What is a Data Centre? – Should You Consider it When Hosting Your Website?

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What is a data centre?

I’ll be answering that question in today’s post. I’ll be telling you everything you need to know about a data centre and how it’s run.

So let’s get into the big bad question?

What is a data centre?

A data centre brings together an organization’s IT operations under one building. Data centres allow organizations to handle applications such as email, accessing websites, file sharing and general things you can do on the internet.

Data centres have a lot of servers which means they host a lot of websites. Imagine if a data centre went down. That would cause chaos for a lot of businesses.

Here are some aspects of a data centre:

IT equipment – There are thousands of servers in a data centre. A lot of storage hardware, cables and, racks.

Security – Since a lot of data is being stored in these facilities, it’s only natural that there will be an incredible amount of security. There are firewalls in place to protect from threats.

Data centres also have a lot of CCTV cameras to catch any thieves that make it into the building. You’ll also find fire suppression equipment like fire extinguishers and sprinklers. There will be fire doors just like any good organisation.

Operation staff – Operation staff have to be in the data centre to make sure things are running optimally. They will have to take care of problems that occur and engage in general maintenance and improvement tasks.

Cooling – The cooling in data centres have to be very efficient. Hundreds, if not thousands of servers are densely packed in a data centre. So this means it gets very hot. And in order to keep the servers/computers from overheating, they have to install efficient air flow systems.

A lot of organizations are getting really smart at building data centres. Data centres have been over 60 years of evolution. Organizations are starting to build data centres in cold places such as Finland and the Niagra falls to reduce the cooling costs.

Backup generators – Imagine if a data centre went down. This would cause a lot of businesses to move away from that data centre. Backup generators are an extra layer of protection in case of power out happens.

Creating a data centre can take a lot of capital. You have to pay for a facility, lots of equipment and staff. The monthly bill for this can easily go up into the six figures. That’s why mainly big companies such as Facebook have data centres.

This also gives companies a lot more control over their data since that can become critical to a business’s reputation. One data breach can get a company sued and a bad reputation which will last for years.

Data centre VS the cloud

Data centres store their data on physical storage. The cloud will store data on the internet.

A data centre can be found on premise but the cloud can not. Data centre servers are performing at a limit due to their portioned hardware. The cloud, on the other hand, is shared between multiple to servers so it can get as much power as is needed.

Data centres require a variety of equipment such as power supplies, backup systems, more security etc.  But the cloud is virtual and can be accessed in any location through the internet.

You want to make sure the hosting company you go with are in a great data centre.

Here are SeekaHost, we pride ourselves on being in some of the best data centres in the UK.

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