Data processing center- a building or a part of it, the primary function of which is the placement of information processing and storage equipment, as well as auxiliary (engineering) facilities that ensure its operation (definition given in the American standard EIA / TIA-942).

In the data center, powerful servers are concentrated on a relatively small area, which store and process information; network equipment responsible for the exchange of data with the outside world; engineering systems that ensure the life of this "cyber brain", and security systems that protect the data center from unwanted intrusions.

Rice. Data Center Circuit Diagram

Life support systems: ventilation, air conditioning, fire extinguishing, access control and video surveillance systems, structured cabling system.

Servers and network equipment: resource servers, application servers, information presentation servers.

Information security system: antivirus protection, spam filter, intrusion protection.

What companies need a data center

For a growing business, sooner or later, it becomes characteristic:

• significant growth in information volumes
• growth in the number of used business applications
• data processing in subdivisions remote from each other.

The time has come to consolidate data processing and centrally manage IT infrastructure and information systems - for this it is necessary to build a data processing center (DPC).

Data centers are necessary for all companies for which the maximum degree of availability, fault tolerance, and reliability of information systems are critical. These are large companies that operate complex business applications (ERP-, CRM-systems and others), communication service operators, banks that serve client accounts and carry out payments with plastic cards, insurance companies and others.

Rice. What companies need a data center

Now in Russia the number of projects for creating data centers is growing, data centers are becoming more complex and increasing in size. The benefits of using data centers are beginning to be recognized by medium-sized businesses. Large companies that have acquired them for a long time are increasingly resorting to creating reserve capacities. In general, the system integration market is now evolving towards the creation of data center networks.

DATA CENTER NEEDS BY INDUSTRY

The traditional consumers of IT services have been and remain enterprises where information technologies are critical for business, and the very execution of business functions directly depends on the level, quality and degree of availability of IT services. These traditional consumers included government agencies, banks and telecommunications companies. Today these are mature, in terms of the level of IT development, users with an established culture, approaches and understanding of the place of information technology in the hierarchy of a company or organization. From a technical point of view, these are formed data centers equipped with modern equipment and software. They are characterized by a different range of problems: where to get electricity, how, in conditions of a widespread lack of qualified IT personnel, to build an effective operation service capable of servicing the largest possible fleet of equipment with a minimum number of employees, how to retain specialists, etc. For such companies and organizations, it is important and other questions directly related to their business: for example, how to ensure the integrity of the IT structure when buying one enterprise to another? Or how to split the entire IT infrastructure while dividing the organization?

Today in Russia there is a new round of development of information technologies, when the most "greedy" for them are industrial enterprises, retail trade networks, insurance companies. This is where the greatest interest in IT is observed, in particular in data centers. Companies are in the stage of permanent search: where is the best place to locate their data center, what software tools can most fully solve the problems, what is the optimal hardware platform for running the necessary applications.

Thus, the players of an increasing number of market segments are aware of the criticality of information technologies for business, IT penetrates deeper into the economy of enterprises, and their role as a tool for doing business is increasing. In other words, the market is booming today, and system integrators have plenty of work to do.

A source: IT Manager

Benefits of Data Center Implementation

Unlike a decentralized approach to organizing a company's IT infrastructure, the presence of a data center saves finances and increases:

• reliability of the entire information system (reliability of data storage, fault tolerance of equipment and software)
• the level of services provided by the company to its customers
• employee productivity by increasing the speed of operations, improving control, etc.

In addition, the data center provides the following capabilities:

• modernize and expand computing systems in the context of the introduction of new business applications
• centrally manage IT infrastructure and information systems
• reduce the cost of ownership of information systems.

Corporate and hosting data centers

A corporate data center is initially created to solve the problems of automating the business processes of the customer and the owner of the data center.

A hosted data center is leased: the owner of the data center allocates racks or clusters to organizations, which are filled with the equipment of the tenant.

A mixed data center is partly focused on supporting the owner's business processes, and partly on solving the problems of tenants.

Primary and backup data centers

The main data center is the core of the information and telecommunications system. It takes over all the load in the normal mode.

The backup data center provides the usual mode of providing services in the event of failure, maintenance or hot replacement of equipment installed in the main data center.

The place of the data center in the IT infrastructure of the company

The Data Processing Center is a strategically important node of an organization's information system.

The data center provides:

• consolidated data processing and storage
• maintaining the specified mode of automation of business tasks of the enterprise
• safety of corporate information, as a rule, of high commercial value.

The success and competitiveness of the Customer directly depends on the stability, reliability, timeliness, efficiency and completeness of its services.

According to Meta Group, the financial costs in the event of system and equipment failure are:

• $ 6.5 million per hour in case of failure of systems providing brokerage operations
• $ 2.6 million per hour in case of failure of credit card authorization systems
• $ 14,500 per hour in case of ATM failure
• $ 330,000 average cost per hour of data center downtime.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Data Center stands for Data Center. Many people still do not know what it is. Meanwhile, it is a whole complex designed to store servers and equipment and ensure their uninterrupted operation. Most often, such centers are located in large buildings and include the servers of large companies.

Now the services of the data center are popular among young companies, whose investors are foreigners. In Russia and the CIS countries, the popularity of such centers is still low, but abroad they are considered profitable.

Difference from a database

Almost every company has a database to optimize workflow.

This database can be stored in different forms, and access to it must be uninterrupted. However, various factors, for example, a temporary lack of electricity, or a software failure, can affect the speed of data processing, or even temporarily restrict access to information.

Reference. The processing center provides an environment in which the equipment will operate continuously, without such failures, in a comfortable temperature environment. This is the main difference between a data center and a server room.

Views

Data centers come in two flavors.

1. Local. In this case, the room with the group of servers is privately owned and under private control. The server owner company independently locates the data center in certain premises and maintains it on its own.
2. Commercial. Such centers are large-scale projects aimed at leasing equipment to large corporate customers. Most often, commercial services are used by companies that, for one reason or another, cannot ensure the uninterrupted operation of servers. It is more profitable for them to rent a processing center, providing information with reliable storage and proper protection.

Goals

In addition to the continuous operation of the equipment, the data center must allow:

• improve the reliability of information storage;
• ensure the operation of all applications on one hardware;
• have sufficient capacity, required types of equipment;
• reduce the cost of IT infrastructure maintenance.

Commercial data centers, in contrast to local ones, exclude incorrect organization of the system, and also make it possible to save on the maintenance of a staff of specialists. In addition, there is no need to allocate one or more premises for the operation of data centers.

What is a data center when processing personal information?

Server

Data center operation provides high quality information at high speed, while not losing detail and maintaining the integrity of this information. Server performance is one of the top factors a company pays attention to.

In addition, the following are considered important functions of the data center as a server:

• the ability to handle heavy loads in real time;
• high degree of controllability;
• permanent access;
• redistribution of loads in order to more efficiently solve business problems.

As a service

Data center companies offer a wide range of basic and additional services. These include the rental of telecommunication racks, cabinets, dedicated servers, colocation, shared hosting and the ability to use cloud platforms.

Important! The center should have external security, provide access control and provide a guarantee of reliability.

Besides, Sustainable Internet channels are considered an important factor in the operation of a data center and the presence of traffic exchange points. The power supply must be no less reliable, include independent electricity inputs and diesel power plants.

Due to the above factors, a data center as a service can be considered highly efficient and reliable with a fault-tolerant infrastructure.

What is a location notice and how do I enter an address?

The company must send, in which it is necessary to indicate information about the location of the database of information containing citizens of the Russian Federation (according to amendment 152-F3 of 21.07.2014 N 242-F3).

You can send a document to the structure both on paper and in electronic form. The signature of an authorized person is required. The notification must contain the following information:

• name (full name) and its address;
• data categories;
• categories of subjects whose data is processed;
• a list of actions with data, processing methods;
• information on the availability of encryption tools, their names;
• Full name of an individual or the name of a legal entity, their contact details, postal addresses, e-mail;
• date of the start of data processing;
• the term or conditions for termination of processing;
• information about cross-border transfer (its presence or absence) during processing;
• information about the location of the information database.

Completing the last paragraph should contain information about the location of the database of information with personal data of citizens of the Russian Federation. You must indicate the country and the exact address of the data center, if it is local, or provide information about the owner of the center, if it is commercial. In the second case, the following information is required:

1. type of organization (natural or legal person, individual entrepreneur or foreign organization);
2. organizational and legal form;
3. name of company;
4. OGRN;
5. country and address of the location of the organization.

Important! It is necessary to indicate the place of storage of personal data of citizens of the Russian Federation and only.

Rational use of data centers will allow large companies to reduce their time and money costs, ensure proper security of information storage and uninterrupted access to it. When choosing a local type of data center, it is better to make sure that the above goals are met, and when choosing a commercial one, it is important to review all licenses confirming the quality of service.

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In the modern sense, a data center, or data processing center (DPC), is a complex organizational and technical solution designed to create a high-performance and fault-tolerant information infrastructure. In a narrower sense, a data center is a room designed to house equipment for processing and storing data and providing a connection to fast communication channels. In order to fully reveal the essence of the concept of a data center, let's start with the history of its origin.

In principle, computing centers, familiar to many from EC machines, which became widespread in our country 30 years ago, are, in a sense, the progenitors of modern data centers. Common to today's data centers and old computing centers is the idea of ​​resource consolidation. At the same time, the computer centers had rather complex subsystems to provide the environment necessary for computing technology, which consisted of cooling, power supply, security, etc. subsystems, many of which are also used in modern data centers.

With the proliferation of PCs in the mid-1980s, there was a tendency towards the dispersal of computing facilities - desktop computers did not require special conditions, and therefore, less and less attention was paid to providing a special environment for computing equipment. However, with the development of client-server architecture in the late 90s, it became necessary to install servers in special rooms - server rooms. It often happened that the servers were located on the square of the old exhibition centers. Around this time, the term “data center” appeared, applied to specially designed computer rooms.

The heyday of data centers came during the dot-com boom. Companies that needed fast Internet access and business continuity began to design special premises that provide increased security for data processing and transmission - Internet Data Centers. Since all modern data centers provide access to the Internet, the first word in the name has been abolished. Over time, a separate scientific direction appeared, which deals with the optimization of the construction and operation of data centers.

At the beginning of the 21st century, many large companies, both abroad and in our country, came to the need to implement a data center - for some, ensuring business continuity became paramount, for others, data center solutions turned out to be very effective due to savings in operating costs. Many large companies have found that a centralized computing model provides the best TCO.

Over the past decade, many large IT companies have acquired an entire network of data centers. For example, the oldest global operator Cable & Wireless in 2002 bought the American company Digital Island - the owner of 40 data centers around the world, and the European operator Interoute in 2005 acquired the operator and hosting provider PSINet, connecting 24 data centers to its pan-European network.

The practice of applying risk-based approaches to doing business stimulates the use of data centers. Companies have begun to realize that investing in the uptime of critical IT systems is far less costly for many businesses than the potential cost of data loss as a result of a disruption. The introduction of data centers is also facilitated by the adoption of laws requiring mandatory redundancy of IT systems, the emergence of recommendations for the application of the IT infrastructure outsourcing model, the need to protect businesses from natural and man-made disasters.

Separate data centers began to occupy all used O Larger territories. For example, recently it was reported that Google intends to build a large data center in the state of Iowa with an area of ​​22.3 hectares, spending $ 600 million on it, which will start working in the spring of 2009.

In Russia, the construction of a data center (in the modern sense of this term) began at the end of the last - the beginning of the new century. One of the first large Russian data centers was the Sberbank Center. Today, many commercial structures (primarily financial organizations and large telecom operators) have their own data centers.

At the same time, reputable Russian Internet companies already have several data centers. For example, in September of this year, a message appeared that Yandex opened a new (already the fourth in a row) data center for 3 thousand servers (occupied area - 2 thousand square meters, supplied capacity - 2 MW). The new complex is equipped with precision cooling systems capable of removing up to 10 kW from the rack, uninterruptible power supplies and diesel generators. The data center is connected to Yandex's Moscow optical ring, which connects other data centers and Yandex offices, as well as to M9 and M10, traditional points of traffic exchange with providers.

At the same time, the Russian operator Synterra announced the start of one of the largest projects (not only by Russian, but also by European standards) - the construction of a national network of its own data centers. The project was named "40x40". Having created large data centers at the nodes of the broadband network in most regions of Russia, the operator intends to turn them into points of localization of customers and sales of the entire range of services.

Until mid-2009, newly created data centers will open in 44 centers of the constituent entities of the Federation. The first will be Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Samara and Chelyabinsk. The operator plans that the first 20 sites will be commissioned by the end of 2008, the rest by mid-2009. The project integrators are Krok, Technoserv A / S and Integrated Service Group (ISG).

The area of ​​each data center, depending on the needs of the region, will vary from 500 to 1000 square meters on a raised floor and accommodate 200-300 technological racks. The data center must be connected to two rings of the network with a total bandwidth of 4x10 Gbps channels, which will provide customers with a high level of redundancy and availability of services.

The "40x40" project is aimed at a wide range of clients who need to outsource IT infrastructure throughout the country - telecom operators, "network" corporate clients, content and application developers, IP-TV operators and television companies, as well as government agencies, responsible for the implementation of national ICT programs.

Not only commercial, but also state structures, such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergencies and the Federal Tax Service, have their own data centers in our country.

According to IDC, the number of data centers in the United States will reach 7,000 by 2009 - as companies move from distributed computing to centralized ones.

Along with the construction of new data centers, the problem of modernizing old ones is on the agenda. According to Gartner, by 2009, 70% of data center equipment will no longer meet operational and performance requirements unless upgraded accordingly. The average time for updating computer equipment in a data center is approximately three years. The data center infrastructure is designed taking into account a service life of about 15 years.

Purpose and structure of the data center

Depending on the purpose, modern data centers can be divided into corporate, which operate within a particular company, and data centers, which provide services to third-party users.

For example, a bank may have a data center where information on transactions of its users is stored - it usually does not provide services to third-party users. Even if the data center does not provide such services, it can be separated into a separate organizational structure of the company and provide it with services for access to information services based on SLA. Many large companies have data centers of one kind or another, while international companies can have dozens of data centers.

The data center can also be used to provide professional IT outsourcing services on commercial terms.

All data center systems consist of the actual IT infrastructure and engineering infrastructure, which is responsible for maintaining optimal conditions for the functioning of the system.

IT infrastructure

A modern data processing center (DPC) includes a server complex, a data storage system, an operation system and an information security system, which are integrated with each other and united by a high-performance LAN (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. IT infrastructure of a modern data center

Let's consider the organization of the server complex and data storage system.

Data center server complex

The most promising model of a server complex is a model with a multi-tier architecture, in which several groups of servers are distinguished (see Fig. 1):

• resource servers, or information resource servers, are responsible for storing and providing data to application servers; for example, file servers;
• application servers perform data processing in accordance with the business logic of the system; for example, servers running SAP R / 3 modules;
• presentation servers provide an interface between users and application servers; for example, web servers;
• service servers support the operation of other data center subsystems; for example, backup management servers.

Different requirements are imposed on servers of different groups depending on their operating conditions. In particular, presentation servers are characterized by a large flow of short requests from users, so they must scale well (increasing the number of servers) to ensure load balancing.

For application servers, the horizontal scalability requirement remains, but it is not critical. They require sufficient vertical scalability (the ability to increase the number of processors, RAM and I / O channels) to process multiplexed requests from users and execute the business logic of the tasks being solved.

Storage systems

The most promising solution for organizing a storage system (DSS) is SAN (Storage Area Network) technology, which provides fault-tolerant server access to storage resources and reduces the total cost of ownership of IT infrastructure due to the possibility of optimal online management of server access to storage resources.

The storage system consists of information storage devices, servers, a control system and a communication infrastructure that provides physical connection between the elements of a data storage network (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. Data storage system based on SAN technology

This architecture allows for uninterrupted and secure data storage and data exchange between the elements of the storage network.

At the heart of the SAN concept is the ability to connect any server to any Fiber Channel (FC) storage device. The technical backbone of the SAN is made up of fiber-optic connections, FC-HBAs and FC-switches, currently providing 200 MB / s transfer rates.

The use of SAN as a transport basis for a storage system allows for dynamic reconfiguration (adding new devices, changing existing configurations and maintaining them) without stopping the system, and also ensures fast regrouping of devices in accordance with changing requirements and rational use of production space.

High speed data transfer over SAN (200 MB / s) allows real-time replication of changing data to a backup center or to remote storage. Convenient SAN administration tools allow you to reduce the number of service personnel, which reduces the cost of maintaining the storage subsystem.

Adaptive data center engineering infrastructure

In addition to the hardware and software complex itself, the data center must provide external conditions for its functioning. The equipment located in the data center must operate around the clock under certain environmental parameters, which require a number of reliable support systems to maintain.

A modern data center has more than a dozen different subsystems, including main and backup power, low-current, power and other types of wiring, climate control systems, fire safety, physical security, etc.

It is quite difficult to ensure the optimal climatic conditions of the equipment. It is necessary to remove a large amount of heat generated by computer equipment, and its volume increases as the power of the systems and their density increases. All this requires the optimization of air flows, as well as the use of cooling equipment. According to IDC, already this year, the cost of supplying data centers with electricity and providing cooling will exceed the cost of the actual computer equipment.

The listed systems are interconnected, so the optimal solution can be found only if, when building it, not individual components are considered, but the infrastructure as a whole.

Designing, building and operating a data center is a very complex and time-consuming process. There are many companies that offer the necessary equipment - both computer and auxiliary, but to build an individual solution, you cannot do without the help of integrators. A number of large domestic system integrators, such as IBS Croc OpenTechnologies, as well as specialized companies: DataDome, IntelinePro, etc., are involved in the creation of data centers in Russia.

Data center and IT outsourcing

According to IDC, the global market for hosting services alone in the data center is growing very rapidly and by 2009 will amount to $ 22-23 billion.

The most comprehensive IT outsourcing service is information systems outsourcing. It is provided under a long-term agreement under which the service provider takes full control of all or a significant part of the customer's IT infrastructure, including hardware and software installed on it. These are projects with a broad involvement of the performer, which assume responsibility for the systems, network and individual applications that make up the IT infrastructure. Usually outsourcing of IT infrastructure is formalized with long-term contracts that last more than a year.

To create their own IT infrastructure from scratch, companies need large funds and highly paid specialists. Leasing the infrastructure of a data center allows you to reduce TCO by sharing resources between clients, provides access to the latest technologies, and makes it possible to quickly deploy offices with the ability to expand resources. For many companies, the reliability of the uninterrupted operation of equipment and network infrastructure is becoming a critical factor for the functioning of the business today. Outsourcing of IT infrastructure allows you to provide a high level of data reliability at a limited cost, providing customers with the opportunity to rent server racks and rack spaces for placing customer equipment (co-location), rent a dedicated server, licensed software, data transmission channels, and also get technical support.

The customer is exempted from a variety of procedures: technical support and administration of equipment, organization of round-the-clock security of premises, monitoring of network connections, data backup, anti-virus scanning of software, etc.

The data center can also provide an outsourced application management service. This allows customers to use certified specialists, which guarantees a high level of service of software products and provides an easy transition from one software to another with minimal financial costs.

In the application outsourcing mode, data center customers can outsource mail systems, Internet resources, data storage systems or databases.

By outsourcing their corporate systems for redundancy, customers reduce the risk of losing critical information by using professional systems for restoring the operability of IT systems, and in the event of an accident, they get the opportunity to insure information risks.

Typically, data center customers are offered several levels of business continuity. In the simplest case, this is the placement of backup systems in a data center with adequate protection. In addition, there may be an option in which the client is also provided with the rental of software and hardware complexes for backup. The most complete service option involves the development of a full-scale disaster recovery plan (DRP), which includes an audit of the customer's information systems, risk analysis, development of a disaster recovery plan, creation and maintenance of a system backup, as well as the provision of equipped office space. to continue working in the event of an accident at the main office.

Examples of commercial data centers

Data Centers Stack Data Network

The Stack Data Network unites three data centers built on the basis of foreign experience.

Two of them (Stack data center and M1 data center) with a total capacity of 700 racks are located in Moscow, and the third (PSN data center) with a capacity of 100 racks is 100 km from the capital.

There are partnership agreements with a number of European data centers on the possibility of using their resources through the Stack Data Network.

Data centers Stack Data Network provide business continuity service - disaster recovery, as well as high-quality hosting: collocation service - server placement (Fig. 3) and dedicated server service - dedicated server (Fig. 4).

Rice. 3. Data Center Stack: Server Placement
(server collocation)

Rice. 4. Data center Stack: rent a dedicated server

Data centers have autonomous power supply systems with uninterruptible power supplies and powerful diesel generator sets (Fig. 5), climate control and air conditioning systems (Fig. 6), systems for round-the-clock monitoring of the state of infrastructure elements and gas fire extinguishing systems. To ensure the reliability of life support systems, all systems are redundant according to the N + 1 scheme. A special security mode is achieved through several access perimeters using individual plastic magnetic cards, a biometric access control system, a video surveillance system and motion sensors.

Rice. 5. Data Center Stack: Diesel Generator

Rice. 6. Data Center Stack: Liebert Air Conditioner

The network of data centers Stack Data Network has a round-the-clock maintenance service (operators on duty and specialists), including for life support systems. There are systems for round-the-clock monitoring of life support systems, telecommunications and server equipment, networks and the state of communication channels. The data centers are connected to the main telecommunication centers of Moscow and are interconnected by their own redundant fiber-optic communication lines.

Data center IBS DataFort

In 2001, IBS and Cable & Wireless announced the beginning of providing Russian and foreign companies with complex services under the ASP scheme within the framework of the joint DATA FORT project based on a data center. A little later, DATA FORT healed on its own, and in 2003 IBS announced the launch of its own DC, which belongs to a subsidiary of IBS - IBS DataFort. The IBS DataFort data center is focused on serving customers with critical requirements for privacy and data protection, provides a high degree of data availability, modern hardware and software, reliable power supply, high-speed data transmission channels and a high level of technical support. The perimeter is heavily guarded (Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. Protected area of ​​the data center IBS DataFort

Inside the building there is a technical module with an area of ​​more than 130 square meters, a two-storey backup office with an area of ​​about 150 square meters, and an operator station. To prevent the risks of floods and fires, the technical module of the data center is built of steel sandwich panels and raised half a meter above the floor level (Fig. 8).

Rice. 8. Technical module of the data center IBS DataFort

The technical module is a fireproof, earthquake-resistant structure equipped with a high-strength raised floor, waterproofing and grounding systems. The module is designed for 1500 Rack-servers located in 19-inch APC industrial racks.

An automatic gas fire extinguishing system is installed in the data center, consisting of the equipment Fire Eater, Shrak and GOS Inergen, light and sound alarms (warning about gas start-up and requiring to leave the data center premises), as well as an effective smoke removal system (Fig. . nine).

Rice. 9. Fire extinguishing systems of the data center
IBS DataFort

The climate control system (Fig. 10) consists of industrial air conditioners with automatic maintenance of the set temperature in the region of 22 ± 0.5 ° C and humidity at the level of 50 ± 5%, switched on according to the N + 1 scheme (in case of failure of one of the air conditioners, the calculated parameters of the entire system are not violated). Fresh air inflow from the street is carried out using a special installation that prevents the penetration of dust into the data center.

Rice. 10. Climate control system
data center IBS DataFort

IBS DataFort specializes in integrated IT outsourcing services, taking over all the functions of the customer's IT departments, and offers the following types of services:

• outsourcing of IT infrastructure - placing the customer's equipment or leasing the infrastructure of the data center, ensuring the operability of corporate information systems;
• application management - skilled administration and management of various applications;
• outsourcing of IT personnel - providing qualified specialists to solve various IT tasks;
• ensuring business continuity - the organization of fault-tolerant solutions for the recovery of information systems after accidents and failures;
• IT consulting and audit - audit and inventory services in the field of IT, as well as the construction of industrial technologies for the operation of IT systems;
• functional outsourcing - management of individual IT functions according to agreed standards and an approved level of service.

Data center is still a rare concept for Ukrainian companies. And if his role does not cause questions among IT-schnicks, then from managers to owners of companies in other areas a lot of questions arise. The questions are very varied - from what a Data Center is, how the process of its work works and why it is actually needed.

So what is this Data Center? Of course, you can turn to Wikipedia and read that: A data center (from the English data center), or a center (storage and) data processing (DPC / DPC) is a specialized building for hosting (hosting) server and network equipment ... This is clear for the same it-schnicks mentioned above. But what about such people who do not belong to the caste of "aliens", how to explain to them?

So let's start in order. The data center is a high-tech secure site where servers of various companies are located. Simply put, a data center is a kind of "home of servers". First of all, it is worth mentioning that the service itself will be useful to companies whose activities directly depend on the uninterrupted provision of fast and efficient processing of large and sometimes colossal flows of information. In the age of information technology, often with the aim of stealing, information is subjected to all kinds of attacks. It is the introduction of special disaster-resistant solutions, the organization of data backup in data centers that will maximally protect data from the risks of loss. It is believed that data center services are in demand only by large companies, but in fact, there is a tendency to use services by developing companies, especially when it comes to startups with foreign investments.

In fact, the purpose of the commercial data center is to provide customers with services related to ensuring the reliability and fault tolerance of storing and processing information (text, graphic, digital and other data), to ensure the operability of large Internet portals, for volumetric computing.

The data center provides special secure channels for international communication. Guaranteed security, reliability of the data center, as well as maximum speed are now commercially in demand in the world market.

Basic data center services

The main services are:

• Server rent
• Shared hosting

Additional services

There are also a number of additional services:

• Backup (backup)
• Cloud solutions
• Administered server
• Remote Desktop

Technologies used in data centers

High-tech infrastructure that ensures uninterrupted operation of equipment in a data center is the main characteristic of a modern data center. For this, the data center site is equipped with climate control systems, uninterruptible power supply, security and other life support systems.

So, the main technical characteristics of a reliable data center are:

• The presence of a special building designed to accommodate the data center
• Guaranteed power supply and air conditioning system.
• Industrial ventilation system.
• Automatic fire extinguishing system.
• Availability of security and access control.
• The presence of a diesel generator.
• 24/7 access to server equipment for both staff and customers.

Often, data centers are located directly in the vicinity of the point of presence of several telecom operators or a telecom center in order to provide instant exchange of huge amounts of data and fast data download from anywhere in the world. The key criterion for assessing the reliability of a data center is uptime, i.e. server availability time.
It's simple, isn't it? Now let's move on to the second part of our article.

Why is a Data Center so necessary?

At first glance, the question seems simple, because servers and other equipment for work must be located somewhere, but why build entire buildings for this, if you can get by with a server room. First of all, the answer lies in the economic benefit. Consolidating computing and storage resources in a data center can help reduce the total cost of operating IT resources.

Experts identify the following ways to optimize financial costs, provided that equipment is placed in a commercial data center:

• no need to create your own infrastructure;
• discounts on Internet connection, since the data center has its own connections to the main Internet sites;
• reduction of administration costs due to server maintenance by data center employees;
• reduction in rent due to the lack of space occupied by servers;
• redistribution of loads in order to more efficiently solve business problems.

In other words, placing servers in reliable data centers not only ensures the safety, integrity and protection of data, but also optimizes the financial costs of each individual company.

Today it is no longer surprising that a particular company has its own data center. Only a few employees of this organization know what it is, but in reality, such equipment is required for any business that wants to achieve real stability. In other words, if there is a real need to ensure uninterrupted, scalable and manageable operation of the company, when the stability of the business is directly dependent on the IT infrastructure, a data center is used.

What is it?

Thus, over time and the development of information technology, almost any organization that is somehow connected with information has its own data center. What it is? Data center, which is often called a data center in professional specialized literature. From the name it can be understood that in such equipment, various operations are carried out that are directly related to the processing of any information, that is, the creation or generation of data, the subsequent archiving and storage of files, as well as their subsequent provision at the request of the user. At the same time, special attention should be paid to the fact that in addition to the above functions, there is also safe data destruction, for which the data center is responsible. What it is? Elimination of certain files without harming the rest of the data and, possibly, without the possibility of recovery, if really important information is deleted, which should not fall into third hands.

Where can they be applied?

Today there is a fairly large number of funds, including land registries, the Pension Fund and various libraries that are directly involved in the collection and storage of various information. It should be noted that there is also such information that generates a business by itself, for example, that which is used by various reference services. There is also information that does not take any part in business processes, but at the same time is necessary for their implementation. Such data include files of personnel services, as well as databases of user accounts in various information systems.

Industrial holdings create specialized electronic archives for performing computational tasks, storing documents, and automating business processes. Thus, different organizations use different types of information, as well as tasks that relate to its processing. It is for the solution of such tasks that the data center is being created. What it is, only the system administrator knows, on whose shoulders the equipment falls.

When is a data center used?

The tasks associated with at different times were solved using various technical means. In the twentieth century, electronic computing devices became the basis of modern business, as they took over the vast majority of computing tasks, and the appearance of devices that store information in themselves made it possible to completely get rid of paper archives, replacing them with more compact, and at the same time accessible electronic and tape media. Already in order to place the first electronic computers, it was necessary to allocate specialized computer rooms in which the required climatic conditions were maintained so that the equipment did not overheat during operation and at the same time worked stably.

Server rooms and their features

With the beginning of the era of development of personal computers and small servers, the computing equipment of almost any company began to be in special server rooms. In the overwhelming majority of cases, a certain room is provided under such a room, in which a household air conditioner is installed, as well as an uninterruptible power supply in order to ensure the continuous operation of equipment in a normal state. However, these days, this option is only suitable for those enterprises in which business processes are very dependent on the information used and the available computing resources.

What is the difference between a data center and a server room?

By and large, a modern data center is an extended copy of a traditional server room, because in fact they have a lot in common - the use of engineering systems that support the continuous operation of equipment, the need to ensure the required microclimate, as well as an appropriate level of security. But at the same time, there are a number of differences that are decisive.

The data processing center is equipped with a full set of various engineering systems, as well as specialized components that ensure the normal and stable operation of the company's information infrastructure in the mode required for the business.

Where is this equipment used?

In Russia, data processing with the help of such centers has become in demand since 2000, when various banking structures, government agencies, as well as enterprises in the oil industry began to order such equipment. It is worth noting that the data center first appeared back in 1999, when it began to be used to process income declarations and certificates of all residents of Moscow and the region.

Also, one of the first large data centers was the equipment that was used in the center of Sberbank. In 2003, with the support of Rostelecom, the first republican data processing center was organized in Chuvashia, which is used to systematize archived data. Such devices were provided by various local authorities, and in 2006 a center was also opened, in which data from the Kurchatov Institute center was processed. The following year, VTB-24 and Yandex also began using their own data center. Moscow, therefore, quickly enough came to use such equipment, as well as other large cities of Russia.

Where should you install a data center?

Nowadays, almost every large geographically distributed company uses its own data center, especially if the business is very dependent on the IT organization. Examples include telecom operators, retailers, travel and transport companies, medical institutions, industrial holdings, and much more.

A data center can be designed for a specific enterprise or used as multi-user equipment. A multi-tenant data center provides the broadest range of services, including business continuity, hosting, server rental and hosting, and many more. Data center services are the most relevant for small and medium-sized businesses, as it can eliminate the need to modernize IT infrastructure, and ultimately get a guarantee of reliability and service of the highest quality.

The key to data center success is competent design

Competent design of the data center allows you to eliminate the occurrence of serious problems in the process of equipment operation, as well as reduce costs during operation. In general, the structure of such a center is divided into four main elements - engineering infrastructure, building, software and specialized equipment. At the same time, the construction of buildings and premises for the installation of such equipment is performed in a variety of standards, the main purpose of which is to ensure safety and reliability. In Western countries, extremely serious and sometimes very peculiar requirements for the data center are often established - in particular, it is worth highlighting that the building should be at least 90 meters from the extremely high point to which water reached during floods over the past 100 years, which achieving it is not as easy as it might seem at first glance.