WHAT IS A DATA CENTER?

An access platform data center in this context is a central site or location that houses the server-based computing resources for a company. This site is characterized by limited physical access, superior network capacity, power capacity, power quality, and a degree of internal redundancy for these computing resources. Using Windows Terminal Services and Citrix Access Suite in a data center can now provide a familiar PC desktop environment for users, no matter where they are located. Users take their desktop and any other necessary resources with them wherever they go.

The data center was traditionally the realm of the mainframe, but Microsoft and Citrix are changing this paradigm. Although the centralized mainframe environment is comparatively easy to support, companies will continue migrating to easy-to-use PC applications. Organizations are desperate for a technology that combines the desirable elements of the centralized computing model with the ability to deliver the desired application services to the end user . This is the basis for the server-based computing model utilizing Windows Terminal Services and Citrix Access Suite presented in this book. In the following sections, we present some important considerations in designing, building, and running a centralized data center environment with server-based computing technology.