The importance of datacentres can be understood from the gowing size and number of data centres across the globe.Companies go in for various approaches when they decide to go for a DC. Say for an banking application or applications which need real time information it is very necessary that data should be as close as possible, to make sure of the speed and also to make
it possible for the support staff to rectify the errors if any.This is the reason the computers in corporate data centres were often housed in the firm's basement and dedicated “server farms”.
On the other hand for companies like Microsoft & Yahoo datacentres are mostly used as data storage areas/systems hence for them the prioriy is safety and security rather than the speed as real time use of that data might be less. Hence such companies go in for some really secluded place say for eg: Quincy in the centre of state Washington, about three hours drive from the nearest city.
One of the major reasons for going for such far off locations is the geographical advantage that they possess. Some of these locations close to dams and rivers, there by making sure that ample cheap power is available, as power is required in lumpsome for Datacentres.To have a feel of the quantity of power required by these datacentres, i quote: Microsoft's $500mn facility in Chicago will need three electrical substations with a total capacity of 198 megawatts.
Prempted with above concerns and data centre regulations, companies are now trying to consolidate and simplify their computing infrastructure. Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest computer-maker, for instance, is replacing its 85 data centres across the world with just six in America.
