If I become hiring manager for a Data Center team, I’m asking candidates whether they have Tetris skills.  Anyone who can neatly fill a space with odd-shaped blocks falling at ever-increasing speed can oversee the rack-and-stack activities in my Data Centers.

I talked in my last two posts – on preparing for and then executing a Data Center move – about planning where you want to place your Data Center hardware.  That’s a good idea even if you’re not moving your server environment, because how you deploy your equipment affects how efficiently rack space is used, airflow patterns and more. Read More »

Tags: Cisco, coc-data-center, data center, datacenterdeconstructed, hardware, hardware deployment, relocation, Servers, space planning, Tetris

Ah, moving day.  You’ve spent weeks packing your valuables into boxes and are now fervently hoping your movers treat them like priceless artifacts rather than testing their bounce factor.  Sure, said movers are either complete strangers you’ve hired or friends you’ve enticed with beer and pizza, but what could possibly go wrong?

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Tags: Cisco, coc-data-center, data center, datacenterdeconstructed, hardware, move planning, relocation, Servers

One of the most daunting tasks a Data Center manager can face is a large scale hardware relocation.  While today’s technology often allows you to avoid physical moves – you bring new hardware online at your destination, migrate applications there and then decommission the old gear – sometimes you still have to roll up your sleeves and do some heavy lifting.

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Tags: Cisco, coc-data-center, data center, datacenterdeconstructed, hardware, move planning, relocation, Servers