Client
Defence/Armed Forces sector client.
Our Responsibilites
Infrastructure Assessment, Data Centre Design, Migration Planning
Date
October 2021
The Challenge
Moving from cloud infrastructure to an on-premise environment
Migrating from cloud services to an internally managed data centre is considerably more complex than simply purchasing servers and moving data.
The organisation needed to understand whether its existing physical and technical environment could reliably support the proposed infrastructure. This required consideration of the complete data centre ecosystem including compute and storage requirements, networking, power, cooling, physical infrastructure, resilience, security and ongoing operational management.
For an Armed Forces environment, availability and control were particularly important considerations. The new infrastructure needed to provide a dependable foundation for critical systems while giving the organisation greater direct control over where its data was stored, how the environment was operated and how access to infrastructure was managed.
Paratech Systems was therefore commissioned to conduct a comprehensive assessment before any investment in new infrastructure was made.
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Our Assessment
Understanding the complete environment
Our team carried out a detailed technical and infrastructure assessment covering the organisation’s existing environment, current requirements and anticipated future demand.
Rather than assessing the IT equipment in isolation, we examined the dependencies required to operate a reliable data centre.
The assessment covered:
Data and workloads
We reviewed the organisation’s data and workload requirements to establish the computing, storage and infrastructure capacity required for the proposed on-premise environment.
Network infrastructure
We assessed the existing networking environment and its suitability for supporting data centre traffic, internal connectivity and resilient access to critical systems.
Power infrastructure
Reliable power is fundamental to data centre availability. We reviewed the site’s power environment, distribution and backup requirements to determine the infrastructure necessary to protect critical equipment from interruptions and fluctuations.
Cooling and environmental management
Server and networking equipment generate significant heat and require controlled environmental conditions. We evaluated cooling requirements, equipment density and airflow considerations to ensure that the proposed infrastructure could operate reliably.
Physical infrastructure
The assessment considered available space, equipment layout, racks, structured cabling and the supporting physical environment required to accommodate both the initial deployment and future expansion.
Resilience and availability
We examined potential single points of failure and considered where redundancy would be required across critical infrastructure to reduce the risk of service interruption.
Security and access
Physical and logical security requirements formed part of the overall assessment, with the proposed environment designed around controlled access to critical infrastructure and data.
Capacity and future growth
The data centre needed to solve today’s requirements without restricting tomorrow’s. Our assessment therefore considered future expansion across compute, storage, networking, power and cooling.
From Assessment to Data Centre Design
Turning technical findings into an actionable recommendation
Following the assessment, Paratech Systems developed a comprehensive recommendation for the organisation to build its own on-premise data centre.
The proposed architecture brought together the individual technology and facility requirements into a single integrated design.
Our recommendations addressed the server and storage platform, network architecture, rack and cabling infrastructure, power distribution and backup, environmental management, resilience, monitoring and the physical requirements of the data centre.
A key consideration was eliminating avoidable single points of failure. Critical data centre environments depend not only on the reliability of individual servers but on the availability of the complete supporting infrastructure. Power, cooling and networking therefore had to be considered as part of the same resilience strategy.
The design also incorporated capacity for future expansion, allowing the organisation to increase its infrastructure over time without having to redesign the entire environment.
Power and Business Continuity
Designing infrastructure for dependable operation
Power availability is one of the most important considerations in any on-premise data centre.
Our assessment and recommendations considered the complete power chain supporting the IT environment, including power distribution, UPS protection and backup power requirements.
The objective was to ensure that critical systems could remain protected during power disturbances and that the infrastructure provided appropriate resilience for the organisation’s operational requirements.
This approach also ensured that power capacity was aligned with the expected IT load and allowed sufficient headroom for future infrastructure growth.
A key consideration was eliminating avoidable single points of failure. Critical data centre environments depend not only on the reliability of individual servers but on the availability of the complete supporting infrastructure. Power, cooling and networking therefore had to be considered as part of the same resilience strategy.
The design also incorporated capacity for future expansion, allowing the organisation to increase its infrastructure over time without having to redesign the entire environment.
Network and Infrastructure Resilience
Removing unnecessary points of failure
The network is the backbone connecting users, applications, storage and compute resources.
Paratech Systems reviewed the organisation’s existing network environment and developed recommendations for a data centre network capable of supporting the new on-premise infrastructure.
The proposed approach considered resilient connectivity, network segmentation, structured cabling and appropriate capacity for current and future workloads.
By approaching networking as part of the overall data centre architecture rather than as a standalone component, the organisation could build an environment in which compute, storage, power and connectivity worked together as a resilient system.
A key consideration was eliminating avoidable single points of failure. Critical data centre environments depend not only on the reliability of individual servers but on the availability of the complete supporting infrastructure. Power, cooling and networking therefore had to be considered as part of the same resilience strategy.
The design also incorporated capacity for future expansion, allowing the organisation to increase its infrastructure over time without having to redesign the entire environment.
Cooling and Environmental Management
Protecting critical equipment around the clock
Moving significant computing capacity on-premise introduces environmental requirements that do not exist when infrastructure is hosted entirely in the cloud.
The assessment therefore considered heat load, airflow, equipment placement and cooling capacity alongside the IT design.
Our recommendation was developed to ensure that environmental systems could support the proposed equipment under normal operating conditions while maintaining sufficient capacity to accommodate growth.
Effective environmental management helps protect equipment, minimise hotspots and create a more stable operating environment for critical IT infrastructure.
A key consideration was eliminating avoidable single points of failure. Critical data centre environments depend not only on the reliability of individual servers but on the availability of the complete supporting infrastructure. Power, cooling and networking therefore had to be considered as part of the same resilience strategy.
The design also incorporated capacity for future expansion, allowing the organisation to increase its infrastructure over time without having to redesign the entire environment.
Security and Data Control
Bringing critical data back under direct organisational control
One of the key drivers behind the project was the organisation’s decision to move away from cloud-hosted infrastructure and maintain its data within an environment under its own direct control.
An on-premise deployment gives the organisation greater authority over the physical infrastructure supporting its systems, while enabling security policies, access controls and operational procedures to be aligned with its internal requirements.
Our recommendations therefore considered security throughout the infrastructure design from physical access to the data centre through to network segmentation and the management of the systems operating within it.
Specific security configurations and operational controls remain confidential.
A key consideration was eliminating avoidable single points of failure. Critical data centre environments depend not only on the reliability of individual servers but on the availability of the complete supporting infrastructure. Power, cooling and networking therefore had to be considered as part of the same resilience strategy.
The design also incorporated capacity for future expansion, allowing the organisation to increase its infrastructure over time without having to redesign the entire environment.
The Recommendation
A purpose-built foundation for critical IT services
At the conclusion of the assessment, Paratech Systems recommended the development of a dedicated on-premise data centre designed around the organisation’s operational, security and availability requirements.
The recommendation provided the organisation with a clear roadmap covering the infrastructure required, the dependencies between systems, capacity requirements, resilience considerations and the steps necessary to move from the existing environment to the proposed data centre.
Rather than approaching the project as a collection of individual hardware purchases, we designed the recommendation around the data centre as a complete operational system.
This gave the organisation a structured basis for investment and implementation while reducing the technical and operational risks associated with moving critical workloads away from cloud infrastructure.
A key consideration was eliminating avoidable single points of failure. Critical data centre environments depend not only on the reliability of individual servers but on the availability of the complete supporting infrastructure. Power, cooling and networking therefore had to be considered as part of the same resilience strategy.
The design also incorporated capacity for future expansion, allowing the organisation to increase its infrastructure over time without having to redesign the entire environment.
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The Outcome
The project provided the organisation with a comprehensive understanding of the infrastructure required to bring critical data and workloads on-premise.
Through detailed assessment and infrastructure planning, Paratech Systems transformed an initial requirement for greater data control into a practical data centre strategy.
The resulting recommendation created a foundation for:
- Greater direct control over critical data and infrastructure
- Improved infrastructure resilience and availability
- Secure hosting of sensitive workloads on-premise
- Reliable power and environmental management
- A scalable compute, storage and networking environment
- Reduced dependence on third-party cloud infrastructure
- Capacity for future expansion and evolving operational requirements
The engagement demonstrated Paratech Systems’ ability to assess, design and plan mission-critical infrastructure where reliability, security and operational continuity are fundamental requirements.
Need to Bring Critical Infrastructure On-Premise?
Paratech Systems helps organisations assess, design and deploy secure, resilient data centre infrastructure.
From initial site and infrastructure assessments through to networking, compute, storage, power, resilience and implementation, we provide an end-to-end approach to building infrastructure around your operational requirements.
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