Students will probably be working in a data centre or have a desire to work in one.

There are no formal prerequisites for the course.

This comprehensive data centre technician course is designed to give technicians a comprehensive understanding of every aspect of the data centre and its operations including;

•  What Data Centres do and the Different Types
• Understanding the 4 most important factors: Power, Cooling, Cabling, Premises
• Standards, Certification and ComplianceThe Physical Infrastructure in detail
• Key Operational Information and Parameters
• Important Processes and Procedures and the Technicians role within them
• What to Maintain, How and When
• Key Considerations When Installing new Equipment (IT and Infrastructure)

• Introduction to data centres:
  • What is a Data Centre
  • Data centres vs computer rooms
  • Different types of data centre
  • The international data centre standards
  • Understanding Fundamental Design Principles
  • Certification
  • Compliance issues
  • Codes, Regulation and Best Practice
  • Understanding resilience models N, N+1, 2N, Tiers/Ratings/Classes etc.
  • Building requirements
  • Management Organisation
  • The roles of IT and Facilities
• The Infrastructure – IT Systems and their correct installation:
  
  • Servers, Storage, Networking, IT Security
  • Understanding Equipment Specifications
  • How to Install Equipment Correctly
  • Improving Airflow around IT Equipment
  • Understanding Efficiency Settings in IT Equipment
• Space and Places:
  • Understanding Location Issues
  • How location can reduce capacity
  • Different spaces in a data centre and their functions
• Raised access floors:
  • Understanding floor strength
  • Standards
  • Correct sealing
  • Understanding the importance of floor heights
• Racks and computer room layouts:
  
  • Hot and cold aisle concept
  • 7 and 8 tile pitch models
  • Server and communications racks
  • 2 and 4 post designs
• Power:
  
  • Overview of power systems
  • Electrical Infrastructure components and paths
  • Power, kW and kVA
  • Power factor issues
  • Single v 3 phase distribution
  • Rating, Tier and Class 1-4 models
  • Backup Power Options: Generators and UPS
  • Looking after batteries and UPS
  • Power Distribution units
  • Earthing, grounding and bonding
  • Monitoring, Measurement and Periodic Testing
• Cooling:
  
  • Air conditioning and cooling principles
  • Why we need cooling
  • Available technologies and how they work
  • Hot and cold aisle layouts and variations
  • The Importance of Airflow
  • DX v central water chiller options
  • ASHRAE, TIA and CIBSE requirements
  • Problems Caused by Low humidity
  • Ventilation and filtration requirements
  • Energy saving techniques e.g. dry cooler, air economiser, water economiser
  • International Differences: kW v tons v BTU of cooling
  • Hot aisle/cold aisle options
  • Enclosed cold and hot aisles
  • Other rack cooling options
  • Side to side cooling for large Cisco switches
  • Water cooled racks
  • CO2 cooled racks
  • Spot cooling
  • Rating, Tiering, Class requirements
  • Monitoring, Measurement and Period Testing
  • Efficiency Metrics
• Cabling:
  
  • Cabling Solutions. Getting it right
  • Organising telecommunications rooms
  • Looking after the cables and containment
• Key Operational Parameters:
  
  • Optimum running conditions
  • Understanding the limitations
• Processes and the Technicians role:
  
  • Types of maintenance, Reactive, Preventative, Predictive
  • Checklists
  • Organising, recording maintenance and stock
  • What Infrastructure needs maintenance. What is needed and how often
  • Keeping it clean and general housekeeping
  • Monitoring
  • Using BMS and DCIM
  • Incident Management
  • Change Management
  • Change Approval
  • Permits to work
  • Risk Assessments and Method Statements
  • Acceptance of work
  • Asset and Configuration management
  • Keeping an asset register
  • Labelling and Documentation
  • Updating records and drawings