Data Center Journal

VOLUME 45 | AUGUST 2016

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In the past, most of the large enterprises tried to pull their remote data centers together and create either one central data center, or several smaller (but still very large) units in the vicinity of their key locations. Recently, it turned out that if we put this model upside down we may expect quite amazing results as decentralized group of data centers can be more effective than one big facility. In some cases this model offers better performance and help reduce costs. This is how edge computing came into being. LIVIN' ON THE EDGE? Edge computing is based on the idea that small data centers located close to the end-users can be more efficient than tradi- tional, large-scale, units. It's edge because this technology pushes computing power to the edges of a network. is helps us make sure that the system is available regardless of network load, natural disasters, tempo- rary lack of resources, and local political events. 1. LOW NETWORK CAPACITY In the age of the Internet of ings, Smart Cities and advanced entertainment systems the amount of data being trans- ferred by the network is constantly growing. Whether you are managing an airport, a form of public transport or a shopping center, you are part of creating the space that is actively used by residents, clients and tourists alike, you can learn more about Smart City: http://smartcity.comarch.com/. Streaming content such as video or other large files, e.g. medical documentation, can slow down the network. Edge computing is one of the possible solutions in this case. An online movie provider, Netflix, for instance, has recently partnered with hun- dreds of ISPs to cache content at locations closer to the end user of the services. 2. SYSTEM UNAVAILABILITY Edge computing emerged as a response to temporal unavailability of big data centers. Typically, everything works just fine until a disaster occurs. Imagine that severe weather conditions (e.g. torna- dos, floods) hit the area. is could damage Author: Lukasz Lacniak, Business Solution Architect, Comarch UK basic servers as well as backup facilities. In the less pessimistic scenario, there will be a lengthy blackout. It is still enough to ruin someone's business. 3. LOCAL ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES Another problem is a huge impact of big data center on the local environment. Large data centers consume vast amounts of energy and can exhaust some local ener- gy grids. Distributed data centers, in turn, are able to spread energy use among several locations. Moreover, large data centers need cooling water. It is widely known that in many places in the world corporations work together with local authorities to use underground sources of water to cool big data center facilities. Usually, such a solution is a costly business. 4. POLITICAL BARRIERS Due to political circumstances data centers can face some big and unexpected changes. For instance, on October 24, 2015 the European Union overturned the Safe Harbour Privacy Principles. For 15 years this agreement allowed to transfer data from the EU to the US but suddenly some privacy concerns occurred, and the law has changed. Having many smaller data centers in different places in the world can save an organization from painful transformation forced by the law. 3… 2… 1… OR HOW SMALL SUPPOSED TO BE? Given these conditions, vendors now compete to provide services based on a dense network of local data centers. Some companies went one step further and offer so-called heat-and-compute servers. is market already has a couple of prominent players, including German company Cloud&Heat, Qarnot (France), Nerdalize (the Netherlands), and Exergy (the US). ose companies sell units that can warm the building using the waste heat from the server. ere is even an idea to distribute smaller cloud servers to provide heat in offices or living rooms. But this is not edge computing anymore. e smaller the better? Not in this case. As Robert Gates once noted "the move to the edge is less about opening data centers in rural areas such as Bristol, S.D. (population 341) or Moscow, Maine (population 512), and more about moving to Tier 2 cities ". In Europe such cities are Barcelona, Porto, Marseille, Manchester, Geneva, Switzerland, or Kra- kow. Globally, it is Melbourne, Montreal or Cancun. An ideal place for edge computing is not the biggest city in the country or region, but a sufficiently large one. ONE SIZE FITS ALL? CERTAINLY NOT. Edge computing is without doubt one of the most powerful trends in the past months. e fact that local data centers located close to the end users are getting more popular does not preclude the fact that traditional data centers and cloud comput- ing are in good shape. What we really need is a harmonious combination of edge and cloud computing. is is a new standard. Source: http://internetohingsagenda.techtarget.com/news/4500249068/Concerns-about-quality-IoT-devices-to-push-edge-computing www.ict.comarch.com services@comarch.com Is there room for smaller DATA CENTERS? GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS CONSIDER EDGE COMPUTING AND DECENTRALIZATION

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