Edge Computing and the Future of the Data Center
It is said that Edge computing is the future of Data Centres. The ability to quickly and securely process vast amount of data as well as reach hubs of end users and workers that are distributed globally is a great asset for companies. Especially if they are looking to extend their opportunities beyond their current Data Centre's walls.
The world is getting faster in almost every aspect. We expect customer service to be resolved instantly and we want our goods to arrive the day after we order them. We have become used to communicating with anyone, anywhere and at any time. For businesses, this trend is reflected in the increased demand for real-time processing. Looking into the trends that will power the next generation of business innovation; IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence) and upgrade to 5G are driving an increasing surge in data production. It has been predicted that we could see more than 7.5 billion connected devices in use in businesses by 2020 (Gartner Study 2018).
Data Centre infrastructure therefore could also change and become more distributed globally. In this case there will be more storage hubs in regional markets and smaller cities, as well as Micro Data Centres built onto parts of existing communications infrastructure like telecom servers. Telephone towers is where 5G will arrive (the next generation wireless standard) – this can really have an impact. As more computing power and storage are needed to handle the rapidly growing numbers of edge applications, it makes sense to build this within the existing infrastructure.
Micro Data Centres could be built at the base of telecom towers and other important points in the existing wireless network tower. Therefore, there could be far higher numbers of Data Centres around, but the majority of there will be unrecognisable from the warehouse-sized large-scale locations of today. Growing numbers of Data Centres means that storage and security factors are more widely distributed. Businesses will demand that the same level of performance and security they have in centralised Data Centres is replicated in edge Data Centres. For this to happen, security and storage solutions must be considered in detail at the start of planning. Edge Data Centres will work alongside Cloud and the large-scale Data Centre models will still thrive and be vital to all kinds of business such as Facebook and Google. As the demand of Edge devices and application increase, this part of the network could see a dramatic increase.
