What Is A Data Center?
A data center is a facility used to house a large amount of electronic equipment. This usually includes computer and communications equipment. It is usually maintained by an organization for the purpose of handling the data that is necessary for proper operation. In the computer world, a data center is a secure location where web hosting servers are kept. Such data centers are designed to assure that the servers, as well as the data contained in them are protected from environmental hazards and security breaches. A data center is usually an actual building that stands alone, allowing privacy and security for the companies it serves. It is a secure location for web hosting servers that is specifically designed to provide physical and network security for all its servers. Most good providers provide a Class A data center carefully designed to avoid any possible failure that may take place.
Data is one of the most crucial aspects of most organizational operations and therefore, organizations will be very protective of this data. A data center must keep extremely high standards for assuring the security, integrity and functionality of its environment. This, most often, is evident in the actual physical layout of the data center.
A data center can occupy one room of a building, a floor of a building, several floors in a building, or possibly an entire building. Most of the equipment is often in the form of 1U servers. This is commonly referred to as pizza boxes because of their appearance. These are stacked in 19 inch cabinets which are most often placed in single rows which form corridors between them. This structure and set up allows people to have access to the front and rear of each cabinet. Any large equipment which accompanies the data, such as mainframe computers and storage devices are often placed alongside the cabinets. This is done because most often, this equipment is as large as the cabinets themselves.
There are often strict control of the rules and regulations surrounding the physical environment of the data center. For instance, air conditioning must be used to keep the rooms cool. The temperature is generally set at 17 degrees Celsius. The temperature of the room is crucial because most electronic equipment in a confined space generates a lot of excess heat. Therefore, if not kept in cool conditions, a malfunction could take place. Backup power of often available. This often includes an uninterruptible power supply or diesel generators close by.
Data centers often have extensive fire prevention and fire extinguishing systems. The use of water to put out a fire on electrical equipment can be as damaging the fire itself. Usually Aragonite and FM200 are used in place of water in the event of a fire.
Security, naturally plays a large role in data centers. Only a select few have personal access to the site. Video camera surveillance and security guards around the clock are usually present in larger data centers or where sensitive information is kept.
Todd Mumford is co-owner and operator of GDO Web Hosting, offering state of the art web hosting with Cpanel 10, Fantastico and free setup on every new account.