For most people, a data center is associated with something abstract: “servers are somewhere there, and they just work.” But those who have entered a real data center at least once almost always notice the same thing — a constant, steady, and fairly loud noise. It does not resemble the sound of an office air conditioner or a household fan. It is a background hum that does not disappear day or night and has very practical reasons.
A data center is a specialized facility or a complex of buildings where servers, networking equipment, and data storage systems are located. This is where websites, online services, cloud platforms, and internal corporate systems operate. To ensure uninterrupted operation, data centers are equipped with backup power supplies, cooling systems, fire suppression, and physical security. At first glance, all data centers may seem similar, but in terms of purpose and usage model they differ significantly. Most often, the distinction is made between commercial and corporate data centers, which perform different tasks and are built according to different principles.
In the world of information technology, China continues to amaze with its new ambitious projects. One of the latest achievements is the launch of the Future Network Test Facility (FNTF), a distributed network of data centers stretching over 2000 kilometers. This is not just another data center — it’s a whole system that unites dozens of data processing centers, creating a so-called “giant computer.” The goal of this project is to provide massive computing power for the development of artificial intelligence, telemedicine, and the industrial internet. In this article, we will explore how this project will change the landscape of computing power and why it is significant for the technologies of the future.
Modern data centers have become the foundation of the digital economy: they power cloud services, online platforms, artificial intelligence, and thousands of business processes. But with this growth comes another challenge — energy consumption. Servers generate large amounts of heat that must be constantly removed to prevent overheating. Usually, this heat is simply wasted, while additional megawatts of electricity are consumed to cool the equipment. However, new approaches to data center modernization show that this “waste heat” can become a valuable resource for cities.
Artificial intelligence has ceased to be a laboratory experiment and has become the foundation of a new economy. If just a few years ago AI investments were associated mostly with private companies, today governments have actively joined the race. The USA, the EU, China, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates are competing to build the most powerful data centers, purchase thousands of GPUs, develop their own models, and even form state-level alliances with corporations. The amount of investment is no longer counted in billions — but in trillions of dollars.
Modern data centers are not just rooms filled with servers. They are complex engineering systems where every detail matters — from air temperature and humidity to the slightest floor vibrations. One of the least noticeable yet critically important factors for stable server performance is vibration. It can cause microscopic failures in hard drives, accelerate component wear, and, under heavy load, even lead to hardware failure. That’s why engineers pay great attention to isolating vibrations inside data centers.
The rapid progress of artificial intelligence has forced the data center industry to radically restructure: classical server farms must transform into AI-oriented “supercenters” with supercomputer-level power and new infrastructure requirements. At the core of these changes are specialized AI accelerators — hardware chips designed to speed up machine learning tasks, which have essentially become the foundation of modern data center architecture. Without such accelerators, breakthroughs like ChatGPT would take much more time and money — no wonder AI accelerators are now widely used by global tech giants.
When we open a website, place an order in an online store, or work with a corporate CRM, we rarely think about what’s happening “behind the scenes.” Yet even a few minutes of server downtime can cause serious losses — from losing customers to damaging databases. That’s why every professional data center is built on one principle: to operate continuously, no matter the circumstances.
In today’s digital world, every second of downtime can cost a company thousands of dollars. This is especially true in the IT sector, where the stability of servers, network systems, and data centers determines not only a company’s reputation but also its ability to function at all. Ukrainian IT companies working in software development, fintech, telecommunications, and cloud services have been actively investing in infrastructure capable of running continuously — even amid power outages, cyberattacks, or peak loads.
In today’s world, where digital technologies have become the foundation of nearly every process — from financial transactions to artificial intelligence — data centers have evolved into the heart of global infrastructure. Their stable operation directly depends on cooling efficiency. Every server, every processor in a rack generates heat, and if that heat isn’t dissipated in time, the system can lose performance or even fail. That’s why modern data centers invest heavily in intelligent cooling systems that not only reduce temperature but also optimize energy consumption and ensure stability under any conditions.