subject: General Information About The Data Centre [print this page] We are in the midst of an informational ageWe are in the midst of an informational age. In today's business environment, it is critical to be stronger, faster and better than the competition if your company is to survive. It is also essential to provide continuity within your business, not only for the ease of customer service that it provides, but also for the sake of employees who may need to access a piece of information at any given time. Have you ever thought about the complexities that arise from the vast amounts of information that are required by a company and its workers on a daily basis? It can be staggering when you think about it, and this is why the data centre is an integral part of the business world today.
A data centre is often referred to as being redundant, as it houses much, if not all, of the back-up systems that companies need to provide consistency in the way that they perform. These places, for lack of a better term, contain telecommunications and storage systems as well as alternate power supplies, communications connections, environmental controls and security/alarm systems. They are absolutely crucial to a company's success and are treated as such through the use of stringent security measures.
A data centre can be categorized as being a Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, or Tier 4 facility. Each "tier" builds upon the next, with Tier 4 being the most redundant and secure environment. A data centre, in the simplest of terms, houses information via a host of computer mainframes, which can become hot from constant use. This is why environmental controls are so important. Inside of these mainframes, is your company information--vital, confidential information, which is why security is essential. Where and how equipment is placed within the data centre space is also of great importance, not to mention the importance of the actual construction of the space itself. This is for safety purposes, in terms of the equipment, but also a consideration in instances of growth--if more equipment should be needed in the future. Pre-planning, or forecasting, for a company's future needs is fundamental for this reason.
As you can see, there are a host of considerations that come with maintaining a data centre, and many more that have not even been discussed here, including energy usage and efficiency. Without the measures described above, the company's of today, and really anyone who uses informational technology for any purpose, could not perform business as usual.
