# What Constitutes a Datacenter



## drmike (Feb 6, 2014)

So.... opinions... input... disagreements...

What constitutes a 'datacenter' ?


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## Jade (Feb 6, 2014)

A facility filled with racks of servers, power, air conditioning(perfect conditions) & a bunch of server loving geeks ^_^

I intern at a DC so


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## drmike (Feb 6, 2014)

Can you have a DC inside of a DC?  Nested or shall I call them slabbed DCs?

To accomplish such what would be necessary?


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## Aldryic C'boas (Feb 6, 2014)

More than two Footlockers and a greasy pizza joint.


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## GIANT_CRAB (Feb 6, 2014)

Basement = datacenter


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## Aldryic C'boas (Feb 6, 2014)

Nope, basement = basement.


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## shovenose (Feb 6, 2014)

At least two servers, an internet connection faster than 100Mbps with static IPs, at least one managed switch, and some sort of redundant power.


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## tchen (Feb 6, 2014)

Isn't this akin to asking what is a cloud?  what is a vps hoster?  There are standards and certifications, but not everybody subscribes to those definitions.  For some markets, it's unnecessary as long as the need is satisfied.



drmike said:


> Can you have a DC inside of a DC?  Nested or shall I call them slabbed DCs?
> 
> To accomplish such what would be necessary?


Yes.  http://www.datapod.com.au/datapod

There's a whole boatload of providers for containerized and podded DCs.


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## Aldryic C'boas (Feb 6, 2014)

tchen said:


> Isn't this akin to asking what is a cloud?  what is a vps hoster?  There are standards and certifications, but not everybody subscribes to those definitions.  For some markets, it's unnecessary as long as the need is satisfied.


This.  There is sufficient variation to make the terms subjective - a better question would be,  _What do you require from a DC?_.


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## Francisco (Feb 6, 2014)

Aldryic C said:


> More than two Footlockers and a greasy pizza joint.


That pizza joint had the sketchiest washroom i've ever seen. I felt like when I sat on the john that a dick was going to fly out from one of the holes in the wall.

Francisco


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## HalfEatenPie (Feb 6, 2014)

Can I be the first one to say security?

Like actual monitored security.


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## GIANT_CRAB (Feb 6, 2014)

HalfEatenPie said:


> Can I be the first one to say security?
> 
> 
> Like actual monitored security.


People carrying shotguns and patrolling around the servers?


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## TekStorm - James (Feb 6, 2014)

Data Center Tiers


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## ChrisM (Feb 6, 2014)

Francisco said:


> That pizza joint had the sketchiest washroom i've ever seen. I felt like when I sat on the john that a dick was going to fly out from one of the holes in the wall.
> 
> 
> Francisco



HAHAHA I just gagged on what I was drinking when I read this.


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## D. Strout (Feb 6, 2014)

shovenose said:


> At least two servers, an internet connection faster than 100Mbps with static IPs, at least one managed switch, and some sort of redundant power.


This seems like a reasonable definition. But I can see where many are coming from when they say that a term like that can be hard to pin down. I mean, at its core, a "data center" is any place where data is stored/retrieved/used. So my laptop is a "datacenter"...right?

Seriously, though, I feel like the above is a bare minimum of what one could reasonably call a datacenter. I might argue that you need more than two servers, say a cabinet or two, but other than that, I like this definition.


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## tchen (Feb 7, 2014)

It kinda begs the question... if more than two servers and redundant power is the bare minimum, why not add redundant switches, networking, and AC? 

Tier 1 cert for what it's worth, has zero redundancy; and really almost any reasonably cabled server room suffices.


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## MannDude (Feb 7, 2014)

A "datacenter" to me, is anyone who has direct access to their servers, whether they be in a cage or a locked rack that belongs to them. They have their own IPs, they're responsible for the network to some varying degree and they sell dedicated servers or colocation services.

What is the breakdown of a datacenter when it goes to an end user?

Building owner, large company.

--> Another company rents out a suite or an entire floor or large area. 

----> That company sells a cage with 4 racks (example) to another company.

------> That company then sells dedicated servers and can provide limited colocation.

----------> Colo client of the above sells you servers.

etc

Thats about as far down the chain as I'd go to consider anyone a datacenter, personally. My example isn't very good as there could be a lot of various middlemen and you can always point out areas of the infrastructure that is out of the control of some, etc. But having a small cage or a rack, to me, is to being a datacenter as being a hosting-reseller is a webhost. Both are technically true, and come with their own set of responsibility that make it true, but barely meet the requirements to make it that way. (I think, anyway. That's just me)


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## Coastercraze (Feb 7, 2014)

To me, a datacenter is floorspace dedicated to the housing of servers which contain "data" on them. Whether it be in a cage, suite / room, whole floors, or even the entire building.

I'd probably call someone with cage space a mini DC or a DC within a DC.


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## KuJoe (Feb 7, 2014)

A datacenter is a place that houses data. Period.

There are no requirements for something to be called a datacenter (although as @TekStorm - James pointed out there are different tiers of datacenters). A data center does not need enterprise hardware, redundant anything, or raised floors to be called a datacenter.

There are a lot of people that build home datacenters which is a 100% accurate way to describe it. There are plenty of things to nit-pick and debate in this world when it comes to IT but the definition of a datacenter is definitely not one of them.


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## Nett (Feb 7, 2014)

drmike said:


> Can you have a DC inside of a DC?  Nested or shall I call them slabbed DCs?
> 
> To accomplish such what would be necessary?


That's how CC does it.


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## dacentec (Feb 7, 2014)

And is your space a data center or datacenter.


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## rocksolidvps (Feb 7, 2014)

A refrigerated shipping container.


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## serverian (Feb 7, 2014)

Hope.


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## DomainBop (Feb 7, 2014)

shovenose said:


> At least two servers, *an internet connection faster than 100Mbps* with static IPs, at least one managed switch, and some sort of redundant power.



I guess you've never heard of Brazil.   My 2 VPS's with 15Mbps connections are the envy of all the suckas who are stuck in Brazilian datacenters with 5Mbps connections. 



> Network Speed:15 Mbps


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## Nett (Feb 7, 2014)

shovenose said:


> At least two servers, an internet connection faster than 100Mbps with static IPs, at least one managed switch, and some sort of redundant power.


Ok, so a rack = 15 datacenters?


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## TruvisT (Feb 7, 2014)




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## mikho (Feb 8, 2014)

I don't think any datacenter here in Sweden has any armed guards and not every center has staff on site 24/7.


We have a couple of sites here where there are security cameras monitoring everything and every customer who has a rack also has the key to that area in the building. You are actually allowed to walk around the isles and look at every rack there is. Taking photos of any rack, except your own will revoke your access.


And since it is a small pond, the word will get out and you would have a hard time finding another dc to rent in.


If you go direct with the company owning the DC, some doesn't supply remote hands. They send you the key and it is your responsibility to fix it. If you need remote hands, that is another service. Perhaps from another company.


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## scott2020 (Feb 8, 2014)

This.  And, not knowing it is a datacenter..


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## vampireJ (Feb 9, 2014)

shovenose said:


> At least two servers, an internet connection faster than 100Mbps with static IPs, at least one managed switch, and some sort of redundant power.


This coming from someone who has a datacenter in his closet


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## BuyCPanel-Kevin (Feb 10, 2014)

"A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components" - wikipedia
So, a basement could be a data center!


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## D. Strout (Feb 10, 2014)

I think perhaps the main issue is one of intention. In other words, upon (re)consideration, I would say that a datacenter is *a building or portion of a building constructed or arranged for the purpose of housing servers and connecting to the Internet for exchanging and making available data*. Thus, though your basement might meet some of the aforementioned datacenter requirements (high speed connection, multiple servers), it's not a datacenter because it was not intended as such, and in fact also serves other purposes for which it is not only specifically intended, but perhaps also better suited. This definition also allows for datacenters that are obviously datacenters, but might have, for instance, slow uplinks or a lack of security.


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## Nett (Feb 10, 2014)

BuyCPanel-Kevin said:


> "A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components" - wikipedia
> 
> 
> So, a basement could be a data center!


So I have a datacenter in front of me!!


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