Scope: This standard applies to computer hardware and supporting equipment hosted in University data centers (Millhiser Hall and Jepson Hall).
Standard: The University maintains two campus data centers to host enterprise-class computer equipment. This equipment consists of servers, storage, clusters, switches and other computer hardware used by faculty, staff and students. These data centers also contain supporting equipment necessary to run, protect and monitor computer hardware, including uninterruptible power supplies, transfer switches, batteries, smoke detection, fire suppression, water intrusion detection, HVAC and more. An incident or disaster in a University data center could adversely impact every academic and administrative application (and data) that reside in these locations. Therefore, hardware installed in University data centers must be designed and built for use in an enterprise data center environment:
- Computer hardware is rack mounted
- Power requirement is 208 volts
- Vendors provide parts and on-site service for their components
- Quality components are used to extend mean time to failure
Consumer grade hardware such as personal computers, USB drives, network hubs and others, are typically less expensive because they are not designed for the high performance and heavy usage requirements required by enterprise and research applications. There have been occurrences in the past when consumer devices have overheated and even caught fire. In addition, consumer grade components typically have brief support and replacement cycles (1-2 years) and may not be replaceable by their vendor(s) if the component fails. To reduce risk and protect other enterprise systems that support critical University operations, the University does not allow any items that would risk the safety of the equipment or the staff working in University data centers. If you are interested in hosting equipment in one of these locations, our Data Center Operations staff will be happy to partner with you to source appropriate hardware and related equipment to meet these standards.