11 May What is a data center and why is it important to your business?
At its simplest, a data center is a physical facility that organizations use to house their critical applications and data. Data center facilities are critical in providing access to the large amounts of data stored there for employees running daily operations, applications, and other processes in a cloud computing environment. Data centers have their roots in the huge computer rooms of the 1940s, typified by ENIAC, one of the earliest examples of a data center. Early computer systems, complex to operate and maintain, required a special environment in which to operate. Security became important – computers were expensive, and were often used for military purposes. Basic design-guidelines for controlling access to the computer room were therefore devised.
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.
The Core Components of a Data Center
Data center architectures and requirements can differ significantly. For example, a data center built for a cloud service provider like Amazon satisfies facility, infrastructure and security requirements that significantly differ from a completely private data center, such as one built for a government facility that is dedicated to securing classified data.
Regardless of classification, an effective data center operation is achieved through a balanced investment in the facility and the equipment it houses. In addition, since data centers often house an organization’s business-critical data and applications, it’s essential that both facility and equipment are secured against intruders and cyberattacks.
The primary elements of a data center break down as follows:
Facility – the usable space available for IT equipment. Providing round-the-clock access to information makes data centers some of the world’s most energy-consuming facilities. Design to optimize space and environmental control to keep equipment within specific temperature/humidity ranges are both emphasized.
Core components – equipment and software for IT operations and storage of data and applications. These may include storage systems; servers; network infrastructure, such as switches and routers; and various information security elements, such as firewalls.
Support infrastructure – equipment contributing to securely sustaining the highest availability possible. The Uptime Institute has defined four tiers of data centers, with availability ranging from 99.671% to 99.995%. Some components for supporting infrastructure include:
Uninterruptible Power Sources (UPS) – battery banks, generators and redundant power sources.
Environmental control – computer room air conditioners (CRAC); heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; and exhaust systems.
Physical security systems – biometrics and video surveillance systems.
Operations staff – personnel available to monitor operations and maintain IT and infrastructure equipment around the clock.
Why are Data Centers Important to Business?
As virtualization and digitalization continue in the 21st century, data centers have become a top priority for businesses. Data centers are not just seen as an external facility for the storage of information and operation models, but rather, a key to the very daily functions of a business. Data centers are an integral part of the enterprise, designed to support business applications
In the world of enterprise IT, data centers are designed to support business applications and activities that include:
- Data storage, management, backup and recovery
- Productivity applications, such as email
- High-volume e-commerce transactions
- Powering online gaming communities Customer relationship management (CRM)
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP) and databases
- Big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning
- Virtual desktops, communications and collaboration services
Today, there are reportedly more than 7 million data centers worldwide. Practically every business and government entity builds and maintains its own data center or has access to someone else’s, if not both models. Many options are available today, such as renting servers at a colocation facility, using data center services managed by a third party, or using public cloud-based services from hosts like Amazon, Microsoft, Sony and Google.
CORENET IT Limited offers advanced Data Center solutions designed by technology architects with deep engineering expertise in: Storage Unified Computing, Virtualization, Backup and Recovery: Data Center Networking:
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