Data Center Facilities Definitions

Search Definitions
  • A

    ambient temperature

    Ambient temperature is the air temperature of any object or environment where equipment is stored.

  • What is an automatic transfer switch?

    An automatic transfer switch (ATS) is a device that automatically transfers a power supply from its primary source to a backup source when it senses a failure or outage in the primary source.

  • B

    blade server

    A blade server, sometimes referred to as a high-density server, is a compact device containing a computer used to manage and distribute data in a collection of computers and systems, called a network.

  • building management system

    A building management system (BMS) is a control system that can be used to monitor and manage the mechanical, electrical and electromechanical services in a facility.

  • C

    colocation (colo)

    A colocation facility (colo) is a data center or telecommunications facility in which a business can rent space for servers, storage devices, and other computing and networking hardware.

  • computer room air conditioning (CRAC) unit

    A computer room air conditioning (CRAC) unit is a device that monitors and maintains the temperature, air distribution and humidity in a data center, network or server room.

  • computer room air handler (CRAH)

    A computer room air handler (CRAH) is a device used frequently in data centers to deal with the heat produced by equipment.

  • What is continuous modeling (data center continuous modeling)?

    Continuous modeling is an approach to data center management that supplements infrastructure management (DCIM) tools with engineering simulation tools.

  • D

    data center

    A data center is a facility composed of networked computers, storage systems and computing infrastructure that organizations use to assemble, process, store and disseminate large amounts of data.

  • data center as a service (DCaaS)

    Data center as a service (DCaaS) is the provision of off-site physical data center facilities and infrastructure to clients.

  • data center infrastructure efficiency (DCiE)

    Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency (DCiE) is a metric used to determine the energy efficiency of a data center. The metric, which is expressed as a percentage, is calculated by dividing IT equipment power by total facility power.

  • data center resiliency

    Resiliency is the ability of a server, network, storage system or an entire data center to recover quickly and continue operating even when there has been an equipment failure, power outage or other disruption.

  • Dell EMC VxRail

    Dell EMC VxRail is a hyper-converged appliance. Like VSPEX Blue -- the Dell EMC product that it replaced -- and other hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) systems, VxRail includes compute, storage, networking and virtualization resources in a single device.

  • ducting (data center cooling)

    Ducting is an approach to air management that uses a series of metal or plastic pipes to carry heated or cooled air from one place to another.

  • What is data center infrastructure management (DCIM)?

    Data center infrastructure management (DCIM) is the convergence of IT infrastructure, operations and building facilities functions within an organization.

  • E

    e-cycling

    E-cycling, also known as 'electronic recycling,' is the reuse or recycling of used electronic materials to limit e-waste.

  • edge data center

    An edge data center is a small data center that is located close to the edge of a network.

  • emergency power off (EPO) button

    The emergency power off button, also called an EPO switch or EPO panel, is a safety measure for quickly disconnecting electrical power to a particular piece of equipment or facility in the event of an emergency.

  • Energy Star

    Energy Star is a government-backed labeling program that helps people and organizations save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by identifying factories, office equipment, home appliances and electronics that have superior energy efficiency.

  • F

    free cooling

    Free cooling is an approach to lowering the air temperature in a building or data center by using naturally cool air or water instead of mechanical refrigeration.

  • G

    GNU/Linux

    GNU/Linux is a Unix-like operating system made up of different OS components and services that create the Linux OS.

  • What is a green data center?

    A green data center is a repository for the storage, processing, management and dissemination of data in which the physical space and the mechanical and electrical subsystems are designed to maximize energy efficiency and minimize the environmental impact.

  • What is green computing?

    Green computing, also known as sustainable computing, is the use of computers and other computing devices and equipment in energy-efficient and eco-friendly ways.

  • H

    HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning)

    HVAC stands for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

  • hyperconverged appliance (HCI appliance)

    A hyperconverged appliance (HCI appliance) is a hardware device that provides multiple data center management technologies within a single box.

  • What are hot and cold aisles in the data center?

    Hot and cold aisles in the data center are part of an energy-efficient layout for server racks and other computing equipment.

  • What is Hitachi Vantara?

    Hitachi Vantara is a data storage systems provider, previously known as Hitachi Data Systems (HDS).

  • What is hot spot/cold spot?

    A hot spot/cold spot is an undesirable, tightly focused local temperature variation that often occurs when data center equipment is improperly cooled.

  • I

    information technology (IT)

    Information technology (IT) is the use of computers, storage, networking and other physical devices, infrastructure and processes to create, process, store, secure and exchange all forms of electronic data.

  • L

    LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

    Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, more commonly known as LEED, is an environmentally oriented building certification program run by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

  • load shedding

    Load shedding (loadshedding) is a way to distribute demand for electrical power across multiple power sources.

  • M

    mechanical refrigeration

    Mechanical refrigeration, often referred to simply as refrigeration or air conditioning, is a process by which heat is removed from a location using a human-made heat exchange system.

  • multicore processor

    A multicore processor is an integrated circuit that has two or more processors attached for enhanced performance and reduced power consumption. These processors also enable more efficient simultaneous processing of multiple tasks, such as with parallel processing and multithreading.

  • N

    What is National Electrical Code (NEC)?

    National Electrical Code (NEC) is a set of regularly updated standards for the safe installation of electric wiring in the Americas.

  • P

    plenum

    In building construction, a plenum (pronounced PLEH-nuhm, from Latin meaning full) is a separate space provided for air circulation for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (sometimes referred to as HVAC).

  • power distribution unit (PDU)

    A power distribution unit (PDU) is a device for controlling electrical power in a data center.

  • What is parallel processing?

    Parallel processing is a method in computing of running two or more processors, or CPUs, to handle separate parts of an overall task.

  • R

    raised floor

    A raised floor is a data center construction model in which a slightly higher floor is constructed above the building's original concrete slab floor, leaving the open space created between the two for wiring or cooling infrastructure.

  • What is a real-time operating system (RTOS)?

    A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an OS that guarantees real-time applications a certain capability within a specified deadline.

  • S

    SMP (symmetric multiprocessing)

    SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) is the processing of programs by multiple processors that share a common operating system and memory.

  • Spine-leaf (spine-leaf architecture)

    Spine-leaf, or leaf-spine, is a two-layer network topology composed of spine and leaf switches.

  • T

    technological convergence

    Technological convergence is a term that describes bringing previously unrelated technologies together, often in a single device.

  • U

    unified computing system (UCS)

    A unified computing system (UCS) is a converged data center architecture that integrates computing, networking and storage resources to increase efficiency and enable centralized management.

  • What is an uninterruptible power supply (UPS)?

    An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a device that allows a computer to keep running for at least a short time when incoming power is interrupted.

  • Z

    z/OS

    Introduced in 2000, IBM z/OS is a 64-bit mainframe operating system (OS) developed by IBM for its family of enterprise z/Architecture mainframe computers.