What is a data center?
Blog provided by Electric Kitten
A data center is a facility in which computers and telecommunications equipment are housed. The three main purposes of data centers are to provide: (1) computing and storage resources for organizations, (2) network access to those resources, and (3) support services that include power, cooling, security, fire protection, and telecommunications.
Data centers have become a critical part of our economy and our way of life. They enable the efficient operation of businesses large and small as well as essential government services. Did you open your email service this morning? It is more than likely that it is running at the closes data center to you.
The physical infrastructure of a data center is typically composed of raised flooring for cabling; racks or cabinets to house servers or other equipment; an uninterruptible power supply (UPS); backup generators; environmental controls such as air conditioning units; smoke detectors; fire suppression systems including sprinklers or gas extinguishers; and security systems including video cameras monitoring all areas inside the perimeter fence.
The heart of most data centers is the LA Colocation server farm where thousands upon thousands off servers run around the clock providing processing power for websites, e-mail applications, company intranets, big-data analytics projects – you name it. Servers come in all shapes sizes, but they all have one thing in common – they generate heat! That’s why datacenters require sophisticated cooling systems that can remove enough heat from the environment so that servers don’t overheat and fail.