Return to Azure Data Center (Microsoft Data Center), AWS Data Center (Amazon Data Center), GCP Data Center (Google Data Center, Facebook Data Center, IBM Cloud Data Center (IBM Data Center).
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 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.