Data Center Manager Interview Preparation Guide

For years, IT managers have deployed their servers and IT equipment in hot and cold aisles. In such a scenario, the front side of two rows of equipment racks face each other and draw cool air into each rack's equipment intake. As such, the back side of two rows each expel hot air into the hot aisle. While this is an efficient concept, it may not go far enough for higher power loads. A solution to make the data center even more efficient is to deploy either hot or cold aisle containment. In cold aisle containment, the cold aisles are augmented to effectively "trap" cold air into the cold aisle. This allows the data center operator to increase air handling set points and more efficiently cool the intakes of the servers. On the other hand, hot aisle containment is a strategy to isolate the hot air exhaust found in the hot aisle. In both cases, the intent is to restrict mixing of significantly different air temperatures. Both solutions can be effective to lower PUE.

Whatever you say, your response must be measurable targets. Your interviewers are trying to size up what you truly bring to the table and it is better for you to offer quantifiable answers. A good response would be “Management basically has the responsibility to set goals and ensure that these goals are met. Building a strong team capable of withstanding any pressure, working with relevant data and ensuring that all deadlines are met. The company will always continue to grow under my supervision.”

Turn this question into a strength question in disguise. For instance, say something like “I do not like not being challenged at work” or you could mention a weakness that has nothing to do with the job and that you can overcome with training. This way, you end up turning this potentially tricky question into a positive.

Sometimes, you may be asked about certain challenges you faced in your previous position. If you are asked this question, lean towards the problem that happened early in your carrier and that you were able to solve. Do not try to blame others, just identify the problem and the role you played in solving it.

Cages and cabinets delineate the type of space that a colocation provider will convey to a customer in a retail colocation model. Cages are moveable walls on top of raised flooring to separate one customer's space from that of another. Cabinets, on the other hand, are typically lockable individual racks to house server, storage or communications equipment. Cages are typically for larger retail colocation customers, while cabinets can come in 1/3, half or full sizes. Both are used in shared room environments (other customers).

No, DCIM tools consist of a collection of software applications (outlined above), data collection tools, and a dashboard. The data collection is generally done by devices like meters, power protection devices, embedded cards, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and sensors, which gather data and forward it to management software for processing.

The other component of DCIM is a dashboard. Critical information from the DCIM software and data collection tools needs to be aggregated and presented so IT managers can visualize the data in a way that is meaningful and actionable. Dashboards can be configured for different needs, for instance to focus on the performance of the IT equipment versus the physical infrastructure (cooling, power, security).

With multiple virtual machines and applications running on any single host, the health and availability of each physical machine becomes that much more critical, and that’s where DCIM tools play a vital role in ensuring adequate power and cooling. The other consideration is the intensive and constantly changing power and cooling requirements of a virtual environment — dynamics loads simply can’t be responded to manually.

Data center management refers to a small number of employees who have been designated and hired to manage large data sets and hardware systems that are usually part of a large distributed network. The data center is responsible for the management of significant amounts of data and the hardware required to store it and distribute it to users.

Data center management plays a crucial role in protecting data and keeping it secure so as to avoid data security breaches. The hosted computer environment within a data center must be explicitly managed, but most of the management is conducted in an automated fashion, thus saving hiring and energy costs. Data centers can be managed remotely and may not even house actual employees.

Functions of data center management include upgrading hardware and software/operating systems, managing data distribution and storage, backup regimes, emergency planning and some technical support.

Data centers must remain secure, climate controlled and operational all day, every day. A director’s knowledge of facility planning should include everything from site design to scalability. Site design knowledge should cover building layout, electrical power, generators to keep services running in the event of an electrical outage and fire protection services.

This question is one of the most frequently asked questions. Where do you start? What do they really want to know? Are you to begin from elementary school or college? You have to be very careful on how you answer this question because your answer here sets the tone for the rest of the interview. This question is mostly asked as an icebreaker but if you did not prepare for it, it becomes a real problem.

The right approach to this is to discuss your key strengths and how they relate to the job. Talk about a few of your accomplishments. Talk about your current employer and then tell them how you see yourself fitting into a position at their company.

Discuss your method of assigning responsibility to the best candidates. How you communicate with employees to make them understand what is expected of them and how you make sure that the employees have the resources needed to carry out specific tasks. You should also chip in your follow-up procedures.