Computing for Dummies Q: What is difference between server and data center?

[kyphysics]

I've been looking this up and don't seem to have a great understanding.

Can someone confirm or correct that my understanding is accurate. Is a data center simply a large collection of individual servers?

If not, how do they differ? Thanks.

 

[Mark44]

Is a data center simply a large collection of individual servers?

Pretty much. More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_center

 

[kyphysics]

Follow-Up: What is diff. between server farm and data center?

Or, are they diff. terms for really the same thing?

 

[FactChecker]

The two terms might be used interchangeably. There are no terminology police. But to be picky, the emphasis is different. A server might perform a lot of functions that are not just retrieving data. It might perform calculations of likelihood as Google does for a Google search. It might primarily do calculations such as determining the strength of a password or play online chess. In fact, there might not be any large collection of data at all. On the other hand, a data center might just hold and retrieve data and do very little more. In fact, a data center might not have an internet connection and might only be assessable to a select few operators.

 

[Rive]

Follow-Up: What is diff. between server farm and data center?

Usually, a server farm consists of many servers (real and/or virtual) of possibly different purpose/owner/service.
In short, it's a big pile of hardware.

The 'data center' is a big pile of hardware with specific functionality: with emphasis on that functionality.

 

[jbriggs444]

When I think of a server farm, I think of just a bunch of compute nodes, maybe with some integrated storage or maybe with network attached storage.

When I think of a data center, I think a bit more inclusively. Cooling, power, cabling, routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, monitoring, physical security. All of the stuff you need beyond just the servers themselves.

 

[anorlunda]

The 'data center' is a big pile of hardware with specific functionality: with emphasis on that functionality.

I'm not so sure. Big providers like Google have data centers all over the globe. They assign and reassign functionality dynamically. If a data center goes down, its functionality is reassigned to another data center. So, I think the emphasis is on capacity and communication, functionality is not static.

 

[Rive]

Big providers like Google have data centers all over the globe. They assign and reassign functionality dynamically.

As a datacenter, they are meant to be part of a highly redundant system of datacenters which can distribute load dinamically. As I see it, that is their functionality: at least, I can't really interpret that word for this case with disregarding that context.

 

[pbuk]

Follow-Up: What is diff. between server farm and data center?

The distinction is not worth worrying about, however the term "data center" (US: "data centre" in non-US English) has been around a lot longer, and is more widely understood (e.g. a real estate agent might talk about trends in demand for data centres).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_center:

A data center (American English)[1] or data centre (British English)[2][note 1] is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings[3] used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems.[4][5]​

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[kyphysics]

When I think of a server farm, I think of just a bunch of compute nodes, maybe with some integrated storage or maybe with network attached storage.

When I think of a data center, I think a bit more inclusively. Cooling, power, cabling, routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, monitoring, physical security. All of the stuff you need beyond just the servers themselves.

Interesting.

So, a data center is more sophisticated (more commercial/professional?) vs. a server farm being just some thrown together collection of servers (almost amateurish?). Don't want to put words in your mouth.

 

[pbuk]

So, a data center is more sophisticated (more commercial/professional?) vs. a server farm being just some thrown together collection of servers (almost amateurish?).

No, I don't think that this is generally true. Go with Wikipedia's general description of Data Center, and note that there is no equivalent entry for "server farm".

Different people using the same words to mean different things is not something to waste your time on, drop this and start learning about things that are important.

 

[Rive]

So, a data center is more sophisticated (more commercial/professional?) vs. a server farm being just some thrown together collection of servers (almost amateurish?).

It would be better to take data centers as specialized server farms. The functionality alone won't tell you anything about the professionalism involved.

Above a level/density you just can't maintain an amateurish approach (and still keep it tickin').

 

[pbuk]

It would be better to take data centers as specialized server farms.

Do you have a reference that implies such a definition?

 

[Rive]

Do you have a reference that implies such a definition?

I'm using it that way in relevant environment for quite a time. So far this is the first time it triggered any disagreement.

 

[FactChecker]

Interesting.

So, a data center is more sophisticated (more commercial/professional?) vs. a server farm being just some thrown together collection of servers (almost amateurish?). Don't want to put words in your mouth.

"Don't want to put words in your mouth." -- Then don't. I don't see anything in any post that implies "something thrown together" or "amateurish".
Suppose you were running a server farm that was expecting a million hits a day and had to keep track of a stream of interactions on each one. You would have to coordinate a hundred computers. Does that sound amateurish to you?

 

[jbriggs444]

Interesting.

So, a data center is more sophisticated (more commercial/professional?) vs. a server farm being just some thrown together collection of servers (almost amateurish?). Don't want to put words in your mouth.

More like the parable of the blind men and the elephant. You can use a different term for the same thing if you want to concentrate on a particular aspect of the thing.

If I want to talk about servers in a farm I'll use the term "server farm". If I want to talk all of the stuff in the room where these servers live, I'll use the term "data center".

I am just saying how I use the terms. Not trying to say how everyone else uses them.

 

[Rive]

I'm using it that way in relevant environment for quite a time. So far this is the first time it triggered any disagreement.

So, as I've decided that this disagreement worth some checkup, there was some quick ask-around and digging here.

Well, it seems I fit in this local environment with that datacenter = data oriented servers thing. I could not find anybody here with other opinion.
While on the internet in general it's about the datacenter being the infrastructure (supposedly above a certain industrial level) around the servers.

Well, duh. Guess these kind of local things happens