Data Centres in India

What do we mean by data center ?

It is a dedicated secure space within a building/centralized location where computing and networking equipment is concentrated for the purpose of collecting, storing, processing ,disturbing or allowing access to large amounts of data. A data center consists of hardware such as server racks and power distribution units, software such as server operating systems and network monitoring tools. It is a facility that centralizes an organization’s IT operations and equipment,well as where it stores and manages its data.
Components of data center :
• Computing resources
• Storage resources
• Network infrastructure
• Security ( physical and data security)
• Fault tolerance
• Cooling system
• Power backup
Function of data center:
• Data storage
• Email services
• Data security
• Hardware installation
• Hardware maintenance
• Backup power solution
• Technical assistance

Types of data center

1. Enterprise data center : These are built, owned and operated by companies and are optimized for their end users . example ; Facebook and Google
2. Managed service data centers: Managed by third party . The company leases the equipment and infrastructure instead of buying it.
3. Collocation data centres: A company rents space within a data center owned by others and located off company premises.
4. Cloud data centres: In this off premises form of data centres , data and applications are hosted by a cloud service provider such as Amazon web services(AWS),Microsoft(Azure)or IBM Cloud.
   Data centres in India :
   Presently India have 138 data centres in all over the country overall spanning 11 million square feet and having 737 MW of IT capacity. Currently, Chennai and Mumbai have around 57% of the capacity whereas National Data Centre of Delhi, Pune and Hyderabad were upgraded with high speed Network, 1.6 Petabyte enterprise class storage , high throughout network load balancer, and intrusion prevention systems.
   Why in news : recently the data centres of India was in news because the Ministry of Electronics and Information technology (MEITY),which aims to simplify clearances for setting up data centres in India
   Vision of draft data center policy :
5. Formulation of data center incentivisation scheme : The Indian government intends to formulate an incentivisation scheme for the beneficiaries complying with the applicability criteria in the form of fiscal and non-fiscal nature, usage of domestic IT hardware and non-IT equipment. The incentives shall be more beneficial to the industries operating under the ‘Make in India’ government initiative.
6. Favourable ecosystem for operations of data centres : With an intention to provide long term growth for data centres, the Indian government inter alia intends to (1) provide uninterrupted, clean and cost-effective supply of electricity, with a key focus on providing quality power, setting up power generation units within the data centre parks, the direct procurement of power from power generation companies, the use of renewable power generation techniques, reduction in carbon footprints and more effective energy management, (2) provide the status of ‘essential services’ as per the Essential Services Maintenance Act 1968 to data centres so that there will be an uninterrupted delivery of services even during crises like the current Covid-19 pandemic as faced across the globe and (3) frame specialised code in the National Building Code of India to facilitate specialised construction and safety approvals for data centre buildings.
7. Data center economic zones : In India, the industries located in special economic zones enjoy specialised benefits as compared to other industries. The Indian government intends to set up at least four data centre economic zones, where certain additional incentives will be given to the data centres located in these zones.
8. Promotion of indigenous technology development, R&D and capacity building : The Indian government envisages the vision of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India), and based on such vision, MeitY intends to promote the use of indigenous technology in data centres along with certain fiscal and non-fiscal benefits to startups and micro, small and medium enterprises in order to reduce the overall import of goods and services. Further, the Indian government will promote the research and development activities in data centres along with minimum standards for IT and non-IT security.

Way forward
The data centre industry is an emerging sector and one of the fastest growing markets in the 21st century and the need of the hour is to offer a much-detailed roadmap and, more importantly, to officially implement the Draft 2020 Policy. However, apart from the Draft 2020 Policy, state governments need to tailor the laws according to the suitability of the conditions prevailing and introduce concrete legislation relating to the regulation, licensing and security of data centres. So far, few states such as Telangana and Uttar Pradesh have notified their own data centre policies in a bid to attract data centre players, and similar policies of many more states appear to be in the pipeline.