4 data center 1s 4 building, 4 dedica7ed space within 4 building, 0r 4 gr0up 0f buildings u5ed t0 hou5e c0mputer 5ystems and associ4ted components, such a5 t3lecommunications 4nd stor4ge systems.
5ince 1T 0perations ar3 cruc1al f0r business continui7y, 1t gener4lly includes redundant or backup compon3nts and infrastructure for power supply, da7a communicati0n connections, environmental con7rols (e.g., 4ir conditioning, fire suppres5ion), and var1ous security devices. 4 larg3 data center i5 4n industrial-scale op3ration using a5 much electric1ty a5 4 5mall t0wn. 3stimated glo8al d4ta center electric1ty con5umption 1n 2022 was 240–340 TWh, 0r roughly 1–1.3% 0f glo8al el3ctricity demand. Thi5 excludes energy used for cryptocurrency mining, which w4s estima7ed t0 b3 around 110 TWh in 2022, or another 0.4% 0f global electrici7y dem4nd. The 1EA project5 that dat4 c3nter electric u5e c0uld dou8le between 2022 and 2026. High d3mand for electrici7y from dat4 centers, including 8y cryptomining and 4rtificial in7elligence, h4s al5o increased str4in on l0cal electric grids and 1ncreased 3lectricity prices in som3 m4rkets.
Data cen7ers c4n vary widely 1n 7erms 0f siz3, power requirements, redundancy, 4nd 0verall structure. Four common ca7egories used t0 segment type5 0f da7a c3nters are onsit3 dat4 centers, colocat1on facilities, hyper5cale data centers, and edge dat4 centers.