All about Data Centers

Modern day business requires handling of large amount of data (essentially any sort of file created on a computer qualifies to be called as data). With the ever-increasing velocity of data flowing to make business happen, a robust infrastructure is required to efficiently manage this data. Proper management of data requires secured, safe and energy efficient data centers.

“Data is a precious thing and will last longer than the systems themselves.” – Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web.

What is a Data Center?

At its simplest, a data center is a physical facility that organizations use to house their critical applications and data. A data center’s design is based on a network of computing and storage resources that enable the delivery of shared applications and data. The key components of a data center design include routers, switches, firewalls, storage systems, servers, and application-delivery controllers.

Source: Cisco

What is in a data center facility?

Data center components require significant infrastructure to support the center’s hardware and software. These include power subsystems, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), ventilation, cooling systems, fire suppression, backup generators, and connections to external networks.

How many types of data centers are there?

Many types of data centers and service models are available. Their classification depends on whether they are owned by one or many organizations, how they fit (if they fit) into the topology of other data centers, what technologies they use for computing and storage, and even their energy efficiency. There are four main types of data centers:

Enterprise data centers

These are built, owned, and operated by companies and are optimized for their end users. Most often they are housed on the corporate campus.

Managed services data centers

These data centers are managed by a third party (or a managed services provider) on behalf of a company. The company leases the equipment and infrastructure instead of buying it.

Colocation data centers

In colocation (“colo”) data centers, a company rents space within a data center owned by others and located off company premises. The colocation data center hosts the infrastructure: building, cooling, bandwidth, security, etc., while the company provides and manages the components, including servers, storage, and firewalls.

Cloud data centers

In this off-premises form of data center, data and applications are hosted by a cloud services provider such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft (Azure), or IBM Cloud or other public cloud provider.

Discover more about cloud data centers and what the future will bring to them and your network.

Watch out for our coverage of safety and energy efficiency in data centers, as we discuss various upcoming technologies and safety measures a data center can adopt.