In the digital age, data centers are essential to the operation of businesses. They offer secure, reliable computing power to assist in business processes, from internal communications to customer services. They’re designed with massive amounts of planning and resources to ensure that the facility can meet a company’s increasing workload requirements for years to be. They are also evolving to run more efficiently and incorporate cloud resources.
A company can construct their own data center when they have the funds to invest in it, or they can opt for a colocation option. Colocation providers provide a variety of benefits however they also affect a company’s control and visibility into its data infrastructure. This could result in Shadow IT situations, where employees use cloud services without company approval.
A data center for corporate use in-house allows the company to have greater control over their data infrastructure and also to respond quickly to any issues. It also increases productivity and offer better uptime, since employees are able to work more efficiently and without interruptions.
Most data centers have several layers of security to protect sensitive information. These include firewalls, intrusion detection systems and backup procedures as along with physical access restrictions such cameras, guards and mantraps. Some fire protection systems use chemical or sprinkler suppression. Server rooms that are dedicated to servers are usually designed to keep hot and cold aisles to stop air from mixing, which can greatly impact the efficiency of cooling. Large hyperscalers are relying on Prefabricated Fabrication (PFM) solutions to reduce construction time and increase safety, quality, and sustainability in new facilities.