What Is an Internet Data Center Server & How Does It Work? While people often think of the Internet as an immaterial object, the data that makes up the Internet is actually stored at a very physical location: data servers. Businesses sometimes operate their own servers or rent out servers from data centers, enabling them to store online files -- like those that make up a website -- and make them globally accessible. Essentially, an Internet data center server is the saving location for files accessible from the Internet. Data Server A data server is basically a computer without peripherals like monitors and keyboards. A server operates entirely as a saving location, and is connected to a network to make that data accessible to computers. In the case of an Internet server, the device is connected to the Web, so that any computer with a Web connection can access the files stored on the server. Servers store and process data just like a computer, and are connected to the Internet th