What is a data center?

A data center is a physical location that stores computing machines and their related
hardware equipment. It contains the computing infrastructure that IT systems require, such
as servers, data storage drives, and network equipment. It is the physical facility that stores
any company’s digital data.

Why are data centers important?

Every business needs computing equipment to run its web applications, offer services to
customers, sell products, or run internal applications for accounts, human resources, and
operations management. As the business grows and IT operations increase, the scale and
amount of required equipment also increases exponentially. Equipment that is distributed
across several branches and locations is hard to maintain. Instead, companies use data
centers to bring their devices to a central location and manage it cost effectively. Instead of
keeping it on premises, they can also use third-party data centers.

Data centers bring several benefits, such as:

• Backup power supplies to manage power outages
• Data replication across several machines for disaster recovery
• Temperature-controlled facilities to extend the life of the equipment
• Easier implementation of security measures for compliance with data laws
How did modern data centers evolve?
Data centers first emerged in the early 1940s, when computer hardware was complex to
operate and maintain. Early computer systems required many large components that
operators had to connect with many cables. They also consumed a large amount of power
and required cooling to prevent overheating. To manage these computers, called
mainframes, companies typically placed all the hardware in a single room, called a data
center. Every company invested in and maintained its own data center facility.

Over time, innovations in hardware technology reduced the size and power requirements of
computers. However, at the same time, IT systems became more complex, such as in the
following ways:
• The amount of data generated and stored by companies increased exponentially.
• Virtualization technology separated software from the underlying hardware.
• Innovations in networking made it possible to run applications on remote hardware.

What is inside a data center?

Most enterprise data center infrastructure falls into three broad categories:
• Compute
• Storage
• Network
Also, data center equipment includes support infrastructure like power systems, which help
the main equipment function effectively.

Computing infrastructure
Computing resources include several types of servers with varying internal memory,
processing power, and other specifications.
We give some examples below.
• Rack servers
Rack servers have a flat, rectangular design, and you can stack them in racks or shelves in a
server cabinet. The cabinet has special features like mesh doors, sliding shelves, and space
for other data center resources like cables and fans.

• Blade servers
A blade server is a modular device and you can stack multiple servers in a smaller area. The
server itself is physically thin and typically only has memory, CPUs, integrated network
controllers, and some built-in storage drives. You can slide multiple servers into a storage
unit called a chassis. The chassis facilitates any additional components that the servers
inside it require. Blade servers take up less space than rack servers and offer higher
processing speed, minimal wiring, and lower power consumption.

Storage infrastructure
The following are two types of data center storage systems.
• Block storage devices
Block storage devices like hard drives and solid-state drives store data in blocks and provide
many terabytes of data capacity. Storage area networks (SANs) are storage units that
contain several internal drives and act as large block storage systems.
• File storage devices
File storage devices, like network-attached storage (NAS), can store a large volume of files.
You can use them to create image and video archives.
Network infrastructure
A large number of networking devices, such as cables, switches, routers, and firewalls
connect other data center components to each other and to end-user locations. They
provide flawless data movement and connectivity across the system.

Support infrastructure
Data centers also contain these components:
• Power subsystems
• Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)
• Backup generators
• Ventilation and cooling equipment
• Fire suppression systems
• Building security systems

These data center components support the main equipment so that you can use the data
center facilities without interruption.

Standards in data center design:

As data centers increased in size and complexity and began to store sensitive and critical
information, governments and other organizations imposed regulations on them. The
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) established four levels or standards that
cover all aspects of data center design, including:
• Architecture and topology
• Environmental design
• Power and cooling systems and distribution
• Cabling systems, pathways, and redundancy
• Safety and physical security

Similarly, the Uptime Institute established four tiers to compare site performance
objectively and align infrastructure investments to business goals. We list the four data
center tiers below.

Tier I
A Tier I data center is the basic capacity level to support IT systems for an office setting and
beyond. Some of the requirements for a Tier I facility include:
• Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for power outages and spikes
• A physical area for IT systems
• Dedicated cooling equipment that runs 24/7
• A backup power generator
Tier I protects against service disruptions from human error but not against unexpected
failure or outage. You can also expect an annual downtime of 29 hours in Tier I data centers.

Tier II
Tier II facilities provide additional cooling components for better maintenance and safety
against disruptions. For example, these data centers must have the following:
• Engine generators
• Chillers
• Cooling units
• Pumps
Although you can remove components from Tier II data centers without shutting them
down, unexpected failures can affect the system. You can expect an annual downtime of 22
hours from a Tier II data center.

Tier III
Tier III data centers provide greater data redundancy, and you can maintain or replace
equipment without system shutdown. They also implement redundancy on support systems
like power and cooling units to guarantee only 1.6 hours of annual downtime.

Tier IV
Tier IV data centers contain several physically isolated systems to avoid disruption from
both planned and unplanned events. They are completely fault-tolerant with fully
redundant systems and can guarantee a downtime of only 26 minutes each year.

What are the types of data center services?

You can choose from many types of data center services, depending on your requirements.
On-premises data centers
On-premises data centers are fully owned company data centers that store sensitive data
and critical applications for that company. You set up the data center, manage its ongoing
operations, and purchase and maintain the equipment.
Benefits: An enterprise data center can give better security because you manage risks
internally. You can customize the data center to meet your requirements.
Limitations: It is costly to set up your own data center and manage ongoing staffing and
running costs. You also need multiple data centers because just one can become a single
high-risk point of failure.

Colocation data centers

Colocation facilities are large data center facilities in which you can rent space to store your
servers, racks, and other computing hardware. The colocation center typically provides
security and support infrastructure such as cooling and network bandwidth.
Benefits: Colocation facilities reduce ongoing maintenance costs and provide fixed monthly
costs to house your hardware. You can also geographically distribute hardware to minimize
latency and to be closer to your end users.
Limitations: It can be challenging to source colocation facilities across the globe and in
different geographical areas you target. Costs could also add up quickly as you expand.

Cloud data centers

In a cloud data center, you can rent both space and infrastructure. Cloud providers maintain
large data centers with full security and compliance. You can access this infrastructure by
using different services that give you more flexibility in usage and payment.
Benefits: A cloud data center reduces both hardware investment and the ongoing
maintenance cost of any infrastructure. It gives greater flexibility in terms of usage options,
resource sharing, availability, and redundancy.
Cloud Data Center
 A virtual resource called the cloud aids in A data center is a physical asset that
the effective storage, management, and supports organizations in efficiently
use of data by enterprises. storing, managing, and using data.
The cloud's scalability requires less In comparison to the cloud, the data
money to scale center's scalability requires a significant
investment.
Less maintenance is required than is done Because the organization's developers
by service providers. provide maintenance, the cost of
maintenance is considerable.
For the organization's data to be stored, a The data kept in data centers is trusted
third party must be trusted. by the developers of the company.
Performance is vastly superior to Performance is well below what was
investment. invested.
A strategy is needed to tailor the cloud. Without a rigid plan, customization is
simple.

Which of the following statements is true about cloud and data center?
I.In Cloud, owner is responsible for downtime and repairs
II.In Data center, owner is responsible for downtime and repairs
Choose the correct answer from the options given below.
A.Neither 1 nor 2
B.Only 2
C.Only 3
D.Both 1 and 2
Answer : Option B

Which of the following is correct based on the below statements?

A. Clouds offer limited data storage capacity to users.
B. Clouds offer unlimited data storage capacity to users.
C. In both data center and cloud, there is a third party involved in managing data but
the cloud has more data theft.
D. In both data center and cloud, there is a third party involved in managing data but
the data center has more data theft.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below.
a. Only A and D
b. Only B and C
c. Only B and D
d. Only A and C

Answer - d.Only A and C

Which of the following is the benefit of the cloud if you choose Software as a Service?
a.Management of Middleware
b.Management of Data
c.Management of Runtime
d.All of the mentioned options

Answer - a. Management of Middleware

Which of the following payment options is best suited for small businesses in cloud?
a.pay-as-you-go
b.pay-and-use
c.pay-per-use
d.None of the mentioned options

Answer - a.pay-as-you-go

This is a repository for the storage, management, and dissemination of data in which the
mechanical, lighting, electrical and computer systems are designed for maximum energy
efficiency and minimum environmental impact.
a) Storage lab
b) Data Center
c) Data warehouse
d) Fabric

Answer: b

This is the process of assigning storage, usually in the form of server disk drive space, in
order to optimize the performance of a storage area network.
a) Storage Provisioning
b) Data mining
c) Storage assignment
d) Data Warehousing

Answer: a

Simply stated, these are large boxes that hold lots of hard disks.
a) Host
b) Tape library
c) Switch
d) Disk Array

Answer: d
This consists of the precautions taken so that the effects of a disaster will be minimized.
a) Data retrieval
b) Disaster recovery
c) Archive
d) Replication

Answer: b

This is the practice of collecting computer files that have been packaged together for
backup, to transport to some other location, for saving away from the computer so that
more hard disks can be made available, or for some other purpose.
a) Backup
b) Archive
c) Migration
d) Compression

Answer: b

Consider a situation where you have to choose between the major cloud service providers.
Which would you choose if you want support for Linux, Windows Server, and SQL Server
and enhanced security?
A.Oracle
B.Google Cloud
C.Alibaba Cloud
D.Azure

Answer : Option D

Which of the following cloud service providers does not provide Hybrid Storage?
A.All of the mentioned options
B.AWS
C.Azure
D.Google Cloud

Answer : Option D

Which of the following cloud service providers should be preferred if most of your data is of
Binary large objects type?
A.Oracle
B.Azure
C.Google Cloud Platform
D.AWS
Answer : Option B

Which of the following is a workflow control and policy based automation service by CA
(Certificate Authority)?
a) CA Cloud Compose
b) CA Cloud Insight
c) CA Cloud Optimize
d) CA Cloud Orchestrate

Answer - d

An application that provides for transaction overflow in a reservation system is an

example of ____________
a) cloud bursting
b) cloud provisioning
c) cloud servicing
d) all of the mentioned

Answer - a
Cloud bursting is an application deployment technique in which an application runs in a
private cloud or data center and bursts into a public cloud when the demand for computing
capacity spikes.

Identify the deployment model among the following____________

a) Private
b) Public
c) Hybrid
d) all of the above

Answer – d

Choose among the following which is related to services provided by the cloud
a) Reliability
b) Sourcing
c) Ownership
d) AaaS

Answer - b
Choose the correct relationship of cloud services to customer
a) One-one
b) One-many
c) Many-one
d) Many-many

Answer - b
Which of the following refers to network or internet
a) Cloud
b) CRM
c) Cloud Computing
d) Computing

Answer - a

Is Google Docs a type of Cloud Computing?

a) Yes
b) No
c) Can’t say anything
d) None of these

Answer - a

What does the term “elasticity” in Cloud Computing refers to

a) Ability to scale down
b) Parallel
c) Ability to scale up
d) Both a and c are correct

Answer - d

In Cloud Computing, the Client on which end?

a) Backend
b) Frontend
c) Depends
d) Both a and b

Answer - b

Which of the following subject area deals with pay-as-you-go usage model?
a) Accounting Management
b) Compliance
c) Data Privacy
d) All of the mentioned

Answer - a

Choose the correct IaaS provider among the following

a) EC2
b) EC1
c) EC10
d) Hybrid
Answer - a

Identify among the components which are known as hypervisor

a) VMC
b) VMM
c) VC
d) All of the above

Answer - b
Virtual Machine Manager

In which year was Google Compute Engine released?

a) 2012
b) 2009
c) 2015
d) 2006

Answer - a

Total types of Cloud computing services are

a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4

Answer - c

PaaS stands for

a) Platform as a service
b) Platform as a software
c) Parallel as a service
d) None of these

Answer - a

The term “hybrid cloud” refers to

a) Private cloud
b) Public cloud
c) Combination of Private and Public Cloud
d) None of these

Answer - c

Identify the technique used for creating cloud computing

a) Insubordination
b) Cannibalization
c) Virtualization
d) Transubstantiation

Answer - c

Total steps of deployment stage in Cloud Computing are

a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
d) 6

Answer - d

• Concept Study
• Data Preparation
• Model Planning
• Model Building
• Communicate results
• Operationalize

Identify among the following, which provides a runtime environment.

a) IaaS
b) SaaS
c) PaaS
d) XaaS (Anything as a service)

Answer - c

SAN stands for

a) Storage area network
b) Security area network
c) Switch application network
d) None of these

Answer - a

Identify most basic level of network

a) NAS (Network-attached storage)
b) SAN (Storage Area Network)
c) DAS (Direct-attached storage)
d) ISCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface)

Answer - c

Identify the storage technologies among the following which have the best performance
a) NAS
b) SAN
c) DAS
d) ISCSI

Answer - b

Among the following, which provides the GUI for interaction with Cloud?
a) Server
b) Client
c) Client Infrastructure
d) Application

Answer - c