Clearing out is an order, not a job
After a migration to the cloud or to a new data centre, a room is left with equipment nobody dares switch off. Rightly so: almost every rack holds something whose user only becomes apparent when the plug is pulled. This page is about that order, and about what has to be on paper at the end.
Five steps, and the first two are the work
The switching off itself is an afternoon. What sits around it is the project.
Inventory by serial number
Every device in the rack, with brand, model, serial number and the cables running out of it. This is the list the rest of the project leans on and the proof afterwards.
Establish what still runs
Per machine: what runs on it, who uses it and does anything hang off it. Almost every decommissioning turns up one system whose existence had been forgotten and which is in use.
Phase out in the right order
Dependencies first, then the machines. Where it is uncertain we power a machine down for a period before it leaves the rack; bringing it back is then an action and not a disaster.
Data off and recorded
Every data carrier is wiped to a recognised method or destroyed where wiping is no longer possible, with a certificate per carrier by serial number.
Disposal and settlement
What has value is appraised and settled, the rest goes to certified processing. At the end there is one report stating per serial number what happened to it.
Four things that make a decommissioning overrun
All four surface at the moment the schedule is already set.
- The system nobody knew aboutA machine without an owner that is nonetheless in use. That is why step two exists, and why step three works with a power-down period rather than a screwdriver.
- Cabling that does not matchWhat is on the drawing and what is in the rack are rarely the same. Count on an on-site inventory; a decommissioning based on documentation runs aground at the third rack.
- Handing the room back to the landlordA server room is often returned to its original state: racks out, cabling out, cooling and power reinstated. That sits in the lease and not in the IT plan.
- The equipment that staysThere is almost always something that has to run another year. Naming it in advance saves a second project in which one rack sits in an empty room with its own cooling and its own bill.
Three things that are on paper at the end
Without these three a decommissioning is not finished, even when the room is empty.
- A certificate per data carrierBy serial number, with the method used. Under the GDPR your organisation stays responsible for the data, including after the equipment has been disposed of.
- A disposal reportWhat was collected, what was reused and what was recycled, with the environmental account alongside. That is what an accountant or auditor wants to see.
- The residual value settledWhat the equipment was still worth, named separately from the cost of the decommissioning. Netting those two off without showing them is the easiest way to make value disappear.
What goes with this
Decommissioning closes a migration and opens the disposal.
Questions we get about this
The ones that come up most, answered briefly.
How long does clearing a server room take?
The switching off and stripping out is days; establishing what still runs is weeks. The second is the work, and a schedule built only on the first runs aground at the third rack on a system nobody knew existed.
What if something turns out to still be needed?
That is why we power uncertain machines down for a period before they leave the rack. If somebody then calls, bringing it back is a ten-minute action rather than a restore from backup.
Do we get the residual value back?
What the equipment is still worth is named separately from the cost of the decommissioning. Netting those two off without showing them is the easiest way to make value disappear, so we do not do it.
An empty room with a record
Say how many racks there are and what has already been migrated. You get an outline with the order, the lead time and the residual value named separately.
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