"This book covers a wide spectrum of topics relevant to implementing and managing a modern data center. The chapters are comprehensive and the flow of concepts is easy to understand."
-Cisco reviewer

Gain a practical knowledge of data center concepts

To create a well-designed data center (including storage and network architecture, VoIP implementation, and server consolidation) you must understand a variety of key concepts and technologies. This book explains those factors in a way that smoothes the path to implementation and management. Whether you need an introduction to the technologies, a refresher course for IT managers and data center personnel, or an additional resource for advanced study, you'll find these guidelines and solutions provide a solid foundation for building reliable designs and secure data center policies.

* Understand the common causes and high costs of service outages
* Learn how to measure high availability and achieve maximum levels
* Design a data center using optimum physical, environmental, and technological elements
* Explore a modular design for cabling, Points of Distribution, and WAN connections from ISPs
* See what must be considered when consolidating data center resources
* Expand your knowledge of best practices and security
* Create a data center environment that is user- and manager-friendly
* Learn how high availability, clustering, and disaster recovery solutions can be deployed to protect critical information
* Find out how to use a single network infrastructure for IP data, voice, and storage
 

Table of Contents
About the Author.
Preface.
Acknowledgments.
Introduction.
Part One: Data Center Basics.
Chapter 1: No Time for Downtime.
Chapter 2: The High-Availability Continuum.
Part Two: Data Center Architecture.
Chapter 3: Data Center Requirements.
Chapter 4: Data Center Design.
Chapter 5: Network Infrastructure in a Data Center.
Chapter 6: Data Center Maintenance.
Chapter 7: Power Distribution in a Data Center.
Chapter 8: Data Center HVAC. Part Three: Data Center Consolidation.
Chapter 9: Reasons for Data Center Consolidation.
Chapter 10: Data Center Consolidation Phases.
Part Four: Data Center Servers.
Chapter 11: Server Performance Metrics.
Chapter 12: Server Capacity Planning.
Chapter 13: Best Practices in IT.
Chapter 14: Server Security.
Chapter 15: Server Administration.
Chapter 16: Device Naming.
Chapter 17: Load Balancing.
Chapter 18: Fault Tolerance.
Chapter 19: RAID.
Part Five: Data Storage Technologies.
Chapter 20: Data Storage Solutions.
Chapter 21: Storage Area Networks.
Chapter 22: Configuring a SAN.
Chapter 23: Using SANs for High Availability.
Chapter 24: IP-Based Storage Communications.
Part Six: Data Center Clusters.
Chapter 25: Cluster Architecture.
Chapter 26: Cluster Requirements.
Chapter 27: Designing Cluster-Friendly Applications.
Part Seven: Network Design, Implementation, and Security.
Chapter 28: Network Devices.
Chapter 29: Network Protocols.
Chapter 30: IP Addressing.
Chapter 31: Network Technologies.
Chapter 32: Network Topologies.
Chapter 33: Network Design.
Chapter 34: Designing Fault-Tolerant Networks.
Chapter 35: Internet Access Technologies and VPNs.
Chapter 36: Firewalls.
Chapter 37: Network Security.
Part Eight: Disaster Recovery.
Chapter 38: Disaster Recovery.
Chapter 39: DR Architectures.
Part Nine: Future Considerations.
Chapter 40: Voice over IP and Converged Infrastructure.
Chapter 41: What’s Next.
Part Ten:
Appendix.
Appendix A: Storage and Networking Solutions.
Glossary.
Index.