What is the Purpose of a Data Center

Have you ever seen a sci-fi movie and come across a room with blinking lights and towering stacks of servers? Well, that is a data center. 

Data centers are well-rounded hubs that are integral to any organization’s setup. They are essential for enabling organizations to complete almost all of their daily tasks.

From making sure that company data is safe to learning patterns and making amends, data centers keep an organization on its feet. Read on to find out 6 reasons why they exist. 

1. Storing Data

Data centers store all the data a company owns. This includes company plans, financial statements, miscellaneous documentation, employee data, customer information, and more.  

The amount of data that needs to be stored depends on how big the organization is. Large organizations may have a room stacked with numerous servers, while small companies may use a public cloud-based server. Some organizations also find it convenient to rent another company’s data center. 

One way to estimate the digital space required for storing data is to look at the amount of paperwork and organization handles. Looking at the physical space that a company’s data takes can be a good way to tell how much digital space it needs. 

If you’re looking for a data center for your company, you can get started here.

2. Serving as Backup

There’s always the looming risk of losing or corrupting virtual data stores. And as part of their disaster recovery protocol, data centers are built to combat this risk.  

Modern data centers allow for the recovery of lost files by storing data in backup storage. This storage can be an onsite data backup facility or a remote offsite facility. Backup solutions include hardware appliances, backup software, cloud-based servers, or hybrid setups where multiple options are used. 

3. Supporting eCommerce

Data centers allow e-commerce organizations to remain operational past the conventional office hours. They allow company networks to work 24/7, which means that online customers can visit their website and continue to interact even after in-person stores and offices have closed. 

A data center’s IT infrastructure and network can also adjust to incoming online traffic by upscaling or downscaling processing needs. This prevents a company’s website from crashing or facing bottlenecks when it encounters high traffic and engagement.    

You can see how data centers are essential for providing a hassle-free customer experience — something that is important to every organization. 

4. Networking

Because servers are connected by the internet, data centers allow the integration of information from multiple sources. This means that data can be transferred between servers, and can connect to multiple sites as well as clients and users. 

5. Protecting Company Data

Data centers need both digital and physical security. When data is mishandled, it can jeopardize a company’s future. Therefore, keeping company data safe is one of the top priorities an organization has. 

Where data centers store data, they are also equipped to protect it. They are designed to allow organizations to quickly detect and respond to cyber-attacks. 

Examples of data center protection include:

• Intrusion Prevention Systems — detect and keep data centers safe from network-based attacks by patching the system.
• Zero-trust Network Access and Web Security — make use of a web application firewall.
• Various types of firewalls — such as packet filtering, proxy, stateful, and hybrid — are used for network-level security.

You also have client protection, which includes anti-phishing, anti-ransomware, sandboxing, remote browser isolation, and safeguarding against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. 

Big data centers may also need physical protection against threats. These include choosing a secure location and setting up good monitoring systems. 

6. Learning Patterns

Last but not the least, data centers can help improve how a company functions by learning data patterns. To do this, some data centers use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

AI and ML analyze data by monitoring patterns and then predict the best possible paths to take. This helps them improve uptime, optimize energy expenditures, detect threats, recognize risks, and defend against future cyber attacks.

AI and ML also allow companies to understand client preferences, highlight the weaknesses and strengths of the company’s interface, and predict outcomes. 

Overall, pattern recognition allows organizations to make changes that lead to better results and improves the organization as a whole.

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