Server Rooms vs. Data Centers: Advantages and Disadvantages

If cost and sustainability were not factors, every business would operate a standalone data center — meaning a detached facility purpose-built for housing servers.

But in the real world, many businesses that need to operate IT infrastructure can't justify the investment for building a full-fledged data center. So they do the next best thing: They set up server rooms inside multi-purpose buildings.

Now, it would be easy to treat on-site server rooms as an outdated or risky way to operate IT equipment. But there's no shame in relying on an old-fashioned server room. In fact, for some businesses, it may be a better approach than building a traditional data center or paying for colocation space.

With that reality in mind, let's talk about the pros and cons of server rooms compared with conventional data centers, and when to choose which.

What Is a Server Room?

When I refer to server rooms, I mean rooms that are filled with servers but that are not part of a conventional data center. You find server rooms inside facilities built primarily for other purposes — most often, office buildings where staff of all types work.

Server rooms don't require special equipment apart from cooling systems (which, in many cases, is the standard air conditioning system installed in whichever building houses the server room) and enough electricity to power however many servers will live in the room.

Related:The World's Most Unusual and Unique Data Centers

Once upon a time — before the cloud came along and offered an easy, low-commitment means of deploying infrastructure — server rooms were pretty common at businesses that needed to host any type of data or software. Indeed, my first sysadmin job, which I started in 2008, involved managing a set of servers housed in a literal closet next to a receptionist's desk. Later, the organization upgraded to a larger space in the basement, which was advantageous mainly because it was cooler and more physically secure, thanks to an iron cage that we installed around the servers.

I'm told that the organization's IT environments have since migrated to the cloud, but when I left a decade ago, things were still running out of the basement server room.

Differences Between Server Rooms and Data Centers

Although server rooms and data centers support the same core need — providing a space for deploying IT equipment — they are different in several key ways:

Related:Could ‘Flying Data Centers’ Solve the Industry’s Sustainability Woes?

When to Choose a Server Room vs. a Data Center

On the whole, then, data centers are more sophisticated in most respects. They are more secure, more energy-efficient, and more reliable than an on-site server room.

But that doesn't mean data centers are always the best choice for housing IT equipment. A basic server room may make more sense if the following are true for your business:

For more complex or larger-scale server needs, a dedicated data center, or the use of a colocation facility, is typically the way to go. But there's no shame in settling for an old-fashioned server room if it meets the IT needs of your business.

Conclusion

Conversations about data centers tend to focus on large, standalone facilities with advanced energy, HVAC, and security systems. But the reality is that many "data centers" take a much simpler form: They are mere rooms filled with servers inside an office building. And there's nothing wrong with that if it works for your business.