Designing a data center

A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of configuring a data center, wherein the data center has associated capacities for hosting the operation of computing equipment, the method comprising:

• for each computing mechanism in a set of computing mechanisms, defining a corresponding equipment unit describing one or more characteristics of said computing mechanism;
• aggregating said characteristics described in said equipment units corresponding to a selected subset of said computing mechanisms;
• and
• determining whether the capacities of the data center can accommodate said aggregated characteristics.

A method of configuring a computer equipment operating area, comprising:

• identifying one or more limiting capacities of the computer operating area;
• creating, for each computing equipment item in a set of computing equipment items, a profile comprising one or more characteristics of said computing equipment item;
• selecting a first subset of said computing equipment items for possible installation in the computer operating area;
• combining said characteristics from said profiles corresponding to said first subset of said computing equipment items;
• and
• if said combined characteristics exceed said limiting capacities, selecting a second subset of said computing equipment items.

A method of designing a data center for operating computer equipment, comprising:

• (a) defining a proxy for each member of a set of computer equipment, wherein said proxy describes requirements of said member, including:
• (i) a power requirement for operating said member;
• (ii) a cooling requirement for operating said member;
• and
• (iii) a physical space requirement for said member;
• (b) combining said proxy requirements for each member of a first subset of said computer equipment;
• and
• (c) determining whether the data center can accommodate said combined proxy requirements.

A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of designing a data center for operating computer equipment, the method comprising:

• (a) defining a proxy for each member of a set of computer equipment, wherein said proxy describes requirements of said member, including:
• (i) a power requirement for operating said member;
• (ii) a cooling requirement for operating said member;
• and
• (iii) a physical space requirement for said member;
• (b) combining said proxy requirements for each member of a first subset of said computer equipment;
• and
• (c) determining whether the data center can accommodate said combined proxy requirements.

A system for configuring a data center, comprising:

• a first input module configured to receive a set of capacities of the data center;
• a second input module configured to receive requirements relating to each item in a set of computer equipment;
• a profiler configured to generate a total of said requirements for a first subset of said computer equipment;
• and
• a comparator configured to compare said total requirements with said data center capacities.