What exactly is a data center?

DALLAS — More than 400 data centers are fully operational in Texas, but as the facilities spread across the state, there is still confusion about what they are and what they do.

For some Texans, the term data center brings more questions than answers.

“Um, what is a data center?” said Connor Tebbs, a student at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Aidan Byrd, a Dallas resident, said he also was unsure.

“It seems like it just be a spot where a lot of maybe engineers, scientists kind of where they work at,” Byrd said.

Some people associate data centers with collecting personal information.

“I assume they collect our data,” Tebbs said.

Others have heard about their connection to artificial intelligence and water use.

“I know they use a lot of water. And it’s for AI,” Tebbs said.

Egor Rybakov, another UTD student, offered his own definition.

“I would say a data center is something that collects a lot of data for a student to be used afterwards,” Rybakov said.

To better explain what data centers are and why they are expanding, Spectrum News spoke with industry and academic experts.

Kirk Offel, CEO of Overwatch Mission Critical, has worked in the data center industry for over 25 years. He compared data centers to hotels.

“But, instead of people renting suites, companies rent suites in these hotels so they could put all of their IT in there and make sure it never stops working,” Offel said.

Companies can rent space for their computer equipment rather than building and maintaining their own facilities.

Kevin Hamlen, a computer science professor at UTD, said data centers can serve several purposes.

“Some of them specialize in data storage, so you don’t have to have all of your own drives. You can store large amounts of data there safely. Others are specializing in doing computation tasks, so you’ll hear about them in the context of AI,” Hamlen said.

Artificial intelligence is one reason data centers have received increased attention.

“AI requires a lot of computing, and instead of buying all of your own compute hardware, you just rent out time in somebody else’s facility,” Hamlen said.

At their core, data centers provide infrastructure for companies and organizations that need computing resources.

“They’re designed to be able to accommodate as many different kinds of computing needs as different companies and organizations might need,” Hamlen said.

That can include storing data, running websites and providing the computing power needed for artificial intelligence.

In simple terms, a data center is a facility where companies can store information and rent the computing power they need.