Computer network

           Computer network

"Computer networks" redirects here. For the periodical, see Computer Networks (journal).

"Datacom" redirects here. For other uses, see Datacom (disambiguation).

A computer network is atelecommunications network that allowscomputers to exchange data. The physical connection between networked computing devices is established using either cable media or wireless media. The best-known computer network is the Internet.

Network devices that originate, route and terminate the data are called network nodes.^[1] Nodes can include hosts such asservers and personal computers, as well asnetworking hardware. Two devices are said to be networked when a process in one device is able to exchange information with a process in another device.

Computer networks support applications such as access to the World Wide Web, shared use of application and storage servers, printers, and fax machines, and use of email and instant messagingapplications. The remainder of this article discusses local area network technologies and classifies them according to the following characteristics: the physical media used to transmit signals, thecommunications protocols used to organize network traffic, along with the network's size, its topology and its organizational intent.

Data center

An operation engineer overseeing a network operations control room of a data center

A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. It generally includes redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning, fire suppression) and security devices. Large data centers are industrial scale operations using as much electricity as a small town and sometimes are a significant source of air pollution in the form of diesel exhaust.

Data Center Infrastructure Management

Data center infrastructure management(DCIM) is the integration of information technology (IT) and facility management disciplines to centralize monitoring, management and intelligent capacity planning of a data center's critical systems. Achieved through the implementation of specialized software, hardware and sensors, DCIM enables common, real-time monitoring and management platform for all interdependent systems across IT and facility infrastructures.

Depending on the type of implementation, DCIM products can help data center managers identify and eliminate sources of risk to increase availability of critical IT systems. DCIM products also can be used to identify interdependencies between facility and IT infrastructures to alert the facility manager to gaps in system redundancy, and provide dynamic, holistic benchmarks on power consumption and efficiency to measure the effectiveness of “green IT” initiatives.

Measuring and understanding important data center efficiency metrics. A lot of the discussion in this area has focused on energy issues, but other metrics beyond the PUE can give a more detailed picture of the data center operations. Server, storage, and staff utilization metrics can contribute to a more complete view of an enterprise data center. In many cases, disc capacity goes unused and in many instances the organizations run their servers at 20% utilization or less.^[62] More effective automation tools can also improve the number of servers or virtual machines that a single admin can handle.