the Benefits of a Micro Data Centre
Placing Data Centres closer to the point of utilisation is known as edge computing. Distributing Micro Data Centres closer to the points of use reduces both latency and costs. These Data Centres provides also physical infrastructure benefits that apply to any small Data Centre regardless of the latency requirement. There are four main drivers of Micro Data Centre adoption to support edge computing applications, over alternatives such as server rooms and traditional Data Centres.
The constant increase of digital services via our mobile devices and countless other applications are changing the way Data Centres are deployed. As more and more demand is placed on Data Centres for these services, data takes longer to reach any given destination dependent on location. The further the distance from the Data Centre, the longer it will take to deliver its digital services – this also increases bandwidth costs.
Scalability
A great strategy to conserve capital by paying only what you need, when you need it. Micro Data Centres can more easily be “stepped and repeated” to accommodate growth in IT gear as the need for more compute arises. When fully utilised, another Micro Data Centre is deployed in the same facility or in a different location depending on the available space, bandwidth capacity and power supply. Their standardised, prefabricated nature along with smaller kW increments is fundamentally what makes them a highly scalable solution compared to the traditional once built large-scale Data Centres.
Deployment Speed
Some businesses encounter situations where they need to deploy a computing solution quickly and efficiency. Since Micro Data Centres are a complete physical infrastructure solution (including hardware and software), it becomes feasible to significantly decrease project timeline compared to a large-scale traditional Data Centre.
This is because Micro Data Centres eliminate the need to in detail design, specify and integrate a group of disparate components. The speed which you can deploy a Micro Data Centre in any given area is strongly on how standardised it is. The more the Micro Data Centre is standardised, the more like it is to be a stocked item.
Reliability
The reliability of a Data Centre is undermined by the extent of which its critical systems are customised. Therefore, a standard-model vehicle is far more reliable and less costly than a custom-built large goods vehicle. While larger Data Centres could be standardised, it's far easier and more practical to standardise smaller sized Data Centres. This is a key reliability advantage of Micro Data Centres.
The biggest expense advantage that a Micro Data Centre has over a centralised large-scale Data Centre is that they can typically run off a building’s existing physical structure. In most cases, existing buildings have spare power capacity to support a Micro Data Centre both from utility and emergency generator power. The benefits of distributing Micro Data Centres are that they are scaled to the demand, reducing latency and reducing the risk of bringing down the entire Data Centre operation – for example reduce single points of failure. Very similar to a distributed IT architecture, if more capacity is needed in the future, another Micro Data Centre is added. Standardising these Micro Data Centres results in further benefits like deployment time being reduced, simplified management, lower maintenance costs and lower capital costs.
