Data centers are simply centralized locations where computing and networking equipment is concentrated for the purpose of collecting, storing, processing, distributing or allowing access to large amounts of data. They have existed in one form or another since the advent of computers. We started networking multiple servers (the industrial counterparts to our home computers) together to increase processing power. We connect them to communication networks so that people can access them, or the information on them, remotely. Large numbers of these clustered servers and related equipment can be housed in a room, an entire building or groups of buildings. Today’s data center is likely to have thousands of very powerful and very small servers running 24/7.
