Data center
How a data center works
A data center is a building where power, cooling, network and physical security are designed so servers can stay up. This page follows that path as it runs at DGN in Bursa.
White space and the layers around it
Servers, storage and network gear sit in the white space, inside cabinets. Around that room are power, cooling, fire suppression and access control. If one layer stops, the room becomes an ordinary server closet.
At DGN those layers are in a purpose-built building. DGN PLUS hosts colocation and dedicated servers. DGN SELF is metered private space.
How power reaches the rack
Utility power arrives on a medium-voltage line, through a dedicated transformer, and into the UPS. The UPS covers the seconds between the grid and the generator and filters voltage swings. A diesel generator carries a long outage.
DGN uses redundant diesel generators and a modular Huawei UPS plant sized one step above the design load. If a module fails, the load stays up and the module can be swapped live. On request, two independent UPS plants provide A and B feeds.
Where the heat goes
A running server makes heat, so cooling runs as long as the load does. The usual layout feeds cold air at the front of the rack and lets hot air leave at the back. When the two streams do not mix, the same cooling does more work.
Equipment inlet temperature is often discussed in the 18–27°C band. That is not every facility's setpoint. DGN halls run continuous climate control; heat per cabinet is read together with amps and device density during a survey.
How traffic enters
A server connects to the hall backbone, and the backbone connects to carriers. A single path dies with that carrier. Facilities therefore use more than one carrier and separate physical routes.
DGN has Türk Telekom, Vodafone and Turkcell access on a Juniper backbone. International traffic is cleaned on a 1 Tbps node; only clean traffic enters Turkey. Foreign reach can also be closed for a chosen IP.
What U and 42U mean
U is the vertical unit inside a cabinet. One U is about 4.45 cm. A 42U cabinet is about 187 cm of equipment height. Servers and switches mount to that standard.
At DGN a small footprint takes shared-cabinet U, a growing fleet takes a full 42U, and a customer who wants their own room takes caged space. You can stay in the same building from one U to private square meters.
Short answers
What is white space?
The conditioned, access-controlled hall where servers and network gear run. Power rooms, generators and fire suppression sit around it.
What comes online first in an outage?
The UPS covers the short gap. The generator takes a long outage. The UPS keeps equipment up until the generator has the load.
How tall is 1U?
About 4.45 cm, or 1.75 inches. A 42U cabinet is 42 of those units.
What uses the most power?
In a typical data center, servers and the cooling that removes their heat lead consumption. Network, lighting and security also draw power. The billable line is cabinet amperage.