Data Center

A data center is a facility that houses critical computing infrastructure, including hardware and software, on behalf of an organization or organizations. In the past, most data centers were physical buildings that housed server banks and other technologies to both manage the physical environment of the facility—namely, temperature fluctuations—and the flow of data in and out of the facility through connections.

In this case, hardware refers to physical computers, routers, and switches. A sever is a good example of a type of computing hardware, as is a desktop or laptop computer. Meanwhile, software refers to the applications used by businesses and powered by computing hardware. This could include web servers, applications, content management systems, and operating systems.

The purpose of a data center is to house the network of computing and file storage resources that enable organizations to work with data and run applications. In many ways, “the cloud” as most people understand it refers to operations and files that are stored and processed remotely in data centers rather than on terminals like laptops and desktops.

Data centers are composed of several physical and technical elements. These include switches, routers, and cooling systems, as well as virtual elements like firewalls and security software. To power a data center, there is typically a significant power and safety infrastructure in place which includes uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and backup generators to maintain uptime. A data center will also include fire suppression systems and physical security solutions to maintain security. Overall, a data center includes three components: compute, storage, and networking.

• Compute refers to the memory and processing power used to run applications. These are provided by the servers.

• Storage refers to the storage drives used to house enterprise data. This could be traditional tape drives or solid-state drives, and they typically include multiple backups for security.

• Finally,networking refers to the connections between the hardware within the data center and the outside world. Safe connectivity is accomplished through routers, switches, and delivery systems.

Today, organizations can gain the benefits of data centers through colocation. In this model, the facility and much of its base infrastructures, such as power, ventilation, and security, are included as part of a contract. The company rents space in the facility and moves its servers into the space.

Colocation allows companies to maintain control of their servers and computing environments without encountering the restrictive costs of maintaining an entire facility.

Edge computing is an emerging trend that places data center capabilities at the edge of the network, closer to where data is first gathered. This is often accomplished with micro data centers—smaller units that can process and analyze data quickly and deliver real-time insights. By placing these capabilities at the edge of the network, less bandwidth is needed to run critical applications and actions can be completed more efficiently.