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45-513: A data center is a building , a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems . Since IT operations are crucial for business continuity , it generally includes redundant or backup components and infrastructure for power supply , data communication connections, environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning , fire suppression), and various security devices. A large data center

90-403: A certain general amount of internal infrastructure to function, which includes such elements like heating / cooling, power and telecommunications, water and wastewater etc. Especially in commercial buildings (such as offices or factories), these can be extremely intricate systems taking up large amounts of space (sometimes located in separate areas or double floors / false ceilings) and constitute

135-451: A data center to grow and change over time. Data center modules are pre-engineered, standardized building blocks that can be easily configured and moved as needed. A modular data center may consist of data center equipment contained within shipping containers or similar portable containers. Components of the data center can be prefabricated and standardized which facilitates moving if needed. Temperature and humidity are controlled via: It

180-486: A data center. In 2020, data centers (excluding cryptocurrency mining) and data transmission each used about 1% of world electricity. Although some of this electricity was low carbon, the IEA called for more "government and industry efforts on energy efficiency, renewables procurement and RD&D", as some data centers still use electricity generated by fossil fuels. They also said that lifecycle emissions should be considered, that

225-543: A fence. Sturgis' Dictionary included that "[building] differs from architecture in excluding all idea of artistic treatment; and it differs from construction in the idea of excluding scientific or highly skilful treatment." Structural height in technical usage is the height to the highest architectural detail on the building from street level. Spires and masts may or may not be included in this height, depending on how they are classified. Spires and masts used as antennas are not generally included. The distinction between

270-409: A group of inter-related (and possibly inter-connected) builds are referred to as a complex – for example a housing complex , educational complex, hospital complex, etc. The practice of designing, constructing, and operating buildings is most usually a collective effort of different groups of professionals and trades . Depending on the size, complexity, and purpose of a particular building project,

315-550: A large amount of land. According to the National Resources Inventory , approximately 107 million acres (430,000 km ) of land in the United States are developed. The International Energy Agency released a publication that estimated that existing buildings are responsible for more than 40% of the world's total primary energy consumption and for 24% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Any building requires

360-658: A low-rise and high-rise building is a matter of debate, but generally three stories or less is considered low-rise. There is clear evidence of homebuilding from around 18,000 BC. Buildings became common during the Neolithic period . Single-family residential buildings are most often called houses or homes . Multi-family residential buildings containing more than one dwelling unit are called duplexes or apartment buildings . Condominiums are apartments that occupants own rather than rent . Houses may be built in pairs ( semi-detached ) or in terraces, where all but two of

405-457: A range of underfloor panels can create efficient cold air pathways directed to the raised-floor vented tiles. Either the cold aisle or the hot aisle can be contained. Another option is fitting cabinets with vertical exhaust duct chimneys . Hot exhaust pipes/vents/ducts can direct the air into a Plenum space above a Dropped ceiling and back to the cooling units or to outside vents. With this configuration, traditional hot/cold aisle configuration

450-497: A shelter represents a physical separation of the human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) from the outside (a place that may be harsh and harmful at times). Ever since the first cave paintings , buildings have been objects or canvasses of much artistic expression . In recent years, interest in sustainable planning and building practices has become an intentional part of the design process of many new buildings and other structures, usually green buildings. A building

495-405: A traditional method of data center upgrades that takes a serial and siloed approach. The typical projects within a data center transformation initiative include standardization/consolidation, virtualization , automation and security. A raised floor standards guide named GR-2930 was developed by Telcordia Technologies , a subsidiary of Ericsson . Although the first raised floor computer room

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540-421: Is 'a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place'; "there was a three-storey building on the corner"; "it was an imposing edifice". In the broadest interpretation a fence or wall is a building. However, the word structure is used more broadly than building , to include natural and human-made formations and ones that do not have walls; structure is more often used for

585-528: 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 (IDC) 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 (163 zettabytes by 2025)

630-942: Is an industrial-scale operation using as much electricity as a medium town. Estimated global data center electricity consumption in 2022 was 240–340  TWh , or roughly 1–1.3% of global electricity demand. This excludes energy used for cryptocurrency mining, which was estimated to be around 110 TWh in 2022, or another 0.4% of global electricity demand. The IEA projects that data center electric use could double between 2022 and 2026. High demand for electricity from data centers, including by cryptomining and artificial intelligence , has also increased strain on local electric grids and increased electricity prices in some markets. 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. Data centers have their roots in

675-417: Is cut, we can transfer them to ... to minimize the time of outage." The term cloud data centers (CDCs) has been used. Data centers typically cost a lot to build and maintain. 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

720-558: Is important that computers do not get humid or overheat, as high humidity can lead to dust clogging the fans, which leads to overheat, or can cause components to malfunction, ruining the board and running a fire hazard. Overheat can cause components, usually the silicon or copper of the wires or circuits to melt, causing connections to loosen, causing fire hazards. Backup power consists of one or more uninterruptible power supplies , battery banks, and/or diesel / gas turbine generators. To prevent single points of failure , all elements of

765-448: Is including embodied emissions, such as in buildings. Data centers are estimated to have been responsible for 0.5% of US greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. Some Chinese companies, such as Tencent , have pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030, while others such as Alibaba have been criticized by Greenpeace for not committing to become carbon neutral. Google and Microsoft now each consume more power than some fairly big countries, surpassing

810-457: Is not a requirement. Data centers feature fire protection systems, including passive and Active Design elements, as well as implementation of fire prevention programs in operations. Smoke detectors are usually installed to provide early warning of a fire at its incipient stage. Although the main room usually does not allow Wet Pipe-based Systems due to the fragile nature of Circuit-boards , there still exist systems that can be used in

855-491: 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." The Telecommunications Industry Association 's Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers specifies

900-481: Is one in which at least one business is based and people do not live. Examples include stores , restaurant , and hotels . Industrial buildings are those in which heavy industry is done, such as manufacturing . These edifices include warehouses and factories . Agricultural buildings are the outbuildings , such as barns located on farms . Some buildings incorporate several or multiple different uses, most commonly commercial and residential. Sometimes

945-418: Is similar to how large-scale food companies refrigerate and store their products. Computer cabinets/ Server farms are often organized for containment of hot/cold aisles. Proper air duct placement prevents the cold and hot air from mixing. Rows of cabinets are paired to face each other so that the cool and hot air intakes and exhausts don't mix air, which would severely reduce cooling efficiency. Alternatively,

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990-1297: Is usually a response to high ground prices resulting from the desire of many people to live close to their places of employment or similar attractors. Terms for residential buildings reflect such characteristics as function (e.g., holiday cottage (vacation home) or timeshare if occupied seasonally); size ( cottage or great house ); value ( shack or mansion ); manner of construction ( log home or mobile home ); architectural style ( castle or Victorian ); and proximity to geographical features ( earth shelter , stilt house , houseboat , or floating home). For residents in need of special care, or those society considers dangerous enough to deprive of liberty , there are institutions ( nursing homes , orphanages , psychiatric hospitals , and prisons ) and group housing ( barracks and dormitories ). Historically, many people lived in communal buildings called longhouses , smaller dwellings called pit-houses , and houses combined with barns, sometimes called housebarns . Common building materials include brick, concrete, stone, and combinations thereof. Buildings are defined to be substantial, permanent structures. Such forms as yurts and motorhomes are therefore considered dwellings but not buildings . A commercial building

1035-470: 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 (IDCs), which provide enhanced capabilities, such as crossover backup: "If a Bell Atlantic line

1080-599: The U.S. accounts for roughly 40 percent of the global market. A study published by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) 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. Modernization and data center transformation enhances performance and energy efficiency . Information security

1125-980: The United Nations estimate contributed to 33% of overall worldwide emissions. Including the manufacturing of building materials, the global CO 2 emissions were 39%. If new technologies in construction are not adopted during this time of rapid growth, emissions could double by 2050, according to the United Nations Environment Program . Glass buildings, especially all-glass skyscrapers, contribute significantly to climate change due to their energy inefficiency. While these structures are visually appealing and allow abundant natural light, they also trap heat, necessitating increased use of air conditioning systems, which contribute to higher carbon emissions. Experts advocate for design modifications and potential restrictions on all-glass edifices to mitigate their detrimental environmental impact. Buildings account for

1170-468: The consumption of more than 100 countries. The most commonly used energy efficiency metric for data centers is power usage effectiveness (PUE), calculated as the ratio of total power entering the data center divided by the power used by IT equipment. Building Buildings serve several societal needs – occupancy , primarily as shelter from weather, security, living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work. A building as

1215-517: The creative re-use of existing facilities, like abandoned retail space, old salt mines and war-era bunkers. Local building codes may govern the minimum ceiling heights and other parameters. Some of the considerations in the design of data centers are: Various metrics exist for measuring the data-availability that results from data-center availability beyond 95% uptime, with the top of the scale counting how many nines can be placed after 99% . Modularity and flexibility are key elements in allowing for

1260-489: The data center is large or contains sensitive information. Fingerprint recognition mantraps are starting to be commonplace. Logging access is required by some data protection regulations; some organizations tightly link this to access control systems. Multiple log entries can occur at the main entrance, entrances to internal rooms, and at equipment cabinets. Access control at cabinets can be integrated with intelligent power distribution units , so that locks are networked through

1305-509: 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

1350-490: The electrical systems, including backup systems, are typically given redundant copies , and critical servers are connected to both the A-side and B-side power feeds. This arrangement is often made to achieve N+1 redundancy in the systems. Static transfer switches are sometimes used to ensure instantaneous switchover from one supply to the other in the event of a power failure. Options include: Air flow management addresses

1395-591: The elevated floor). 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 (IT) operations started to grow in complexity, organizations grew aware of

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1440-403: 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 (IT) equipment. The equipment may be used to: Data center transformation takes a step-by-step approach through integrated projects carried out over time. This differs from

1485-585: The houses have others on either side. Apartments may be built round courtyards or as rectangular blocks surrounded by plots of ground. Houses built as single dwellings may later be divided into apartments or bedsitters , or converted to other uses (e.g., offices or shops). Hotels , especially of the extended-stay variety ( apartels ), can be classed as residential. Building types may range from huts to multimillion-dollar high-rise apartment blocks able to house thousands of people. Increasing settlement density in buildings (and smaller distances between buildings)

1530-440: 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 (installed overhead or under

1575-447: The infrastructure. Generally speaking, local authorities prefer noise levels at data centers to be "10 dB below the existing night-time background noise level at the nearest residence." OSHA regulations require monitoring of noise levels inside data centers if noise exceeds 85 decibels. The average noise level in server areas of a data center may reach as high as 92-96 dB(A). Residents living near data centers have described

1620-430: The lack of need for staff to enter the data center, it can be operated without lighting. All of the devices are accessed and managed by remote systems, with automation programs used to perform unattended operations. In addition to the energy savings, reduction in staffing costs and the ability to locate the site further from population centers, implementing a lights-out data center reduces the threat of malicious attacks upon

1665-498: 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

1710-434: 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

1755-435: The need to improve data center computer cooling efficiency by preventing the recirculation of hot air exhausted from IT equipment and reducing bypass airflow. There are several methods of separating hot and cold airstreams, such as hot/cold aisle containment and in-row cooling units. Cold aisle containment is done by exposing the rear of equipment racks, while the fronts of the servers are enclosed with doors and covers. This

1800-603: The project team may include: Regardless of their size or intended use, all buildings in the US must comply with zoning ordinances , building codes and other regulations such as fire codes , life safety codes and related standards. Vehicles—such as trailers , caravans , ships and passenger aircraft —are treated as "buildings" for life safety purposes. Buildings represent a large part of energy, electricity, water and materials consumption. As of 2020, they account for 37% of global energy use and energy-related CO 2 emissions, which

1845-608: The rest of the facility or in cold/hot aisle air circulation systems that are closed systems , such as: However, there also exist other means to put out fires, especially in Sensitive areas , usually using Gaseous fire suppression , of which Halon gas was the most popular, until the negative effects of producing and using it were discovered. [1] Physical access is usually restricted. Layered security often starts with fencing, bollards and mantraps . Video camera surveillance and permanent security guards are almost always present if

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1890-428: The same appliance. Energy use is a central issue for data centers. Power draw ranges from a few kW for a rack of servers in a closet to several tens of MW for large facilities. Some facilities have power densities more than 100 times that of a typical office building. For higher power density facilities, electricity costs are a dominant operating expense and account for over 10% of the total cost of ownership (TCO) of

1935-407: The sound as "a high-pitched whirring noise 24/7", saying “It’s like being on a tarmac with an airplane engine running constantly ... Except that the airplane keeps idling and never leaves.” External sources of noise include HVAC equipment and energy generators. The field of data center design has been growing for decades in various directions, including new construction big and small along with

1980-490: Was made by IBM in 1956, and they've "been around since the 1960s", it was the 1970s that made it 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. The lights-out data center, also known as a darkened or a dark data center, is a data center that, ideally, has all but eliminated the need for direct access by personnel, except under extraordinary circumstances. Because of

2025-424: 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 (GW) by 2030, up from 17 GW in 2022. As of 2023,

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