Data centers usually provide physical facilities, installation and maintenance, environment management equipment (electrical/mechanical/temperature), power management, generators, uninterrupted power supply (UPS), electrical supply, fiber access, security, network services, monitoring, and management. The main factors that affect the enterprise in its decision to use outsourced data centers as part of its remote access plans are the following:
The benefits to the enterprise for this type of solution include the following:
Unlike legacy LEC/IXC solutions (see Figure 3-4), the main difference of the data center is the existence of an Internet (POP), which is equipped with highly sophisticated hardware. Sprint, for example, offers the following hosting packages for potential customers: enterprise hosting, standard commerce hosting, enterprise commerce hosting, and custom hosting. One possible solution for custom hosting is when Company Y requests hosting services from Sprint (see Figure 3-6). Figure 3-6. The Web-Hosting Architecture for a Company Y Requesting Service from the Data Center of Sprint in Two Different Geographical Locations
Figure 3-6 shows the extensive use of Cisco equipment, including Gigabit Switch Routers (GSRs) and Cisco 6509s, Content Engines, and Cisco fiber- optic switches in the data center and customer environment. Beyond data-center equipment, the outsourcing company has the freedom to deploy and install any other equipment necessary for its normal operations. The parts of the data center not shown in this figure include private branch exchanges (PBXs), and highly sophisticated UPSs. Part of every enterprise agreement is the network services agreement and service-level agreement (SLA). In the case of Sprint, they are as follows :
(Taken from www.sprintesolutions.com/solutions/infrastructure/managed_hosting/about.html#Leading.) Because Company Y is using an outsourced data center model, some caveats must be addressed in the early design stage. The considerations include concerns about commitment of the other party and the level of control. Company Y depends on the outsourcer to obtain, integrate, and support the technology from their premises; to link with the company's operations; and to recruit, train and supervise staff in their support centers. Also, it must consider the management of its most precious asset, its customer data, to an outside firm. |