Modern Trends in Data Centers: Disaggregated Architectures and the Future of Servers

Why Data Centers Are Needed and How They Work

A data center or data processing center (DPC) is a specialized facility designed to house, operate uninterruptedly, and maintain systems critical to the digital economy. The main purpose of a modern data center is reliable storage, processing, and distribution of vast amounts of information. Inside one such complex, there can be from several dozen to hundreds of thousands of servers that process internet service requests, work with cloud applications, train artificial intelligence models, and ensure the functioning of the digital infrastructure of the state and business. Thus, this center acts as the physical heart of the global network, converting electricity and equipment into computing resources. Efficient operation of the system is possible thanks to coordinated engineering infrastructure: uninterrupted and redundant power supply, precision cooling systems, physical security, and high-speed network communication channels. Ultimately, the fault tolerance and performance of each specific data processing center directly affect the quality of digital services received by millions of end users.

Data center operation is built around several key principles: reliability, scalability, and security. Server equipment is always at the center of attention—specialized computers concentrated in racks and forming computing clusters. Each server consumes electricity and generates heat, so optimizing these processes becomes a critically important task. The Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) coefficient is one of the main indicators of center operation. Cooling technologies are constantly evolving—from classic air conditioning systems to modern solutions with liquid cooling and free cooling using outside air. Management of all this complex infrastructure, including resource distribution and monitoring, is carried out using specialized software. This allows flexible approaches to solving tasks of varying complexity, whether working with big data or high-performance computing for artificial intelligence systems.

How Data Centers Differ

Data centers are heterogeneous and classified by several key characteristics that determine their architecture, target audience, and technological structure. The first and main division occurs by ownership and usage model: corporate ("captive") and commercial. Corporate data centers are created by companies to solve their own internal tasks (on-premises) and do not offer services to external clients. Commercial centers, on the contrary, operate as commercial infrastructure, providing clients with colocation services (housing their own equipment), virtual server rental, cloud capacity, or full-cycle managed services. Another important criterion is the reliability level, described by Tier classification (from I to IV). This standard defines the fault tolerance of engineering systems: the higher the level, the more redundant components (power sources, cooling channels) and the higher the service availability, reaching 99.995% per year for Tier IV.

In recent years, another trend in classification has been gaining strength—division by type of tasks solved and load density. Traditional centers are optimized for universal corporate loads with power consumption per rack around 4-8 kW. However, the boom in artificial intelligence technologies has created demand for high-density data centers, where one rack with GPU accelerators can consume 30, 50, or even 100 kW. Such loads require fundamentally new architecture: liquid cooling systems, special layouts, and increased requirements for electrical power input. In addition, geographic distribution is an important trend. The largest hyperscalers build huge centralized availability regions (availability zones), while for low-latency tasks (Internet of Things, autonomous systems), edge data centers are developing—small modular facilities located close to the data generation source.

• Type by usage model: Corporate (on-premises) and commercial (colocation, cloud).
• Reliability level: Tier classification from I (basic) to IV (maximum fault-tolerant).
• Target load: Universal, high-performance computing (HPC), AI clusters.
• Geography and scale: Large centralized regions, distributed networks, edge modular centers.

How a Data Center Works

A modern data center is a complex engineering organism whose architecture is divided into several interconnected layers. The physical foundation is the building itself or a specially prepared space that must meet strict requirements for floor loads, security, and the presence of engineering communications. Inside it is the heart of the center—the machine hall (white space). This is where active equipment is housed in unified server racks and cabinets: servers, data storage systems, network switches, and routers. The organization of machine hall space follows the principles of hot and cold aisles to improve cooling efficiency.

The second critically important layer is engineering infrastructure (support space, or "gray" rooms). It ensures the viability of the entire computing cluster. This infrastructure includes:

• Power systems: Input distribution devices, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) based on battery banks, and diesel generator units (DGU) for long-term autonomous operation.
• Cooling systems: Precision air conditioners, chillers, dry coolers, or modern liquid cooling systems that remove enormous amounts of heat generated by equipment.
• Network infrastructure: Fiber-optic and copper cable routes, cross-connection panels ensuring high-speed communication both within the center and with external telecommunications operators.
• Security and monitoring systems: Access control (ACS), video surveillance, fire alarm systems and gas fire suppression, as well as a complex of sensors tracking temperature, humidity, and other parameters.

Finally, the third layer is management and orchestration software. With its help, center operators virtualize physical resources (CPU, memory, storage), automatically distribute loads, perform monitoring, and ensure cybersecurity. Modern software platforms allow managing thousands of servers as a single pool of flexible capacity, which is the basis for providing cloud services. Thus, the center's structure represents a carefully balanced ecosystem where each component plays an important role in ensuring uninterrupted computing.

Largest Players and New Rules: What Awaits the Russian Data Center Market in 2025

The Russian data processing center market demonstrates steady growth; however, in 2025 it enters a phase of structural changes that will determine its future for years to come. By the beginning of the year, according to IPG.Estate data, there were 194 data centers operating in the country with total capacity estimated by experts at 1.2–1.7 GW. About 76% of all capacity is still concentrated in Moscow and the region, which creates significant load on the local power system and stimulates a trend toward regional development. The market is characterized by high concentration: the top five largest players account for more than 60% of capacity, according to various estimates. The leader remains the Rostelecom/RTC-DPC group, followed by operators such as IXcellerate and Rosatom.

The main drivers of demand growth remain digitalization of the public sector and business, explosive development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT). This leads to qualitative changes in infrastructure requirements: clients need not just rack space, but ready high-performance solutions for specialized loads. In response, operators are transforming from colocation providers into providers of comprehensive digital services. However, market development is hindered by a number of serious barriers: shortage and high cost of modern server and infrastructure equipment, limited availability of credit resources due to high key interest rates, as well as growing power shortages in the central region. According to Sber estimates, if current rates continue, data center power consumption in Russia could double by 2030.

The most important legislative event of 2025 was the adoption of a law that, for the first time at the federal legislation level, defines the concept of "data processing center" and creates legal foundations for their activities. Russia's Ministry of Digital Development maintains a register of data centers, which will help organize the industry. New codes of practice for data center design and construction have also been approved, aimed at improving their reliability and energy efficiency. In 2025, additional regulatory measures are being introduced; in particular, from March 1, 2026, a ban on placing mining equipment in registered data centers is planned. All these measures form a new, more organized and secure environment for industry development.

• Geography: Moving away from oversaturated Moscow to energy-surplus regions (Siberia, Urals, Northwest).
• Technologies: Priority for building new facilities (Greenfield) for high AI loads with liquid cooling and domestic technology stack.
• Model: Transition from simple rack rental to hybrid and multi-cloud solutions, integration with public and private cloud services.
• Investments: Market consolidation and active role of the state as a major customer and investor in creating critical infrastructure.

Other Section Materials

In addition to technologies and the market, an important part of the data center ecosystem are industry events where professionals discuss the architecture of the future, share cases, and form new standards. Conferences become a platform for dialogue between customers, vendors, integrators, and regulators, which is especially important during periods of rapid technological change.

Cloud Migration

A separate and highly sought-after discussion block is dedicated to strategies, best practices, and tools for transferring corporate IT workloads to the cloud environment. Experts examine in detail questions of choosing between public, private, and hybrid cloud, evaluating total cost of ownership (TCO), ensuring data security and application fault tolerance in the new architecture.

Business Process Management 2026

The role of modern data processing centers as a platform for executing business processes is enormous. Specialized sections discuss how cloud infrastructure and services hosted in reliable data centers allow automating and optimizing end-to-end processes in companies, making them more flexible and adaptive.

Artificial Intelligence Technologies 2026

A key topic for any data center operator and its clients. Conferences cover the full cycle—from specific equipment requirements (GPU, specialized processors, high-speed networks) and cooling systems for model training to deployment and inference of AI services in industrial environments. Special attention is paid to import substitution in this segment.