Types Of Data Centers: The Basics
Procurri’s primary business is working with data center owners and those who use data center services from others to streamline, maintain and improve the sustainability of their server, storage, and networking hardware. However, unless you spend day-in day-out working in a data center environment, it’s likely you may not know about the different types: so here we map out the basics.
Enterprise Data Centers
Enterprise data centers are owned and operated by the organization that uses the services within, and so are usually run by large corporations with heavy IT processing power. These data centers usually support the IT operations and critical applications of just one company, although this may include sub-brands. Enterprise data centers can be located on-site or off-site of the business’ usual premises and are typically secure facilities only accessible by those employed by the business who have sufficient clearance.
Data centers are tiered from 1 to 4 based on redundancy and power feeds, with 4 being the most resilient. Tier 5 was recently introduced which is tier 4 with additional features such as being able to run without water, having outside air pollutant detection, having permanently installed stored energy system monitors, and much more.
Enterprise data centers include hyperscale data centers; those synonymous with the largest scale providers such as Amazon, Google, and Meta. These data centers maximize hardware density while minimizing administrative and cooling costs.
Co-Location Data Centers
Co-location data centers are owned and operated by a third party provider who specializes in data center services and offers these out to other companies. The company purchases and supplies the IT hardware, and the data center owner provides and manages the infrastructure. Such data centers are used by companies who require a decent level of IT processing power but either don’t have the space, expertise, facilities, finances, or appetite to manage these on-site themselves. As a result, co-location data centers are a popular option amongst businesses of all shapes, sizes, and types, as they don’t incur the large expenditure required to set up and maintain an enterprise data center.
Managed Services Data Center
Managed services data centers are also owned and operated by a third party provider but with a more comprehensive approach than co-location data centers. Rather than buy infrastructure and services, the business leases them. Full data storage and computing services are supplied by the data center owner.
Cloud Data Centers
Cloud data centers are owned and operated by a Cloud services provider, supplying an infrastructure-as-a-service model for businesses. This allows companies to provide a ‘virtual’ data center through leased infrastructure, accessing data center services online rather than physically. Operators such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud are popular players in this space.
Edge Data Centers
Edge data centers are small data center facilities located locally to end users. These provide low-latency connectivity for Cloud-based applications and services, allowing for the geographic locality to keep the network and data sources consistent for businesses.
Procurri works with all types of data centers and can help businesses maximize the value of their IT assets within them while improving their sustainability credentials. Get in touch to learn more about what’s on offer, no matter how complex your current configuration!
