Data center
A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems.
Since IT operations are crucial for business continuity, a data center generally includes redundant or backup components and infrastructure for power supply, data communication connections, environmental controls, and various security devices. Data centers are the foundation of the digital infrastructure that powers the modern economy, aggregating collective computing demands for cloud services, video streaming, blockchain and crypto mining, machine learning, and virtual reality. Large data centers operate at an industrial scale, requiring significant energy. Estimated global data center electricity consumption in 2024 was around 415 terawatt hours, or about 1.5% of global electricity demand. The IEA projects that data center electricity consumption could double by 2030. High demand, driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads is accelerating the deployment of high-performance servers, leading to greater power density and increased strain on electric grids.
Data centers can vary widely in terms of size, power requirements, redundancy, and overall structure. Four common categories used to segment types of data centers are onsite data centers, colocation facilities, hyperscale data centers, and edge data centers. In particular, colocation centers often host private peering connections between their customers, internet transit providers, cloud providers, meet-me rooms for connecting customers together Internet exchange points, and landing points and terminal equipment for fiber optic submarine communication cables, which are critical to connecting the internet.
History
Data centers have their roots in the huge computer rooms of the 1940s, typified by ENIAC, one of the earliest examples of a data center. Early computer systems, complex to operate and maintain, required a special environment in which to operate. Many cables were necessary to connect all the components, and methods to accommodate and organize these were devised such as standard racks to mount equipment, raised floors, and cable trays. A single mainframe required a great deal of power and had to be cooled to avoid overheating. Security became important – computers were expensive, and were often used for military purposes. Basic design guidelines for controlling access to the computer room were therefore devised.During the microcomputer industry boom of the 1980s, users started to deploy computers everywhere, in many cases with little or no care about operating requirements. However, as information technology operations started to grow in complexity, organizations grew aware of the need to control IT resources. The availability of inexpensive networking equipment, coupled with new standards for the network structured cabling, made it possible to use a hierarchical design that put the servers in a specific room inside the company. The use of the term data center, as applied to specially designed computer rooms, started to gain popular recognition about this time.
A boom of data centers came during the dot-com bubble of 1997–2000. Companies needed fast Internet connectivity and non-stop operation to deploy systems and to establish a presence on the Internet. Installing such equipment was not viable for many smaller companies. Many companies started building very large facilities, called internet data centers, which provide enhanced capabilities, such as crossover backup: "If a Bell Atlantic line is cut, we can transfer them to... to minimize the time of outage."
The term cloud data centers has been used. Increasingly, the division of these terms has almost disappeared and they are being integrated into the term data center.
The global data center market saw steady growth in the 2010s, with a notable acceleration in the latter half of the decade. According to Gartner, worldwide data center infrastructure spending reached $200 billion in 2021, representing a 6% increase from 2020 despite the economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latter part of the 2010s and early 2020s saw a significant shift towards AI and machine learning applications, generating a global boom for more powerful and efficient data center infrastructure. As of March 2021, global data creation was projected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes by 2025, up from 64.2 zettabytes in 2020.
The United States is currently the foremost leader in data center infrastructure, hosting 5,381 data centers as of March 2024, the highest number of any country worldwide. According to global consultancy McKinsey & Co., U.S. market demand is expected to double to 35 gigawatts by 2030, up from 17 GW in 2022. As of 2023, the U.S. accounts for roughly 40 percent of the global market. In 2025, it was estimated that the U.S. GDP growth was only 0.1% without the investments in data centers for artificial intelligence.
A study published by the Electric Power Research Institute in May 2024 estimates U.S. data center power consumption could range from 4.6% to 9.1% of the country's generation by 2030. As of 2023, about 80% of U.S. data center load was concentrated in 15 states, led by Virginia and Texas.
Requirements for modern data centers
Modernization and data center transformation enhances performance and energy efficiency.Information security is also a concern, and for this reason, a data center has to offer a secure environment that minimizes the chances of a security breach. A data center must, therefore, keep high standards for assuring the integrity and functionality of its hosted computer environment.
Industry research company International Data Corporation puts the average age of a data center at nine years old. Gartner, another research company, says data centers older than seven years are obsolete. The growth in data is one factor driving the need for data centers to modernize.
Focus on modernization is not new: concern about obsolete equipment was decried in 2007, and in 2011 Uptime Institute was concerned about the age of the equipment therein. By 2018 concern had shifted once again, this time to the age of the staff: "data center staff are aging faster than the equipment."
Meeting standards for data centers
The Telecommunications Industry Association's Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers specifies the minimum requirements for telecommunications infrastructure of data centers and computer rooms including single tenant enterprise data centers and multi-tenant Internet hosting data centers. The topology proposed in this document is intended to be applicable to any size data center.Telcordia GR-3160, NEBS Requirements for Telecommunications Data Center Equipment and Spaces, provides guidelines for data center spaces within telecommunications networks, and environmental requirements for the equipment intended for installation in those spaces. These criteria were developed jointly by Telcordia and industry representatives. They may be applied to data center spaces housing data processing or Information Technology equipment. The equipment may be used to:
- Operate and manage a carrier's telecommunication network
- Provide data center based applications directly to the carrier's customers
- Provide hosted applications for a third party to provide services to their customers
- Provide a combination of these and similar data center applications
Data center transformation
Data center consolidation consists in reducing the number of data centers and avoiding server sprawl, often includes replacing aging data center equipment. Likewise, this process is aided by standardization which makes these systems follow a uniform set of configurations in order to simplify and improve efficiency. Virtualization, on the other hand, lowers capital, operational expenses, and reduces energy consumption. Virtualized desktops can be hosted in data centers and rented out on a subscription basis. Investment bank Lazard Capital Markets estimated that in 2008, 48 percent of enterprise operations will be virtualized by 2012. Gartner views virtualization as a catalyst for modernization. Automating tasks such as provisioning, configuration, patching, release management, and compliance are other ways in which data centers can be upgraded.These changes are needed not just when facing fewer skilled IT workers. Lastly, security initiatives integrates the protection of virtual systems with existing security of physical infrastructures.
Raised floor
A raised floor standards guide named GR-2930 was developed by Telcordia Technologies, a subsidiary of Ericsson.The first raised floor computer room was made by IBM in 1956, and they have "been around since the 1960s"; it was during the 1970s that it became more common for computer centers to thereby allow cool air to circulate more efficiently.
The first purpose of the raised floor was to allow access for wiring.