cabling, Enclosures,
Cabinets & Racks
More recently, many new edge
and micro data centre solutions
now benefit from the same
level of security and technology
as their larger counterparts.
Developments in the prefabricated
and hyperconverged spaces have
become key to ensuring that
the most critical edge solutions
now come with some level of
standardisation in the rack
component and include higher
levels of security, remote access
and environmental monitoring.
It is here that the latest
technological advances in
standardisation have indeed
stepped up to the plate, ensuring
business continuity for both the
end user and the most business
critical applications.
This can be seen with
Schneider Electric’s portfolio of
NetShelter CX and SmartBunker
solutions, which allow the rapid
and cost effective deployment
of secure IT infrastructure to
any location, unhindered by
challenges of distance, space
constraint or environment.
They enable businesses to
meet the challenge of Big Data and
latency by deploying localised data
centres at the edge of networks
in order to reduce costs, whilst
ensuring high levels of service,
reliability and resilience for
customer applications.
As more devices become
equipped with Internet
connectivity and sensor
technology, which facilitates
service monitoring and automatic
software upgrades, this – amongst
other technology developments –
causes an increase in data traffic.
This surge is driving the demand
for data centres to be located close
to the application or user so that
global Internet networks do not
become unresponsive, slow or
clogged with traffic.
It’s important to highlight that
localised micro data centres must
be as reliable and efficient as their
larger centralised counterparts,
whilst remaining adaptable, easy
to manage and guarantee
service uptime, as well as
low operating costs.
Conclusion
There is now
a growing
requirement
for data centre
physical
infrastructure
to be located
closer to the
source of data.
As smart devices continue to drive
us towards a more digitised future,
companies must adopt a forward
thinking model for ensuring
businesses stay connected to
their most critical applications.
Reliability, security and protection
from human error must remain top
of the list for business continuity,
which in turn challenges IT
managers to think about the rack
technology they’re deploying
and where specific virtualised
applications are hosted.
Furthermore, it’s important to
recognise that edge computing as
we know it is not just a trend; it is
the next evolution of the physical
infrastructure space. Secure single
rack data centres, when combined
with the power of the IoT, continue
to be the very building blocks that
enable companies to embrace
digital transformation.
April 2017 | 35