A data center is a secure facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and data storage equipment. Most modern facilities have as a minimum redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (air conditioning, fire suppression, etc.), and security devices and process.

Energy consumption in Data Centers

Due to rapid advance in computing, particularly blade servers and high speed switching, power consumption in data centers began to rise rapidly since 2005. This has caused the US congress to issue Public Law 109-431, requesting EPA to assess the current situation regarding energy use in US data centers by the end of July 2007. On 2 August 2007, EPA published its findings in "EPA Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency" showing that servers and data centers accounted for 61 billion kWh in the year 2006 (about 1.5% of total US electricity usage), and this figure is expected to rise to more than 100 billion kWh by 2011 if present trends continue. Overall,in the US, computer use has been estimated to consume 9.4% of total electricity, with the bulk of consumption coming from PCs and monitors, and substantial additional portions from data centers and networking equipment.

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