If you’ve ever wondered what a colocation center looks like, imagine an old-time computer room in a major corporation or the server room of a medium sized corporation in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Now imagine that room expanding until it is several times its original size and being only one of dozens of rooms in a huge building or even complex of buildings. This is what the present day colocation or data center looks like — only more state of the art.
The outside of the data center will look like most other modern buildings, only it will have few or no windows. It will also have massive cooling units either attached to the building or on the roof. These will look out of proportion to the size of the facility. Both features are a result of the center’s need to control both humidity and temperature within the building.
Once inside a data center, there will be countless server racks, Colocation Cabinets , and cable trays to keep all the equipment, power lines, and telecommunications cables organized. There will also be evidence of extensive fire protection systems. This will include smoke detectors, sprinklers, fire walls, and even nozzles for dispensing fire suppression gases. Also look for proof of elaborate security systems, with motion-detection equipment, video surveillance, and keycard and biometric readers to control access to different areas.
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