Integrated systems test prevents data center downtime - TechTarget
Enter the integrated systems test (IST), which validates that emergency power, mechanical and monitoring systems operate as designed and built, and applications, clusters or even an entire data center will respond the way you expect when the power... "[Integrated systems test is] the only opportunity you will have to test the full intensity of a facility," said Stephen Ford, managing director at data center testing company E1E10 Ltd. Compare IST to doing backups or disaster recovery (DR). Everyone performs backups and takes snapshots , but how many organizations actually test those backups to verify they're recoverable. Data centers that pull the plug The integrated systems test is done at all levels. Facebook recently shut off one of its data centers -- after all the necessary preparations were in place -- and nothing happened. Ford said he sees banks and government institutions as the most diligent sectors about conducting an IST. "Some of the colo guys just go through things just to say they have done it rather than really test the system," Ford said. One colocation provider that does a full IST annually is vXchnge, a carrier-neutral provider that owns 15 data centers across the United States. Source: searchdatacenter.techtarget.com
