Data Center Services are those services which provide common dependent capabilities for a multitude of solutions in the IT environment. This can range from basic network services, storage services, SMTP needs to integration based message routing and queuing.
Often, solution architects assume their solution will leverage basic datacenter capabilities without analyzing the impact to those basic services. This assumption has created significant challenges for organizations that have not planned accordingly
In the diagram above, you will notice a basic e-commerce service needs a great deal from the data center to be successful for the organization. Recognizing this is crucial for any architectural effort.
Below are starting points where 2 different companies approached analyzing data center services in their organization.
| Service Category | Description | Service Name |
Application Management | Drive the fulfillment of the operational needs of distributed business applications | Application Architecture Certificate Management Deployment eCommerce Productivity Applications |
| Customer Service | Act as the single point of contact for all infrastructure requrests | Application Services Center Divisional Service Managers (DSMs) Support Operations Center (SOC) Field Support Services Incident Management Services Integration Engineering National Repair Center (NRC) |
| Data Management | Manage the physical infrastructure that houses enterprise data | Backup and Recovery Database management Identity Management |
| Device Management | Ensure that all physical devices are operational in accordance with service level agreements | Asset management Computing Devices Operating systems Peripherals Storage Devices |
| Middleware Management | Facilitate and manage logical connectivity to enterpise data and services. | Application Monitoring Application Security Connection mangement Web Protocols |
| Network Management | Enable physical connectivity of devices to a secure, high performance, highly available network | Internet Access Network Devices Networked Printing Network Security Radio Frequency Remote Access Services Telecommunications WAN Support WINS / DNS |
Perspective Capture Questions: Data Center Services Area:
a) What are the core data center services of the IT organization?
b) What is the architecture of these services?
c) What is the current condition of these services?