DIGITAL INSIGHTS: Data Centers Come in Range of Types
Understanding the types of data centers being constructed, who they serve, and how they operate can help local communities make better decisions about how many, and what type, of data center they want
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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What is a data center?
Pulling from common themes in three definitions offered by the Data Center Coalition, IBM and , McKinsey & Company, we could write a base definition of data centers this way:
Data centers are facilities that house the data and IT infrastructure that builds, runs, and drives applications and services.
While all data centers would fit into this base definition, not all data centers are alike.
Think of it like ice cream. All ice cream stems from the same base ingredients: milk, cream, and sugar. (Well, all good ice creams, anyway). But add-ins and flavorings create an array of different types of ice creams. Vanilla, chocolate, and pistachio may all have the same base, but beyond that they share little in common regarding taste, texture, and smell. And some ice creams pair better with things than others.
You can put chocolate or pistachio on hot apple pie, but let’s be honest — vanilla is the better fit.
Likewise, data centers all share some base ingredients, but they come in lots of flavors — hyperscale, colocation, edge, and carrier hotel to name but a few.
For the everyday individual, these terms are not particularly helpful for understanding what goes on inside, as these terms are specialized and require a level of technical understanding most of us lack.
An easier, less-technical way to think about data centers and what they offer is to think about who is inside the buildings.
Looked at this way, we can divide data centers fall into two broad categories.
Those designed and built for one client
Those constructed for many clients.
For simplicity, let’s call these two categories Single Company and Multiple Company.
Single Company
Single-company data centers are, as the name implies, designed and built for one client.
Sometimes the client owns the data center — think Microsoft and Amazon data centers — other times they simply occupy the space that another company has built.
Regardless, single-company data centers share some common traits, and are designed for specific purposes.
To begin, a company that requires its own data center is going to be a major technology player. Consequently, single-company data centers tend to require large facilities — 500,000 square feet usually — and generally require at least 50 MW.
For perspective, 50 MW is enough energy to power between 15,000 and 25,000 homes.
So what are these data centers used for?
Again, it helps to think of Microsoft or Amazon or Meta, who build owner-occupied single-company data centers. These companies need data centers at this scale to drive applications like social media, video streaming, and search engines.
Single-company data centers are also used for AI training, and they serve as centers for cloud infrastructure.
Multiple Company Data Centers
As the name implies, multiple company data centers are owned by a data center company and they lease space to multiple clients whose needs are relatively small.
These types of data centers are among some of the oldest around, and they appeal to a wide range of clients — everything from banks to telecom companies.
These data centers can be broken into two broad segments: Small Clients and Mid-range Clients.
Data centers that cater to small clients will typically serve 100s of clients in one facility whose needs are less than 1 MW. The most-frequent users of these facilities are telecom companies, financial institutions, and technology companies.
These will typically be located near an urban center with a dense population and intersecting network infrastructures
Data centers that serve mid-range users will have fewer clients within a site, and each client’s needs will typically range between 1 MW and 10 MW.
These clients typically use the site for computing and for data storage.
Mid-range facilities will be found in urban areas, but also suburban environments.
Is There Really Much Difference?
One can argue that these distinctions are simply splitting hairs. After all, they all essentially do the same thing.
But like flavors of ice cream, the ways that work presents (and the footprint it requires) differs based on the type of computing going on inside.
A single-company data center that is running AI language learning models has little in common with a client in a multiple company data center using its space to run banking calculations or store users’ information, like credit card data for payment processing.
Understanding the types of data centers in a community matters when making decisions about what to construct and where, and how many can optimally be managed.
Some communities favor vanilla — one type of data center.
Others prefer flights with different flavors — a mix of large and small clients, single and multiple company models.
In future issues, this column will be examining the types of data centers in our region.
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