It’s cool and loud inside one of American University’s most important rooms.  

Behind a nondescript gray door, rows and rows of black technological infrastructure cabinets in AU’s largest data center never stop whirring. A dedicated Office of Information Technology (OIT) team in the Network Operations Center (NOC) monitors the system twenty-four hours a day—through snowstorms, summer slowdowns, and while students slumber—to make sure of it.

That’s because, even though few ever step into the data center, the entire campus depends on it.

“The NOC and data center operations ensure that AU remains a thriving, connected, and secure community,” said Buddhi Abeysekera, senior director of network operations. “Our work may be invisible to most, but it is critical to supporting student success, faculty innovation, and the smooth functioning of the campus every single day.”

Around the world, data centers have an increasingly important role in digital connectivity. For organizations of all kinds, these facilities serve as a central hub for storing and processing massive amounts of data and critical applications.

All data, even that stored on the cloud, lives in a physical location. The development of large language models like ChatGPT has made these computing powerhouses even more widespread, including in the DMV.

At AU, three data centers make up the university’s “digital backbone.” The data center makes it possible for community members to conduct daily activities like accessing buildings, connecting securely to the internet, using library services, Canvas, Workday, and EagleBucks. Even lighting and temperature controls in buildings rely on the network.

Each day, network utilization on campus peaks at 10 a.m. and again at 8 p.m. AU’s largest data center, which came online in 2000, handles the bulk of that traffic.

The off-campus facility is home to hundreds of crisscrossing wires that plug into the towering machinery, including switches, firewalls, and routers that provide secure 60 gigabit Wi-Fi through 1,800 access points across campus.

Connecting with two smaller centers on campus, the room also includes 600 servers crucial to storing and processing AU’s most precious data—like the myAU portal, SharePoint, and high-performance computing used by researchers.

Those important services are guarded by an intricate system of checks and practices designed to keep the network up through almost anything. Every piece of equipment in the data center has a duplicate, so that operations remain seamless in spite of routine maintenance or while troubleshooting issues.

Around the clock, an intricate air conditioning system along the perimeter of the data center pumps cool air from the floor to prevent equipment from overheating. The data center also has built-in fire protection and moisture sensors to keep outside elements from damaging the technology.

As an additional check, OIT staffers visually inspect the data center every hour for any issues. In case of a power outage, the NOC has a 120-kilowatt, diesel-powered generator to keep the center running for more than a day. AU also has space at a standby data center in Reston, Virginia, as a backup.

“We take [the work] personally,” said Ming Cheng, network operations manager, who has worked at AU for 24 years. “We know this work is significant for an educational institution like AU.”

The OIT staff whose careful work keeps AU online know that when they do their job, faculty, staff, and students might not even know they are there. And as long as that service is uninterrupted, they’re OK with that.

“My team’s main goal is to keep things available for the university community,” Abeysekera said. “Our success is based on [reaching this goal]. We hope nobody knows this all exists.”