You might have heard about data center; it is an advanced facility or a location that is utilized to store sophisticated computer systems called servers, along with various associated equipment like networking and communication devices.
The purpose of a data center is storage, management, and dissemination of data pertaining to the field of activity or knowledge in which an organization is working. The modern data center facilities are well-equipped with climate control, backup, fire prevention, safety equipment, and networking equipment.
The modern data centers are designed in such a manner that the servers get constant and uniform power supply, hardware and network security, and consistent internet connectivity.
These data centers are usually located at locations away from the business headquarters and they can be owned either by the organization itself (which is not a common practice) or by a third party data center services firm.
Data centers are also used for web-hosting purposes. For this, there are two kinds of services provided by a data center, viz., dedicated server hosting and VPS server hosting. Dedicated server is dedicated to a single party at a time. That is to say it is not shared by anyone else, except the firm availing its service, but it is a very expensive service. VPS server hosting is a shared hosting service in which there are virtual partitions over a single server; each partition used by a separate client. There are many data centers in India that offer dedicated server hosting and cheap VPS server hosting services.
In the modern times, data centers have become indispensable for the functioning of organizations. The increasing demand of data centers has led to rapid increase in the number of data centers in India. Given under are some primary reasons explaining that why data center services have become essential for today’s businesses:
Data Security: Data is of utmost importance for the successful functioning of any business. Loss of crucial data is like a nightmare for a business and can bring it to a standstill. That is why the modern data centers are designed to provide impeccable security to your crucial organizational data and to protect it against threats like theft, hacking, corruption, loss due to hardware or software failure, loss due to power failure or severe voltage fluctuations, and destruction due to calamity. This level of security makes one thing certain that the business would not suffer due to data loss.
Convenience: When a company opts for data center services from a third party firm, the data center firm takes care of the tasks like maintenance and management of servers. So, the service taking firm has not to worry about the server management, which is not the case if a firm has its own data center.
Economical: As we have also said earlier, it is out of the scope of most of the businesses to own and maintain their own data center; and it is not advisable as well. It requires a huge expenditure to erect your own data center and the overhead costs involved are also large. In such a scenario, taking data center services from a third party firm saves huge costs as in that you have to pay only the service charge, which is very less in comparison to the costs that you would have incurred in case of your own data center.
Flexibility: With the growth of a business, its data storage needs and resource requirements also increase. If a firm has opted for data center services from a third party service provider, its increased data handling needs could be easily met by the service provider. So, with data center services one gets more flexibility.
Round-the-clock Support: Many data center firms provide round-the-clock technical support these days. So, in case of any problem or issue you may call and enquire about the same at the technical support of your service provider; in most cases your issue would be resolved almost instantly. This service is not applicable in case you own a data center. For that you have to hire a system administrator and a system engineer, which would only increase your expense.