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Centralised ‘Cloud’ Computing Goes Full Circle with the advent of ‘Edge’ Computing Architecture
There are two main types of edge data centre. The first is a small facility used to serve secondary locations by a service or colocation provider, and the second is defined as a modularised site placed close to the edge of an organisation’s own main network.
Workspace Technology Ltd’s Edge Data Centre Solutions includes both on- site client Micro Data Centre or Edge provision within our own wholly owned Co-Location Facility.
Internet use is trending towards bandwidth intensive content and an increasing number of attached ‘things’ whilst at the same time, mobile telecom networks and data networks are converging into a centralised cloud computing architecture. A centralised approach can often cause operational issues for high bandwidth content such as on premises applications, ‘Internet of Things’ for aggregation and control and high bandwidth content because the internet can introduce delay or latency due to the number of hops, circuit types and congestion during busy periods.
The issue of traffic will only become worse with applications such as Voice over Data, 4KTV and video streaming which are now the fastest growing high bandwidth applications.
This issue around latency is driving process and control managers to rethink strategy, do they put their application into the cloud or do they keep it locally?
Depending on the amount of data that is involved it may well be more cost effective to deploy local infrastructure than pay for the guaranteed bandwidth required to support the two way traffic required to support effective operation of the application.
Concerns around latency will see applications such as industrial process control where processing latency needs to be minimised and others like content distribution networks that need to place data closer to the point of consumption because of the bandwidth considerations. The concept of ‘Edge’ computing addresses bandwidth and latency issues by bringing bandwidth intensive content and latency sensitive applications closer to the user or data source with the deployment of local ‘Edge’ computing technology.
With the emergence of ‘Edge’ computing there is a need to ensure that suitable physical infrastructure including racks, power, cooling and management & monitoring systems are deployed.
Just because ‘Edge’ computing may only require a small number of equipment racks there should be no reason to compromise on quality and capability. Workspace Technology’s ‘Micro Data Centre’ supports the deployment of standardised data centre infrastructure within conventional wiring closets, IT hubs and small server rooms as well as the deployment of pre-fabricated, Mobile & Modular Data Centre solutions.
Workspace Technology’s Micro Data Centre helps avoid the need to integrate solutions from many different IT software and physical infrastructure vendors. It is possible to view the Micro Data Centre as a consolidated appliance that can be quickly and efficiently deployed.
With analysts and manufacturers forecasting a proliferation of localised data centres to support edge computing applications in order to address the requirements of the Internet of Things (IoT), Workspace Technology’s ‘Micro Data Centre’ is well positioned to help address the physical infrastructure requirements.
As with anything located remotely, the ability to be able to configure, troubleshoot and update without physically visiting the site will save cost and time, Workspace Technology’s Micro Data Centre solutions are deployed with a range of monitoring and remote management tools that provide users with the ability to control and understand what’s happening within the local area. Workspace Technology’s support does not end when the equipment is handed over: As a leading data centre infrastructure provider we offer ongoing support and remote monitoring services.
For more information on Workspace Technology’s Micro Data Centre Solutions & Services please contact sales@workspace-technology.com or call 0121 354 4894.