A data center centralizes a company’s shared IT operations as well as equipment for processing, storing and disseminating applications and data. It is essential to have knowledge about the terms that are used frequently in the context of data centers.
3. A data center refers to a facility (a building, a group of buildings or a dedicated space within a building)
which is used by a company to house its critical applications and data. It houses computer systems
along with its associated components that have to do with storage systems and telecommunications.
A data center has a network of storage and computing resources which make it possible to deliver
shared applications and data. Its main components are servers, storage systems, routers, switches,
firewalls and application-delivery controllers. The main types of data centers are Enterprise Data
Centers, Managed Services Data Centers, Colocation Data Centers and Cloud Data Centers.
This PPT aims to provide information about some of the various terms that are used frequently in the
context of data centers.
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Data Center
4. 3D NAND refers to a next-generation, non-volatile memory that has gained prevalence among
enterprises. Its popularity stems from the fact that it is capable of packing more bits into the
same space as the older NAND technology and is more efficient.
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3D NAND
5. An application layer is that layer in an OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) stack which is the closest
to an end user with regard to the conceptual model, characterizing a computing system’s
communication functions. This application layer enables an end user to have full access to multiple
shared network services to ensure an efficient flow of data. It is extremely important in virtualized and
containerized environments.
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Application Layer
7. In the context of infrastructure, such as servers, storage, networks, and security in a data center,
application-specific policies are the policies that are meant for individual applications as well as for the
retrieval of data in a container, cloud, bare metal, or virtual machine environment. Such a policy enables
a multi-tenant environment, wherein every application has its own SLAs (Service-level Agreements) and
unique infrastructure.
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Application-specific Policies
8. Automation, which is a key concept in cloud computing, entails providing resources on demand and
eliminates the need for manual intervention of anyone. It is usually combined with orchestration to
enable a service to support and be integrated with the various IT tools to gain enhanced operational
control.
To digress, cloud technology is used in cloud hosting for the purpose of making websites accessible
over the Internet. Cloud hosting is one of the types of web hosting service and is provided by web
hosting companies. The most efficient web hosting service providers are usually referred to as the
“Best Windows Hosting Company”, the “Best Website Hosting Company”, the “Top Cloud Hosting
Company” etc.
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Automation
9. A cluster is a networked collection that consists of server computers and other resources which work
as a single system. Often it has elements of parallel processing. There are many clusters that are
distributed systems.
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Cluster
10. A container refers to a software’s standard unit for packaging code and enables the packaging and
abstraction of an application for the purpose of simplifying deployment among different platforms. This
enables an application to run reliably as well as swiftly from one computing environment to another. It
provides a portable method for an application’s packaging, which aids in isolating it from the OS
(Operating System) and the physical infrastructure. A container does not include a full operating
system. Rather it shares the operating system of a host. It might refer to data storage’s granular unit.
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Containers
11. The control plane forms a network which is meant to control the forwarding of data packets. The
process involved in creating a routing table is included in the control plane. Packets that are specific to
a control plane are destined to or are originated by a router. Its functions have to do with system
configuration, exchange of routing table information and management. In the context of software-
defined infrastructure, control plane refers to APIs’ (Application Programming Interface) programmable
set which regulate the configuration, management and monitoring of server, storage and security
infrastructure.
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Control Plane
12. DRaaS refers to Disaster Recovery as a Service. It involves the replication as well as hosting of virtual
or physical infrastructure which is ensured by a dedicated provider. It is a type of cloud computing that
is meant to protect data as well as applications from any untoward incidence.
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DRaaS
13. In the context of a data center, a data layer refers to a data structure which holds the data that
requires processing and which needs to be passed to other linked applications.
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Data Layer
14. Data Plane is that layer in a network which has the necessary infrastructure to forward network traffic.
It is often known as the User Plane, Forwarding Plane, Bearer Plane or Carrier Plane. The functionality
of Data Plane is provided by firmware in switches or by other network devices in traditional networks.
In the networks that are defined by software the Data Plane functionality is delivered through
software-based network elements. Data Plane refers to the infrastructure which stores, transmits,
protects and manages all the applications’ data.
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Data Plane
15. A distributed system refers to a cluster of autonomous computers that are networked together for
creating a unified system. In it, activities are coordinated and resources are shared by networked
computers to support a common workload. Such a system maximizes scalability and performance,
enables resource availability and ensures fault tolerance.
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Distributed System
16. A docker is an open-source project that is meant to automate applications’ deployment within
software containers. This open platform is used for developing, running and shipping applications. It aids
in separating applications from the infrastructure for the swiftest delivery of software. It reduces
significantly the delay between coding and running the written code in production.
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Docker
17. A hybrid cloud is a cloud solution which combines the resources of a private cloud with that of one or
multiple public cloud services. This is done through proprietary software. Applications as well as data
are exchanged in it, which creates a single set of services or infrastructure.
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Hybrid Cloud
18. Hyperconverged- It refers to an architecture that combines software-defined storage with software-
defined compute on a commodity server.
Hyperscale- It is an architecture wherein software-defined storage and software-defined compute
scale independently of one another. It is designed to attain horizontal scalability and enhances
performance, enables fault tolerance and delivers high availability. It usually relies on scalable server
architectures along with virtual networking.
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Hyperconverged, Hyperscale
19. A Kubernete refers to a platform for container orchestration that is open source. It automates various manual
processes which are involved in managing, deploying and scaling applications that are containerized. Kubernetes
specify a set of building blocks that enable collectively the mechanisms which are involved in deploying,
maintaining as well as scaling applications.
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Kubernetes
20. Microservices are also referred to as the microservice architecture. In this type of an architectural
style, an application is structured in the form of a collection of services which can be organized around
the capabilities of one’s business, deployed independently and maintained and tested easily.
Microservices enable the delivery of complex and large applications reliably, rapidly and swiftly.
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Microservices