Data Center Glossary
Search through 210 data center terms and definitions
Showing 1-20 of 210 terms
| Term | Acronym | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2N Redundancy | 2N | Redundancy | Each path can handle 100% of the load. Provides fault tolerance and concurrent maintainability. Required for Tier IV cer... |
| 2N+1 Redundancy | 2N+1 | Redundancy | Exceeds Tier IV requirements. Provides redundancy even during maintenance of one complete system. |
| 5G | 5G | Emerging Tech | Drives edge computing demand. <10ms latency enables new applications. Network slicing. Massive IoT connectivity. Require... |
| A/B Power | — | Power | Each feed from separate UPS, PDU, circuit. Servers with dual PSUs connect one to A, one to B. Provides power path redund... |
| Active-Active Configuration | — | Redundancy | Provides better resource utilization than active-passive. Each system can handle full load if partner fails. |
| Air-Side Economizer | — | Cooling | Direct or indirect air economization. Direct brings outside air into data hall; indirect uses heat exchangers. Effective... |
| Alert Fatigue | — | Monitoring | Leads to ignored critical alerts. Mitigated by tuning thresholds, alert aggregation, escalation policies. Major operatio... |
| Application Performance Monitoring | APM | Monitoring | Transaction tracing, dependency mapping, code-level diagnostics. Examples: New Relic, AppDynamics, Dynatrace. Essential ... |
| Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure | — | Architecture | Requires high-density power (50-100+ kW/rack), liquid cooling, low-latency networking, massive storage. Driving new data... |
| ASHRAE | ASHRAE | Industry Organizations | Published temperature and humidity guidelines for data centers. TC 9.9 committee focuses on data centers. Standards enab... |
| Augmented Reality | AR | Emerging Tech | Data center applications: maintenance guidance, training, remote support. Visualize hidden infrastructure (power, coolin... |
| Automatic Transfer Switch | ATS | Power | Detects power failure and switches to backup (generator or alternate utility feed) in 4-10 seconds. Faster than manual s... |
| Backup | — | Disaster Recovery | Full, incremental, or differential backups. On-site and off-site copies. 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies, 2 media types, 1 off-site... |
| Backup Window | — | Disaster Recovery | Shrinking due to 24/7 operations. Drives adoption of snapshot technology and CDP. Application-consistent backups require... |
| Bandwidth | — | Connectivity | Not same as throughput (actual transfer rate). Constrained by slowest link in path. Common speeds: 1Gbps, 10Gbps, 40Gbps... |
| Battery Energy Storage System | BESS | Power | Replacing or supplementing traditional UPS batteries. Can provide longer runtime than lead-acid. Enables participation i... |
| Biometric Access | — | Security | More secure than cards or PINs. Common in high-security facilities. Often combined with mantraps and security guards. Re... |
| Blanking Panel | — | Cooling | Simple, no-cost way to improve cooling efficiency. Prevents hot exhaust air from being pulled back into cold intake. Ess... |
| Blockchain | — | Emerging Tech | Cryptocurrency mining major data center workload. Energy intensive. Proof-of-work vs proof-of-stake. Growing enterprise ... |
| Border Gateway Protocol | BGP | Networking | Standard exterior gateway protocol. Essential for internet interconnection and multi-homing. Used at internet exchange p... |