What is a Data Center?
Because you (like all website owners) rightly expect your host to keep site downtime to a minimum, host servers—the physical machines storing the information for websites, media, applications, and more—need a home where they can go about their business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That’s where data centers come in.
A data center is a specialized facility that has several features—including climate control, redundant power supplies, advanced power and data management, and high-bandwidth Internet connections—designed to keep servers running at peak performance.
How Does a Data Center Work?
A data center’s primary function is to centralize and organize the data processing and other information technology (IT) services of a business or other organization. Locating all the computer hardware in a special, climate-controlled environment makes it far easier for IT to manage both the servers and the applications and data they hold.
Data centers are generally sorted into two classifications:
- Enterprise Data Centers
- The servers in these centers host the data and applications of a corporation or other entity.
- Access is generally restricted to employees and other approved users, rather than the public.
- Internet data centers
- The servers in these data centers are public and usually have a browser-based interface.
- They may have thousands of (most likely anonymous) users.
As a rule, enterprise data centers are used by small to medium businesses, or private users (e.g., gamers) looking to centralize their computer operations. Internet data centers are used by large corporations and companies whose goods and services are provided to the public via their servers (e.g., Amazon’s cloud storage and instant video services, Apple’s iCloud, etc.).
Enterprise or Internet, all data centers have certain features in common, including:
The data center facility. This is the physical location and “white space,” (i.e., the space available for servers and other IT equipment).
Support Infrastructure This equipment is responsible for ensuring the data center has the highest uptime rate possible. The opposite of downtime, uptime is the amount of time in a given period when a server, website, or application is running properly.
The Uptime Institute (a third-party body that establishes and governs the criteria for data center layout and management) has created four tiers under which data centers can fall. Uptime standards for these tiers range 99.671% to 99.995%, with Tier One having the lowest uptime minimum, and Tier Four having the highest.
The standards for each tier are as follows:
- Tier 1: Non-redundant capacity components (single data uplink and servers).
- Tier 2: Tier 1 plus redundant capacity components.
- Tier 3: Tiers 1 and 2, plus some dual-powered equipment and multiple data uplinks.
- Tier 4: Tiers 1, 2, and 3, plus fully fault-tolerant components and support tech, including storage, data uplinks, and HVAC components. Everything in the center is dual-powered.
Support infrastructure components include:
- Environmental Control Systems:
- Computer room air conditioners (CRAC)
- Advanced exhaust systems (to remove excess heat and moisture)
- Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems
- Custom architectural design to maximize equipment performance (e.g., elevated floors)
- Uninterruptible power sources (UPS):
- Generators
- Redundant power sources
- Battery arrays
- Physical security:
- Video surveillance equipment
- Reinforced construction
- Biometrics (e.g., fingerprint and retina scanners)
IT computers and equipment: This is the equipment necessary for running the organization’s network and storing its data. IT equipment includes:
- Servers
- Cabling
- Security hardware (e.g., firewalls, routers)
- Storage and racks
IT operations staff: These people monitor and maintain both the network and the hardware on which it resides—as well as the infrastructure equipment that supports the entire data center—24/7.
Take a closer look at the inside of a data center:
Because instant and always-on access to the Internet or even a company intranet is now the norm, data centers run ’round the clock to ensure the content they contain is accessible at all times. In order to maximize uptime, they often rely on a sophisticated array of redundant power supplies and data management systems. These systems can keep websites, files, or applications available even if connection, power, or hardware issues arise.
Data Centers and the Environment
While data centers are an essential part of modern life, their ubiquity, design, and function present a number of environmental concerns.
Addressing Environmental Concerns
Because they’re both enormous (some facilities cover hundreds of thousands of square feet) and always on in order to provide continual access to information, data centers consume enormous amounts of energy and resources. In addition, a data center’s servers and the equipment that supports them—including racks, switches, power supplies, etc.—are all extremely sensitive to shifts in humidity and temperature. This makes HVAC, air filtration, and architectural techniques very important in keeping the center up and running.
Their large size and the need for dedicated staff also increases environmental impact, because the employees must travel to and from work and use electricity, water, and other resources (in addition to the ones consumed by the servers) while working.
Historically, data center uptime has taken precedence over energy efficiency, but the impact of data centers on both the power grid and the environment has created a shift toward making data centers more “green.” Environmentally responsible practices include:
- Energy Certification Programs: Corporations are adjusting their operations to reduce their carbon footprint, energy consumption, and impact on local land, air, and water in order to meet the requirements of programs such as the Energy Star™ building certification. Data centers are also evaluated by their PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) score. This score is determined by comparing the total power consumed by a data center to the power used strictly for IT purposes (i.e., processing information and running applications, as opposed to support functions such as cooling). Newly built data centers are increasingly designed to meet the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, which not only reduce environmental impact but qualify companies that meet them for significant tax incentives.
- Energy recovery technology. Using solar, wind, biogas, and water power, many large-scale data centers are capturing energy equal to (or in excess of) the energy they consume, feeding it back into the grid.
- Increased virtualization: In addition to moving more servers to the virtual platform, many data centers are also reducing their energy impact by allowing employees to telecommute rather than traveling to the office. Some companies even encourage sack lunches (or provide food) for their employees to reduce lunchtime travel and pollution.
- Smarter technology: More energy-efficient computers, along with new, more efficient power supplies, racks and other IT support equipment, work together to create a greener data center. Hardware and software controls allow admins track energy usage, direct energy to where it’s needed most, and coordinate with energy recovery tech to maximize efficiency and return.
Learn more about Apple’s data center in Maiden, NC, which has the largest private solar array in the world:
There’s no denying the importance of data centers in almost aspects of modern life. They provide the hardware and software infrastructure necessary to meet the online demand of billions of people for news, entertainment, and communication every hour of every day. And since these demands are likely to keep growing exponentially, the future of data center design and management lies in combining environmental responsibility with cutting-edge tech that keeps the lights on and the data flowing.
While you may never set foot inside the data center of your hosting provider, understanding their capabilities and limitations is critical when planning for the needs of your website. Finding the right balance of power, performance, and green-friendly tech can help you choose the right provider for you.