In its simplest form, a data center is where the tech lives! It’s the physical place you can point to and say ‘This is our internet.’ The equipment that is used to communicate, process and store data for all the digital activities that take place in a company lives in the data center. Size can range from multi-story buildings to the room size of a broom closet. Think of these centers as machines working to make all your digital needs and communications keep going, just like people work in your office to keep everything else running! They are vital and very important, in other words. Let’s break it down into three parts, Mechanical Infrastructure, Electrical Infrastructure, and IT Equipment.
MECHANICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
This is your cooling infrastructure. You wouldn’t let your computer sit out in the hot sun. So why wouldn’t you do something to keep your IT equipment from overheating! The cooling infrastructure removes the heat generated by the IT equipment so that they don’t shut down. They are called Computer Room Air Conditioners, and they live in the same space as your Data Center and equipment.
ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
This is what powers your equipment. It has to be connected and running at all times, or else your equipment, and consequently, the internet will shut down.
IT EQUIPMENT
This is the meat of what fills up a Data Center! The magic happens here, internet, emails, communication apps. None of this would work without the equipment. There are three main components to your IT equipment, servers, communication gear and storage equipment. Servers are basically very fast, super-powered computers that live in racks. The communication gear handles the transfer of data. Storage is where the data is stored.