Data center is a facility that houses computer systems and communications equipment. Large corporations use data centers to provide such services as Internet search engines , website hosting, and data storage. Cloud computing services are often hosted at large data centers. In cloud computing, people use the Internet to access software applications and store data. Such tasks are performed by Internet-connected computers, rather than a user’s personal computer or phone. Scientific organizations and governments also use data centers.
Data centers generally include backup power supplies, Internet connections, and air-conditioning and fire suppression systems. They usually have tight security systems. A large data center may use as much electric power as a small town. Computers called servers are specialized for sending data to a large number of connected devices. A large data center might contain tens of thousands of servers. Data centers often contain enormous numbers of hard drives and flash drives for storing data. Data centers typically also contain many redundant (backup) systems. In the event of individual computer failures, the data center can still provide services from backup copies of the data.
Some smaller companies have greater information technology needs than they can meet themselves. Such companies often rent computing resources from data center service providers. Through this process, called colocation, a small company can thus have access to powerful computers and abundant storage space without having to build a data center.
