With computing centre one marks both the building and/or the premises, in which the computers of one or several companies and/or organizations are accommodated, and the organization, which worry about these computers. Likewise the usual abbreviation is computer centre, organization-dependently can with ZER (central mechanism computers) a computing centre be meant.

Tasks of computing centres

Computing centres are assigned, for example to an administrative place the financial administration, a research establishment, a university or a commercial enterprise like a bank or an insurance. These administrative places have the requirement to process large data sets (for instance the tax declarations of all citizens of a Land of the Federal Republic). Therefore also an extensive Maschinenausstattung is necessary, which can be maintained only concentrated in a computing centre.

In the PC times by the state so-called area computing places were created, which had available the task to place computer capacity for state institutions. Usually been subordinate these area computing places the national offices for statistics and data processing.

Organizational allocation

A normal computing centre plans an organizational three-division in the context of the support of the devices.

System engineering

The system engineering is responsible for the hardware. The system technicians repair defective devices, implement technical installations at the equipment, worry about the wiring etc. the coworkers from the system engineering are in the proximity of the electrotechnical occupations to be usually settled.

Systems management

The systems management is responsible for the administration of the machines. One speaks therefore also of the system administration and/or simply only of the administration. The coworkers are responsible for the configuration in terms of software machinery. By the system engineering if a new disk drive assembly is in terms of hardware attached, then the systems management must ensure that this drive assembly can be recognized and used also in terms of software by the computers.

The responsibility of the systems management is it to hold the machines at running to remount fallen machines software to install and the systems supervise. Further the administrators are responsible for data security, them prepare for example data protection plans ") and provide for their execution. The software side of the data security is incumbent on likewise the systems management.

The administration of software can fall into the range of the systems management, if not its own department for such tasks were designated (data bases, communication systems etc.).

Administrators have mostly IT-training.

Operating

The operating takes over rather auxiliary tasks, which of changing the printer paper, to which tearing the expressions and their distribution or inserting magnetic tapes reaches or something similar up to the Umdefinition of priorities in the process cycles. Operator was in the seventies still another very qualified occupation, was at that time incumbent on it the operator to ensure that the large computers were optimally used. In addition it examined lining up the processes according to their resources need and ensured perhaps by manual Anstarten of different processes for an optimal system utilization and for avoidance in particular from resources-caused disturbances like a blocking (deadlock). Is by reducing in price and increase in output of the hardware and the ever more intelligent operating systems this today however no more real problem.

Operating surgeons have to do frequently little. Their major task consists nowadays of starting after machines crashes again. The costs by losses justify the personnel expenditure easily.

Vacate a computing centre

Beside the usual office space the air conditioning system and the engine room are interesting. In particular large computers produce very much waste heat. The devices need a certain room climate for their troublefree enterprise. Individual devices have their own refrigerators, which are based partly also on liquid cooling. The waste heat transferred to the areas is cooled down again by the air conditioning system.

The engine room is with smaller computing centres unmanned. In large computing centres the operating surgeons sit in the engine room and/or are separate only by a Glaswand from the devices, so that optical control of the machines is possible at any time. Apart from the computers and their periphery there are above all switchgear cabinets. The areas have a double bottom. These serve on the one hand the simple wiring, on the other hand one they offer also to place for fire alarms and water sensors.

Mice are in some computing centres a serious problem. Therefore there are special cable insulations, which do not taste to mice. A mouse, which bridges itself into larger equipment erred and there a high voltage electric circuit, can become the expensive annoyance.

To the emergency plans of a computing centre belong also immediate measures, which are to be seized from the operating to, if the air conditioning system precipitates. Depending upon outside temperature a temporary provisional enterprise can take place by manual ventilation, however also an emergency shut-down within fewer seconds or minutes can become necessary after release of an alarm.

Security in a computing centre

Dependent on the administrative surrounding field there are differently strong safety requirements at computing centres. Usually only the admission is controlled and the areas is secured by alarm installations. Some are accommodated even in a atom bomb-safe shelter, which underground several floors enclosure and besides is still EMP secured. The admission is strictly reglementiert in any case. Guidance in computing centres of the universities are frequently possible, however the visitors may move exclusively under supervision in the areas.

Special value is granted to the fire protection. Beside fire-protection partitions there are frequently also fire extinguishing systems, which are to minimize hardware damage. Water can cause to a large computer more damage, than a charred cable. For this reason into modern computing centres special gas (mostly the noble gas argon or in addition, still CO2) is used for the deletion of the fire. The archiving of important data safety devices takes place therefore also in another fire compartment.

Baking UP computing centre

Already before 11 September there was the so-called Backuprechenzentrum, occasionally hears one also the term mirror computing centre. An existing computing centre is clearly separately completely duplicated spatially from the original computing centre. Duplicating applies both to the hardware and to the software and the current data. If the original computing centre should fail due to a disaster (e.g. an earthquake, a notice or a fire), then the enterprise in the Backuprechenzentrum can be continued immediately.

Emergency plans and equipment often even plan the fact that the work spaces of the coworkers up to the equipment of the individual job 1:1 are copied so that from one day to the next work in the premises of the Backuprechenzentrums can be continued.

The background of this obviously high financial expenditure is obvious: The total failure of a computing centre would drive many enterprises within fewer days into the failure.

In order the double equipment for the emergency do not only stand to leave, which, usually also this computer capacity occurs only very rarely one uses. It is differentiated therefore according to production-critical systems. Thus for example the server can for production is used in the main computing centre to be located, while an identical server in the Backuprechenzentrum is used only for development and for testing. In case of a loss of the main computing centre the development and test server are driven down and the productive systems is loaded. It is for this time then no more developing possible, production does not precipitate however not.

By this new task frequently no more of a Backuprechenzentrum not spoken, since it only secondarily settles Backupaufgaben, primarily in addition, arithmetic performance makes available.

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