What Will the Data Center of 2020 Look Like?
The year 2020 may seem far away, but it is closer than you think. This decade is already more than half over. With 2020 right around the corner, it may seem logical that the data centers we will see will resemble what we have now.
On the contrary, the data centers of 2020 could look radically different from today’s. In fact, you may see the disappearance of vast server rooms with racks of hardware and endless cables altogether.
The technology trends that are gaining influence today will shape future data centers. For instance, legacy infrastructures will be unable to handle the volumes of data and demand for higher availability created by the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT).
Gartner predicts that by 2020 there will be 26 billion connected devices in the Internet of Things (IoT), all generating streams of valuable data from sensors and beacons.
To meet the demands of data growth while simplifying management, IT leaders will look beyond traditional infrastructure models. They will be looking to new software-focused and integrated architectures.
The Rise of Software-defined Data Centers
In the future, IT leaders may use commodity hardware, but the fireworks will be taking place in the software layer. With software-defined data centers (SDDC), compute, networking, and storage are abstracted from the hardware layer and implemented in software. Resources are provided as a service.
With a SDDC, IT leaders no longer need to manage their infrastructure manually. Application programming interfaces allow them to program storage, networking, and compute. Monitoring and management can be orchestrated through a single platform, putting an end to siloed approaches.
As companies recognize the benefits of SDDC, its popularity as a data center model will rise. MarketstoMarketspredicts that the software-defined infrastructure market will more than triple in the next 5 years from $25.61 billion in 2016 to $83.21 billion by 2021.
Going Hyperconverged
Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is another alternative to traditional siloed data center architectures. Gartner predicts that HCI integrated systems will capture a 32% share of the integrated market by 2020. Gartner sees HCI as the third wave of integrative systems, with the first wave being blades and the second wave being converged infrastructure.
Due to its building-block architecture, HCI allows for greater scalability and agility to meet changing workloads. Compute, networking, and storage are included in a single chassis with a layer of virtualization. These units are predesigned, tested, and managed by a single vendor. Scaling up is as simple as adding another block.
Moving Off-premises
While some companies will integrate their resources or shift them to the software layer, others will move their infrastructure off-site. DCD Intelligence predicts that investments in colocation and outsourcing services will outpace spending on end-user equipment by 2020.
When IT leaders move their data center to a remote location with managed services, they pass many of the routine management and maintenance tasks on to their provider. This shift frees up their own staff to focus on more strategic projects that can be profitable for their business.
With a colocation, you can move your chosen infrastructure to a state-of-the art facility with sufficient energy and cooling capabilities and 24/7 security. If your company uses on-premises backup and recovery solutions, in the event of a disaster, you may lose part or all of your data. Disaster recovery in a colocation gives you a better chance of recovering your vital information. Not only that, but you benefit from experts who specialize in disaster recovery.
Designing Data Centers for Mobile Content
Customer demand for low-latency, streaming content has led to the emergence of a new form of colocation: the edge data center. Edge data centers are small colocation facilities that can be positioned at regular intervals outside of major markets. These facilities host cache servers. They allow providers of videos, games, and music to distribute content to mobile endpoints no matter where their customers are located.
Prepare for the Future
Many of the data center models that will dominate in 2020 are already gaining popularity now. It’s never too soon to start planning the shift away from siloed and outdated architectures. Now is the time to design your data center roadmap to be prepared for future requirements.
