A Data processing center (DPC) or data center is a special room or an entire building for hosting servers, network equipment and all necessary infrastructure for data storage.
How does the data center work?
The data center consists of networked computers, data management systems, and computing infrastructure. The data center includes:
- systems for data storage, exchange, access and processing,
- a physical infrastructure to support working with data,
- engineering infrastructure that provides cooling, electricity and other aspects of the operation of the data center.
What functions do data centers perform?
Typically, a business depends on the applications, services, and data contained in the data center, making it a critical asset for day-to-day operations. The data center performs important business functions:
- data collection, processing, storage and dissemination,
- support for network and business applications,
- production of computing,
- protection and control of information security of systems and data,
- centralization of employees, contractors and IT service providers,
- savings by consolidating many systems in one place.
How is the data center set up?
Physically, a data center is a room or building with an area sufficient to accommodate the necessary infrastructure and equipment.
The organization’s data systems are located in a secure physical infrastructure, which includes servers, storage subsystems, network switches, routers, firewalls, cables and physical racks.
The data center’s trouble-free operation is provided by auxiliary infrastructure: power distribution subsystems, additional power, electrical switching, UPS, backup generators, ventilation and cooling systems, air conditioners in computer rooms.
The IT equipment and infrastructure of the data center are serviced and monitored around the clock by operational personnel who ensure fault-tolerant operation. Any data center includes an access control system.
What kind of data centers are there?
The size, shape, location, and capacity of a data center may vary depending on the format and business requirements. There are several common types of data centers.
A corporate data center is being built and owned by one organization for its internal end users. The data center supports IT operations and mission-critical applications of only one company.
A data center with managed services provides all aspects of data storage and computing services for rent. Such a data center is the property of the provider, which is responsible for management and operation.
Cloud data centers are managed by cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud. Leased capacities allow customers to create their own virtual data center.
By their design, data centers are divided into several types:
- stationary data centers are located in specially designed buildings, which ensures maximum performance,
- modular data centers are assembled from blocks, due to the addition of new modules, they can scale from one server room to any area,
- Container data centers consist of racks of equipment placed in standard ISO containers that are used for logistics; mobile data centers are easy to transport by road, sea, rail or air.