Did you know that the power density of a data center is 100 times greater than that of a commercial office building? With all that energy, data center power distribution is no joke. But energy consumption isn’t the only complex thing about managing a data center. When it comes time to migrate your center to a new facility, things really become complicated.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re moving into another business’s headquarters or hiring data center construction services to build a new facility from the ground up. Moving all that data, software, and equipment from one place to another invites countless accidents to happen. If you are not careful, your organization could end up losing far more money than just the cost of the migration itself.

From moving data center power distribution units to transferring information, here are some reasons why your data center could be struggling to migrate.

Data Loss

It does not matter whether we’re talking about your private computer or your business’s servers: data loss is a nightmare. When you are migrating your data center, there is so much data being transferred from one location to another that it would practically be a miracle for some of it not to be lost.

The good thing is, there is a simple solution: back up all of your data, more than once if possible. The more backups you can keep, and the more organized your backups are, the less likely you are to be faced with the horrifying (and expensive) realization that some data was permanently lost in transit.

Disorganization and Confusion

While not a technical issue per se, when it comes to data center migration, oftentimes problems can be traced back to a lack of organization. The first thing you need before you even think of migrating your data center is a comprehensive data migration plan. A service provider like LDP can help you create a plan that works for your business and then help you execute it so that everything goes according to schedule.

Perhaps the most important part of data center migration is clear communication with everyone involved. Make sure that all staff members know exactly what is going on and understand their specific roles and responsibilities. Complicated problems can usually be avoided by properly informing all who are involved.

Hardware Challenges

From miles of cables to data center power distribution systems, the physical element of data center migration may be the most daunting. Even if you are leaving most of your old equipment behind to be replaced at the new data center, sometimes your destination environment just isn’t capable of handling all your data and applications. This is why it is critical to estimate capacity correctly and to frequently fact-check yourself to make sure you aren’t overestimating what your new data center can handle.

Besides comparing software and data size and compatibility, you must also consider the physical component. It is all too common for businesses to start migrating to a new data center, only to discover that their server cabinets won’t even fit through the door. Obviously, this is something you will want to know about well ahead of time.

Issues With Compatibility

Compatibility issues can be detrimental to an otherwise solid migration plan. In theory, moving data and applications from one place to another is a simple process. But as with most things in life, it is more complicated in practice. Even something as simple as upgrading to a newer operating system can unknowingly render some files unreadable. In an absolute worst-case scenario, your entire system might even crash as soon as it’s removed from the original environment.

As with many migration problems, the solution for this one is once again careful planning. Your data migration plan needs to include detailed assessments of both your existing system’s operational requirements and your new system’s capabilities. Everything you can learn about both systems should be carefully documented and compared against each other multiple times. Failing to do this could literally be planning to fail. And don’t shut down your old operating system until you’ve conducted thorough tests within the new system you’re migrating to.

Whether you need help with data center power distribution or migration to a new facility, LDP provides the mission critical support solutions your data center needs.