Why DC colocation service providers need to be IOT-ready

The world of the internet is progressively integrating with the world of physical ?things?. Because of this merger, the Internet of Things (IoT) has arisen; a giant global network is connecting all web-enabled products, including people. From your refrigerator and automobile to the cosmonaut circling the earth, our virtual world will connect billions of smart devices. This will create an ecosystem where these ?things? will have the capability to sense, interact and communicate with each other and influence actions without human involvement.

This graph shows the number of IoT devices that will be available by 2020. Now with this increase in a number of devices, the amount of data produced will also upsurge. The increase in data will also give an opportunity to businesses in utilising that data to know their customers? better. This also means that all data centers need to prepare themselves for the increase in data, not just in terms of storage but in other aspects as well.

Why Do Data Centers Need to Be Ready for IoT?

Businesses are shifting their operational models to compete in a world where everything is connected and constant. To tether to this change they need fast data transmission and storage space.

Co-location data centers can help these companies compete by providing them quick, scalable and efficient services. Plus, co-location data centers offer geographically distributed data centers to enterprises who need proximity to their end-users and IoT devices. However, the provider of data center co-location services will also need to be ready to the boom in data that IoT will bring with itself.

Reasons why data center co-location service providers need to be ready for IoT :

1. Volumes of Data Storage

The data of the Internet of Things can come from personal devices, everyday products and large enterprises. The combination of data from these sources can lead to astronomical growth in the quantity of data that will have to be stored in a data center.

Statistics suggest that every day more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is being created and processed and it will likely rise in the next year. Though data centers have some amount of scalability is always planned for, they will have to plan better for this situation.

2. Security and Privacy of Data

With an increase in the quantity of data, the security measures to protect that data in the data centers also need to be strengthened accordingly. The numerous devices used to access data by the clients will also add to the concerns about breach of privacy. These devices may be a small phone, tablet or even a laptop. Moreover, with the introduction of Personal Data Protection Bill or PDPB bill, it has become imperative for data centers to improve their security measures.

3. Network Requirements

Most of the co-location data centers come well equipped for bandwidth necessities for access to the data. However, with IoT, the number of connections and the speed of access would both have to undertake substantial improvements. The growing number of devices will also need carrier neutral and carrier dense data centers to reduce costs and increase reliability as well as flexibility of the operations.

4. Scalability Options

The surge in the storage requirement of data could also lead to a challenge in the way of the configuration of storage and servers. It is necessary that the co-location data center structure is adaptable enough to make the storage and access most well-organised.

5. Cost-Effectiveness

The type of detailed backup data that is possible in the current data center landscape may not be possible with the incorporation of IoT. The CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) and OPEX (Operating Expense) may also not be affordable in terms of the required network bandwidth and data storage . This might boost a requirement for disaster recovery plan with a well-thought-out frequency of performing the operational activities.

Amidst all these, the one question that may arise in mind is that if the data centers need to go through so many changes why not opt for the cloud services? Here is the answer:

As IoT becomes more dominant, we can expect an effective increase in the amount of data company?s processes. Moreover, as the volume of data expands, the limitations of public cloud platforms will become even more evident. The cloud is not predominantly well-suited to run the applications upon which Big Data hinges on. It primarily relies on the ability to transfer massive amounts of data speedily for which public cloud is not suited.

For any enterprise that relies on Big Data for its revenue, the best choice is to move servers, applications, and data into a tier-three co-location facility like STT GDC India . It is a better option than relying on cloud platforms that offer inadequate insight or control of the underlying infrastructure. Moreover, the economic and technological burden of lifting vast amounts of data into the cloud is not a good strategy.

The IoT means an increase in the number of data centers in more regions, and co-location service providers are ideally suited to check these needs. Especially in the initial stages of IoT, where new types of information will be shared, companies may feel more comfortable opting for co-location than private cloud services. While this means more business for the data centers, it also involves them being ready for the oncoming wave of IoT.