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data center is a repository that houses computing facilities like servers, routers, switches and firewalls, as well as supporting components like backup equipment, fire suppression facilities and air conditioning. A data center may be complex (dedicated building) or simple (an area or room that houses only a few servers). Additionally, a data center may be private or shared.
n the days of the room-sized behemoths that were our early computers, a data center might have had one supercomputer. As equipment got smaller and cheaper, and data processing needs began to increase -- and they have increased exponentially -- we started networking multiple servers (the industrial counterparts to our home computers) together to increase processing power. We connect them to communication networks so that people can access them, or the information on them, remotely. Large numbers of these clustered servers and related equipment can be housed in a room, an entire building or groups of buildings. Today's data center is likely to have thousands of very powerful and very small servers running 24/7.