“Data security” and “being connected to the cloud” are terms we hear very often nowadays. But are you familiar with the concept of the cloud? Do you know where all your data goes? You can think of the cloud as an elusive object floating somewhere in the sky, but in reality, it is in a facility known as a data centre.
What Is A Data Centre?
A data centre is the premises that contains an establishment’s IT operations, equipment, and data. A data centre can be found anywhere across the world situated in large buildings. Based on the information from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are two types of data centres:
Enterprise: These data centres fulfil the purpose of the organization that owns them. The largest tech companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon, and Google own some of the largest data centres.
Colocation: A colocation data centre offers an organization a secure space to host its servers and data. In a way, it’s like your servers coexist.
Businesses looking for a colocation data centre can avail any one of these two predominant types.
Colocation: A colocation data centre permits an establishment to place its servers within the facility. The establishment must maintain the responsibility for managing all servers by themselves.
Managed Colocation: An organization can house their servers and data in this data centre and gain the service of on-site engineers to monitor and manage its devices.
The Capabilities Of A Data Centre & The Cloud
One of the most frequently asked questions is how a data centre associates with the cloud. In reality, the cloud is a part of the data centre but with a different purpose altogether. The following are some of the functions of a colocation data centre.
Server Hosting: Organizations looking for physical premises to house their servers in a secure facility can look to data centres as the ideal location that maintains security, power backup, temperature control, and data redundancy.
Maintain Power, Bandwidth, & Support Networking Facilities: Engineers working on an architectural project employ devices that must perform intricate computations while maintaining reliable network connectivity. Similarly, some applications require a stable, secure connection for the applications to operate smoothly. Data centres maintain reliable connectivity to the internet at network speeds impossible to achieve domestically.
Cloud Storage: A file stored in the cloud is physically located in a data centre. The data centre facilitates connectivity for multiple users and has abundant storage.
Data Centres For Your Business
You can always learn more about data centres based on the specific requirements of your business. Ask specific questions to ensure you get the best value for money.
Components Of A Data Centre
There are many different components of a data centre, and the following are examples of some of them.
Location
A data centre is in a strategic location based on the availability of utility services, emergency services, maintaining regulatory standards, security, with the least amount of operational costs.
Cabinets
Cabinets are the standard measure of space in a data centre and the smallest measurement of space is 1U (1 Unit). Organizations can decide to use just 1U or a whole rack.
Cabling
Cables are the lifeline of the data centre because the wiring infrastructure ensures that the premises maintains power, network connectivity, network speeds, and data redundancy regardless of the external conditions. Examples of network cables for these premises are CAT-5 or fibre optic cables.
Backup Power Sources
An established data centre will always have multiple backup power options in case of electrical outages.
Storage Room
Clients can purchase secure storage space to help them perform their business activities.