What is a Data Center?
| F.A.Q. • SupportWhat is a Data Center?
A data center (Data Center) is a facility used by an organization to house IT equipment, including servers, storage, network equipment (such as switches, routers and firewalls), as well as the racks and cabling needed to organize and connect this equipment. This equipment also requires infrastructure to support it, such as power distribution systems (including backup generators and uninterruptible power supplies) and ventilation and cooling systems (such as air conditioning or liquid cooling systems). A data center can range in size from a single room to a huge multi-warehouse complex.
In 2005, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) published the ANSI/TIA-942 "Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers," which defines four levels of data centers according to different levels of reliability or resilience. These levels are called "Tiers." For example, a Tier 1 data center is little more than a server room, while a Tier 4 data center offers redundant subsystems and a high level of security. The 2021 version defines four Tiers:
- Tier 1: Responsible for the basic structure and is used in the least demanding environments. Provides minimal reliability, which means it has potentially more maintenance and repair-related downtime. Does not have duplicated critical components, such as backup power or cooling. Making changes to the infrastructure usually requires shutting down the system.
- Tier 2: Introduces slightly higher reliability by adding some duplicated elements, such as basic backup power and cooling. Despite this, it may still require shutting down the system when making changes.
- Tier 3: Offers much higher reliability by fully duplicating key components such as power, cooling and network. Allows changes and maintenance operation without shutting down the system. Provides a 99.982% annual availability guarantee.
- Tier 4: Is the highest level of reliability and availability. Provides full duplication of all critical components and infrastructure areas. Allows you to perform maintenance and make changes without interrupting system operations. Provides a guarantee of 99.995% availability per year.
Note that the higher the tier level, the higher the reliability and availability of the data center, but usually also the cost of construction and maintenance. Choosing the right tier depends on an organization's requirements, as well as its budget and strategy for system reliability and availability.
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