 C0

Ir Dr. Samuel K.P. Lip

BSc (Hons), PgDip, MSc, PhD, CEng, RPE, FCIBSE, FIMechE, FCIPHE, FIEAust, MIET, MIFireE, MASHRAE, MCABE, MAIB, MHKIE, MCIH, MHKICM, REA, REW (C0), RCx Pro, RSO



About the Organizer


Strategic Media Asia Limited (SMA) is one of the approved CPD course providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).



The mission is to provide an interactive environment and opportunities for the engineers to exchange professional views and experience on critical infrastructure and data center services.

For details, please visit www.stmedia-asia.com/about.html. 

Water Cooled or Air Cooled Chillers

As per the critical purpose of a data center, all equipment must be reliable and easy to operate. It’s important to make sure the company’s focus can be on the critical nature of data center operations instead of HVAC (cooling) system management.

Water cooled chillers and air cooled chillers are refrigeration systems normally used to cool fluids or dehumidify air in both commercial and industrial facilities. The components of water cooled chillers and air cooled chillers are very similar. Each product contains an evaporator, condenser, compressor, and an expansion valve. The primary difference is whether air or water is used to provide the condenser cooling.


Water Cooled Vs Air Cooled

An air-cooled chiller has a condenser that is cooled by the environment air. The air-cooled chillers are preferred for small or medium installations but lately the quality improvement in their structure, allows the usage, in modular type, for large installations also. An air-cooled chiller is preferred especially in cases that there is not enough water or the water is very expensive.

The water-cooled chillers have water cooled condenser connected with cooling tower and are usually preferred for medium and large installations where there is sufficiency of water. In addition, they are also preferred in cases that is demanded constant performance of the system, independently of the ambient temperature (industrial air conditioning, air conditioning of digital systems etc), because the capacity of the water-cooled chillers are not affected by the ambient temperature fluctuations.

Flexibility

You may also note that air-cooled chillers have a much wider range in ambient operating temperatures. The wide ambient-temperature operating range allows designers' flexibility to standardize on chiller-plant designs, regardless of the data center location.


Redundancy and Effectiveness

Redundancy is essential for mission critical purpose-built data center. You should consider how long to bring the cooling system back to full load after power outages. In addition, the difficulties and cost effectiveness for installing 2N / N+1 cooling system should be carefully evaluated. Bare in mind water-cooled system should work with cooling towers and pumps.


System Maintenance and Downtime

Each chiller has basic maintenance requirements to ensure it functions at optimal levels. Though it is difficult to find a prefect cooling system with the lowest total cost of ownership (but competitive first costs), minimal operating & maintenance costs and a reduced risk of expensive downtime, we need to judged on the specific goals for every project.


Install Location

Large industrial chillers are commonly located in mechanical equipment rooms within the building close to the process in which they are cooling. Some industrial chillers may be located directly beside the process, depending on the size of the chiller and compressor. Some may even be placed completely outdoors such as rooftop of a building. Choosing which cooling system, therefore, largely depends on the building type, location, and use of the space.




About SMA

Strategic Media Asia (SMA), a critical infrastructure training and event organizer based in Hong Kong, provides an interactive environment and opportunities for members of IDC industry and engineers to exchange professional views and experience on critical infrastructure and E&M facilities.

SMA is one of the CPD Course Providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).

For details of other data center courses and seminars, please visit our website at http://www.stmedia-asia.com/trainings.html.

1 Day Refresher Training / Fundamental Course in Data Center Facilities and Operations

Data centers come in different sizes - whether it's four servers in a closet or hundreds of servers in a building - which provide mission critical functions for enterprises and public services.

We are pleased to announce that a 1-day Refresher Training / Fundamental Course in Data Center Facilities and Operations will be launched in Hong Kong. The course outlines a critical infrastructure system supports a typical data center and the main components facilitate a data center operation. It also introduces the standards of TIA-942, Uptime and Tier Levels.

The training is designed for junior operators, engineers and system administrators to acquire basic knowledge in data center critical facilities, on top of the IT system and daily operations.


- What is Data Center
- Applications of Data Center
- Who are the users
- Users’ expectations
- Inside a Data Center – IT, E&M services, Facilities supports
- Data Center Configurations – Architectural, Structural, MEFPD, Network
- Glossary – Resilience, Tier Levels, Redundancy
- Operating a Data Center
- Loss Prevention
- Maintenance Management
- Facilities Supports – MEFPD (Mechanical, Electrical, Fire, Plumb and Drain) Services
- Specific Requirements for Facilities
- Operations Highlights
- Sustainable Management
- Performance Assessments


DOWNLOAD DETAILED SYLLABUS


For details, please visit http://www.stmedia-asia.com/data-center-facilities-operations.html



About the Organizer

Strategic Media Asia (SMA) is one of the CPD Course Providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).

SMA is a critical infrastructure training, seminar and event organizer for corporations and professionals specialized in data center design & build, E&M facilities, structured cabling system, telecommunication, ICT and financial IT services.

For details of other data center courses and seminars, please visit our website at http://www.stmedia-asia.com/trainings.html.

Choosing right partners for data center design

This is an article about developing a new facility as a small- or medium-sized data center company who don’t have the same resources as large operators like Amazon, or companies who build data centers as their core business.

Let’s take a look at choosing development and design partners. You may want to design and build your facility yourself, but there are many advantages to working with partners so you can stay focused on your customers while still meeting the goals for your new facilities.

Why you need a development partner?


As a small- or medium-sized data center company, a development partner can take a lot of the headaches out of your new build. Organizations dedicated to designing and building data centers will jump at the chance to work with you, provided you have something to bring to the table (namely, tenants, and/or incentives). These companies can help you:


- Avoid time sinks of non-growing your company tasks
- Address unforeseen obstacles in the build process
- Stay committed to your daily activities of keeping customers happy
- Raise capital investment or soften capital pressures
- Help guide the designers, construction managers, subcontractors, etc.


You believe your service level helps you stand out from the pack, so you wanted to remain focused on serving your customer base with data center operations and management, rather than acting as landlords and or running around trying to raise capital.


In-House vs. Outsourced Building Design


Designers help you think about the impacts of every decision, avoiding pitfalls that you might not avoid yourself, like investing in too much electrical infrastructure, for instance. You may have a solid internal team already. Large companies might have designers on staff, and small companies might take one look at the quotes coming in and decide they can handle it themselves. After all, operators deal with equipment day in and day out — they can probably figure out a new building, right?


But your partner, design consultant, is critical to bring the whole team and pieces together. It focuses on flexibility, low cost, high reliability and energy efficiency. Many of these attributes can be at odds with one another unless you have a good design consultant who will keep hammering it out with you.


Imagine if you want to put generators for the new building, you will think of sound levels and vibration inside the white space itself. But generators are just one of many things to keep in mind when designing a new facility: “How tall are the walls?” “How big are the bays?” “What kind of flooring do you put in?”, etc...


Designers give extremely important insights into facility builds, but only you know about the needs of your customers and employees (and of course just how much of an investment is bearable or realistic). Usually, it’s a math problem, not an unsolvable problem, and good designers will want to find the sweet spot between budget realities and facility requirements.


Unforeseen Obstacles


Another case is that we have our eye on a site, and we think we know the space the building required. We estimate cooling, generator, parking, and other exterior space requirements based on our existing facility, so we sure our potential site has more than enough space for a 35,000-square-foot facility. Done!

But what we don’t realize is the new building is big enough to require a water storage tank and runoff area. Thankfully, you got guidance from your partner consultant before going through with any purchase. Without an experienced design partner, you would not have known that you needed to increase the size of the plot.


Ultimately, every company has to decide for itself if development and design partners are worth the expense. Speaking from experience, you are glad that you had someone to consult with prior to your land purchase. These partners can save you time and money in the end.

About The Blogger

Strategic Media Asia (SMA, www.stmedia-asia.com) is a leading technical training and event organizer for corporations specialized in data center design & build, E&M facilities, telecom, ICT, finance and colocation. Currently, SMA delivers a series of data center trainings and qualification programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

All these events / training seminars are designed to support the leadership needs of senior executives (Chief Information Officers, IT Directors / Managers, Facilities Managers, company decision makers, etc.) and to provide useful and applicable knowledge.

For detail, please visit SMA's Technical Training Seminars & Data Center Qualification Programs.