Digitalisation is , for example , fueling the growth of business critical applications being deployed in localised data centres . The result is a hybrid environment , which depends on a secure , connected infrastructure chain consisting of centralised facilities , cloud computing services and single rack micro data centres distributed at the edge of networks .

Indeed , many data centres that were once home to a multitude of rack enclosures may now only consist of a single rack solution ; hosting critical IT equipment and providing secure network connectivity to the cloud . And with the inevitable increase in data traffic produced by connected devices , there is now a growing requirement for data centre physical infrastructure to be located closer to the source of data .

racks and enclosures for support , organisation and management of the IT chain . With the increase of connected devices , today ’ s racks and enclosures are expected to support a greater number of connections and greater variety of applications , which also has implications for the overall levels of security and resilience required .

It is largely accepted that centralised data centres have the highest standards of physical security , environmental monitoring , management systems , data recovery and back up power . This is because typically , these facilities have redundancy in their critical power and cooling systems to avoid failure or downtime . Physical security measures often include on site security personnel , as well as biometric sensors , video surveillance and critical entry points to ensure that only authorised personnel gain access to sensitive areas .

Racks containing IT equipment are often locked and power and networking cables organised to reduce opportunities for human

With the increase of connected devices , today ’ s racks and enclosures are expected to support a greater number of connections and greater variety of applications .

error . But further down the chain , in unsecured network closets for example , we won ’ t always find the same level of resiliency .

Micro data centres

Micro data centres are often colocated with their users , in rooms which can be unsecured with racks that are unorganised . Older network enclosures may be open to a greater number of people , and cable management is less stringent with cable clutter and obstructions to airflow within racks – leading to cooling problems – and increased human error . In such cases there may be little redundancy in the critical power and cooling systems , or indeed monitoring by specialist data centre infrastructure management ( DCIM ) or network management software .

Resiliency

Whether deployed inside a network closet , a secure server room , or as a single micro data centre , on-premise IT operations rely on

34 | April 2017