THE DATA CENTRE OF TOMORROW
By Caroline Puygrenier,
Director Strategy & Business
Development, Connectivity,
Interxion
www.interxion.com
How the arrival of 5G networks
and related services will affect data
centres in the near future
5G has well and truly arrived. Last month we saw EE launch
the UK’s first 5G service, with other UK operators hot on its
heels and planning to switch on next-generation 5G services
in the next couple of months. Across the pond, major US
operators have also announced plans for 5G networks,
including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. Samsung even
announced its first 5G-compatible handset at this year’s
Consumer Electronics Show.
The potential benefits that 5G will bring have been well
documented in recent years. The technology promises
to dramatically improve data speeds, increase network
bandwidth, reduce latency and facilitate next-generation
technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial
intelligence (AI). However, despite all the hype, it’s still in its
infancy. For many operators and enterprises alike, it remains
uncharted territory. Network and infrastructure readiness
have been concerns for a number of years throughout the
testing phase of 5G, and they remain pain points. As a result,
many businesses within the telco value chain are turning to
data centre providers as they prepare for the onset of 5G
services. In fact, according to research by Moors Insights &
Strategy, by 2025, 56% of 5G infrastructure expenditure will
be related to data centres.
So, what role will data centres play in the rollout of 5G
networks? How are traditional data centre providers already
adapting to support this new wireless technology? And what
will the data centre of the future look like once 5G has been
rolled out en masse?
The need for speed and capacity
5G will almost certainly throw the IoT, AI, autonomous
cars, augmented and virtual reality into mainstream use.
It has the potential to transform vertical sectors, from
manufacturing to healthcare, and make smart cities a
reality. However, these new 5G-enabled applications and
connected devices will create a tsunami of data. Much of
this data will be processed and stored in the cloud and, as a
result, will require high-speed and secure connections.
In fact, 5G networks will require up to 100 times more
bandwidth than their 4G counterparts. For applications
like remote surgery and autonomous vehicles to become a
reality, a denser networking infrastructure is required. This
infrastructure needs to be able to handle enormous amounts
of data transport, storage and processing at high gigabit
speeds to minimise latency.
Many current 4G LTE networks aren’t yet up to the task
and will need to be 'rearchitected' to handle the exponential
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