Flash Research Paper – Data Centers and Networking
Flash Research Paper – Data Centers and Networking
The system we use is an integral part of our company, without it we are unable to perform our key business processes. I recommend that we upgrade from a Tier I data center to a Tier III data center. A Tier III data center provides backup should the system go down and minimises the downtime of our system. Our current data centre has experienced 10 outages in the past year and we are losing $25,670,304.00 . Upgrading to a Tier III data centre will save us $24,114,528.00 a year and will help us increase our efficiency.
Currently, our site infrastructure must be completely shut down every year to perform maintenance work or when replacing equipment, but with a Tier III, we will be able to repair our IT system without shutting down the power. The Tier III data center has an availability of 99.98%, in a year that equates to 105.12 minutes of downtime; 93.94% less than our current data centers downtime of 1734.48 minutes per year. Tier III data centers have redundancy capabilities – meaning that there are backups that help mitigate the downtime of planned maintenance.
Upgrading to a tier III data center will save us $24,114,528.00 a year. It will cost us $35,000,000 in our first year to build but over the next three years, this upgrade from Tier I to Tier III will provide us with a net benefit of $13,229,056.00. In order to continue growing as a business, we must make sure any potential downtime that can occur is minimised. Overall, a Tier III data center will increase our efficiency.
| Tier III | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| Cost | 35,000,000.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Benefit | 0 | 24,114,528.00 | 24,114,528.00 |
| Net Benefit | 13,229,056.00 | ||
| Availability | Downtime (in Minutes/Year)* | Cost of Downtime** | ||
| Tier I | 0.9967 | 1734.48 | 25,670,304.00 | |
| Tier III | 0.9998 | 105.12 | 1,555,776.00 | |
| Change in Minutes (%) | -93.93939394 | |||
*Minutes a year= 60*24*365
**Downtime costs $14,800 per minute
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