Vertiv infrastructure and support experts have identified the following five trends predicted to impact your business in the coming year. With the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies shifted to the cloud, and data centers have become more critical for providing business sustainability.
To manage the digital infrastructure effectively, understanding the essentials of data centers is for companies. Utility-like criticality, digitalization on fast forward, bringing large data center capabilities to small spaces and the edge, 5G energy consumption and methods and sustainability are the five trends for data centers in 2021. Here are the details of these 5 data center trends.
Table of Contents
Utility-like criticality
Like other utilities, data center availability in previously underserved areas such as rural and remote locations is now the expectation, especially as working and schooling from home continue or become a common practice for more of the world’s population. This is yet another catalyst for data center expansion and network fortification as connectivity is paramount. In fact, the distinction between connectivity and availability will be erased, as you can’t have ready-to-use networks without strong, protected connections.
Digitalization on fast forward
COVID-19 will continue its effect on the workforce and the IT ecosystem supporting the new work-from-home model. Data center owners and operators are now going to need better visibility into their increasingly distributed hybrid networks. Those who cautiously implemented monitoring hardware and software in the early stages of the pandemic to minimize the need for on-site service calls are likely to adopt these practices as part of long-term operations.
Bringing large data center capabilities to small spaces and the edge
The increasing criticality of today’s edge has created the need for more complex architectures. Now being much more than a simple IT closet, ensures the availability of these critical spaces requires capabilities commonly seen among hyperscale or large enterprise data centers. These include increased use of system intelligence for better control and more focus on thermal management for improved energy efficiency.
The 5G energy consumption and efficiency
5G technology is expected to bring about unprecedented change for businesses and consumers. 5G conversation is expected to shift to 5G energy consumption and methods for improving energy efficiency. Realizing the promises of 5G requires a dense network that is estimated to increase energy demands 3.5 times more than 4G.
Sustainability comes to the forefront
As the reliance on data centers (especially hyperscale facilities) accelerates, there will be increased scrutiny regarding energy and water usage. 2021 is likely to start a wave of infrastructure innovation especially in the area of thermal management.