There are two principal aspects to any data center: the facility, and the IT infrastructure that resides within the facility. These aspects coexist and work together, but they can be discussed separately.
Facility. The facility is the physical building used for the data center. In simplest terms, a data center is just a big open space where infrastructure will be deployed. Although almost any space has the potential to operate some amount of IT infrastructure, a properly designed facility considers the following array of factors:
- Space. There must be sufficient floor space — a simple measure of square feet or square meters — to hold all the IT infrastructure that the business intends to deploy now and in the future. The space must be located on a well-considered site with affordable taxes and access. The space is often subdivided to accommodate different purposes or use types.
- Power. There must be adequate power — in watts, often as much as 100 megawatts — to operate all the IT infrastructure. Power must be affordable, clean — meaning free of fluctuation or disruption — and reliable. Renewable and supplemental/auxiliary power must be included.
- Cooling. The enormous amount of power delivered to a data center is converted into computing — i.e., work — and a lot of heat, which must be removed from the IT infrastructure using conventional HVAC systems, as well as other unconventional cooling technologies.
- Security. Considering the value of the data center and its critical importance to the business, the data center must include controlled access using a variety of tactics, ranging from employee badge access to video surveillance.
- Management. Modern data centers typically incorporate a building management system (BMS) designed to help IT and business leaders oversee the data center environment in real time, including oversight of temperature, humidity, power and cooling levels, as well as access and security logging.
Infrastructure. An infrastructure represents the vast array of IT gear deployed within the facility. This is the equipment that runs applications and provides services to the business and its users. A typical IT infrastructure includes the following components:
- Servers. These computers host enterprise applications and perform computing tasks.
- Storage. Subsystems, such as disk arrays, are used to store and protect application and business data.
- Networking. The gear needed to create a business network includes switches, routers, firewalls and other cybersecurity elements.
- Cables and racks. Miles of wires interconnect IT gear, and physical server racks are used to organize servers and other gear within the facility space.
- Backup power. Uninterruptible power supply (UPS), flywheel and other emergency power systems are critical to ensure orderly infrastructure behavior in the event of a main power disruption.
- Management platforms. One or more data center infrastructure management (DCIM) platforms are needed to oversee and manage the IT infrastructure reporting on system health, availability, capacity and configuration.
