A guide on building up a first (wholesale) colocation presence.
About seven years ago, I started writing a paper on things to look for as a customer building into their first wholesale datacenter, along with a few anecdotes, recommended parts etc. (I joked it would be a pop up book)
I've tweaked it over time, expanded sections, added the odd drawing, a few pictures etc. Now, as its taken a while, most companies might not come out of the cloud, but I wanted to finish it, and post it somewhere, so that it's out there and hopefully helps someone.
Feel free to message with suggestions, questions etc.
The main file is the "My first Colo" (either in PDF or DOC)
colo-visit-checklist.xlsx - a set of things to check off, as you walk through a datacenter, to make sure you saw everything.
Generic-Datacenter-RFP-v1.50-500kw.docx - a sample RFP to send off to datacenter providers.
2021-cable-part-numbers.xlsx - a list of part numbers that you can use to help as sundries when building your datacenter
1MW-power-plan.xlsx - sample math of how to break down datacenter power, into racks, and verify things work.
RFP-Checklist.xlsx - used in conjunction with the RFP. This way you should be able to quickly compare multiple answers.
integrator-visit-checklist.xlsx - used as a checklist when visiting an integrator to make sure they meet your needs.
sample-rack-layout.xlsx - starter sheet for rack layouts
sample-MW-layouts-2021-04-29 - Example layouts of 1Mw and 2Mw, and room for tools
My-first-Colo-Preso-v1.01 - various slides I've used for presenting about datacenters.
Project plans - Various Project Plans. - there are 4 types and 4 files types:
- Retail build - 1-25 racks, on a standard cadence
- Retail-build-fast - 1-25 racks, on an aggressive cadence
- Wholesale-build -25-200 racks, on a standard cadence
- Wholesale-build-fast -25-200 racks on an aggressive cadence
File types:
- oplx - omniplan file format
- csv - CSV layout (for easy importing to something) (eg: ms project)
- pdf - a pdf of the tasks and days needed
- gantt.pdf - a pdf of the tasks and gantt chart --C