Data Center

What is a Data Center?

A data center is a physical facility area in an organization that accommodates all the equipment, infrastructure, and components for critical applications and data. A typical data center comprises vital elements, including servers, storage, and network devices such as routers, switches, firewalls, etc.

Why Data Center is Important?

The data center is the key part of storage and data management, supporting enterprise operations. In the IT industry, it supports mission-critical applications such as e-mail, data sharing, productive applications, CRM, ERP, databases, big data, AI, machine learning, etc.

What is the Infrastructure of Data Centers?

A data center is a complex system composed of various units. According to different classifications, there are other compositions of data centers.

White Space and Gray Space

Regarded as a completely physical entity, a data center can be viewed as two parts: white space and gray space. A data center white space is the productive area for placing IT equipment that functions for data transmission, including servers, storage, network equipment, racks, power distribution systems, air-conditioning units, etc. It is also called the Telcom room. The name white space comes from the fact that white space is usually located on a raised floor and is white, leaving a clean impression. A data center gray space is the backend apartment that supplies power and resources for the operation of white space. The gray space components include Generators, Chillers, Transformers, UPS, switchgear, etc.

Hardware, Software and Physical Infrastructure

Hardware infrastructure includes servers, storage and network equipment. 

Servers are the core of computing. They perform applications and process data. Storage equipment, including hard disks, Solid-State Drives, tape libraries, etc., is responsible for data storage. Network equipment is responsible for data transmission within or outside data centers.

Software systems include operating systems (OS), virtualized technology, and data center management software. The OS system is the basic software of servers, providing hardware resource management and process control functions. Virtualized technology enables multiple virtual machines to be performed on a single physical server, simplifying management and enhancing resource utilization. Data center management software functions monitor and manage hardware and software resources.

The physical infrastructure power supply ensures uninterrupted operation of the data center through UPS and backup generators. Given that equipment in the data center generates a lot of heat, the cooling system is critical for regular operation and hardware lifespan. The security system protects the data center from threats.

What are the Standards of Data Centers?

The data center standards are primarily based on ANSI/TIA-942, ensuring that the design and infrastructure meet four levels of redundancy and fault tolerance requirements.

Tier 1: Simple infrastructure, providing limited protection, with only a single capacity component and non-redundant distribution paths.

Tier 2: Provides better protection, with redundant capacity components, but still only a single non-redundant distribution path.

Tier 3: Has simultaneous maintenance capabilities, supports redundant components and multiple independent distribution paths, and can replace components without downtime.

Tier 4: Provides the highest redundancy and fault tolerance, and any single point of failure will not affect service, suitable for the most critical applications.

In addition, infrastructure such as power, cooling, fire suppression and security systems also occupy an important position in the design standards to ensure the reliability of the data center.