DATA CENTRE PREDICTIONS
James van den Berg, Technology
Solutions Professional, Applications and
Infrastructure at Altron Karabina
This practice has gained significant
popularity in the IoT space as these
devices generate vast amounts of data,
but quite often the data only carries
value in an aggregated form, so there is
little to no value in sending all data to a
centralised location.
It is much more feasible to place some
compute capabilities closer to the IoT
devices and aggregate the data at that point
and then only transmit the aggregations.
An additional benefit of this practice
is the reduction of network bandwidth
required that can result in cost cutting
as well as saving on centralised storage
needed. With cloud, where cost is directly
linked to usage, cost savings can be
realised even more.
There are, however, certain shortcomings
with Edge Computing, which mainly
revolve around the fact that storage and
compute management become more
complex with a distributed model as
opposed to a centralised one.
Edge Computing will have some impact
on data centres in the future to a certain
extent in certain circumstances. Some
organisations will be able to leverage
compute capacity and storage at the
Edge, allowing them to distribute
information processing and storage
across a wide-reaching network, creating
scalability never before seen in a
traditional data centre.
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Issue 10
However, other organisations which
adhere to very strict and restrictive data
protection controls will not be able to
make use of Edge Computing as this will
make control of data dissemination and
flow nearly impossible.
Edge Computing allows organisations
to extract extra compute and storage
capabilities out of investments they already
made at the Edge, for example, an existing
onsite server at a local office, without the
need for additional investment in their data
centre. This is extremely alluring where it
is possible and can be a game-changer for
organisations who can unlock additional
value out of existing assets.
Edge Computing capability is one of
the great untapped resources most
organisations have not leveraged at all
as they have at least one on-site server
at local or regional offices and, in the
future, the ability to effectively leverage
this resource might be one of the major
competitive differentiators between the
organisations that leverage the power of
the Edge compared to those that do not. ◊
www.intelligentdatacentres.com