Datacenters

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Hi! Readers
I often have heard "Datacenter" and everyone can understand "Data" and "Center" respectively, but I did not grasp the meaning of "Datacenter" as a whole.
So this article helps me. Please also refer to "Data Transfer" on the bottom together with "Bandwidth" ( http://tipswebhostingdomains.blogspot.com/2010/12/bandwidth.html )
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Datacenters
A datacenter is a secure facility used to house computer equipment.

Contents [hide]
1 Datacenter selection
2 Backbone / connectivity providers
3 Datacenter setup
3.1 Power delivery/UPS
3.2 Security
3.3 Air conditioning / fire control equipment
3.4 Data Transfer (a.k.a Bandwidth)
3.5 Hardware

Datacenter selection
When selecting a datacenter, it is always advisable to select a datacenter which is geographically near the target audience of your sites. For example, if you will be serving sites targeted for specific geographic areas, it’s better to select a datacenter in the same area to prevent any network loss or connectivity issues. Otherwise, select a location which is known to have a good network and overall service quality. Also make sure the datacenter is not located in an area prone to natural disasters.

Backbone / connectivity providers
You should always know what backbone providers supply connectivity to the datacenter you are selecting. Make sure they have multiple sources of Internet connectivity, each sustainable enough to take the workload in case of any network connectivity issues.

A datacenter should have very high connectivity speeds. The following are some of the high-speed connections available (note: mb = megabits):

T1 Up to 1.544 mb/s
DS3/T3 Up to 45 mb/s
FastE Up to 100 mb/s
OC3 Up to 155 mb/s
OC12 Up to 622 mb/s
GigE Up to 1000 mb/s
OC48 Up to 2488 mb/s
OC192 Up to 9953 mb/s
Most good datacenters have multiple OC12 lines, at the minimum. The bigger datacenters have GigE lines, which allow for additional capacity. Actual performance does not always correlate with the size of the connection.

Datacenter setup
Every datacenter’s website provides information on the kind of setup their facility has. A careful review of their website can provide you with useful information about their stability. Apart from the location and backbone providers, the following are some other setup amenities to look for when selecting a datacenter.

Power delivery/UPS
Servers need to be up 24 hours a day, so continuous power supply is the most basic need of any datacenter. The datacenter you select should also have power backup arrangements to ensure smooth operation even in the case of a prolonged power outage. Most datacenters rely on heavy duty diesel generators or heavy duty UPS for this purpose.

Security
Your servers can have confidential and important data loaded on them. This data needs to be safeguarded by both software security and physical security. You can manage software security remotely, but it is up to the datacenter to ensure the physical security of your servers. Most good datacenters have closed-circuit cameras monitoring their facility 24x7 and allow only certain staff to access the actual server racks. Monitoring and logging of visitor activity is also another good security measure.

Air conditioning / fire control equipment
Servers work 24 hours a day. They are bound to heat up. A temperature-controlled environment is needed to keep servers at a good, stable working temperature; therefore, air conditioning equipment is needed. The server rooms should be maintained at 68°F-70°F (20°C-22°C) for proper server operation. Emergency fire control equipment should be present in the datacenter, which is literally a web of thousands of wires. Fire control systems with automated triggering are a must in such facilities.

Data Transfer (a.k.a Bandwidth)
Data transfer is another important factor to consider when selecting a datacenter. Many datacenters provide around 1000 to 2000GB/month of data transfer with their standard dedicated server packages. But if you have very busy sites, you can consume well above that each month, so keep in mind the additional bandwidth costs per GB for the datacenter you select. Normally datacenters charge around $0.10 to $0.50 per GB for overusage of bandwidth. Do contact your provider for more details about bandwidth overage costs.

Hardware
Apart from the network and the datacenter setup, your server’s performance depends on the quality of its hardware. Datacenters recycle hardware, and after a certain age, hardware becomes unusable. Even though you cannot guarantee you will always get new hardware, if a datacenter can give you a few hardware replacement guarantees, you should consider it a plus. Hardware failures do occur even with new hardware equipment, and a datacenter that is ready to replace it within a few hours is a good one.

Source : http://www.webhostingtalk.com/ permitted republishing here.