INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Data Centres
MACHINES
ARE ONLY AS
GOOD AS THEIR
ALGORITHMS AND
PROGRAMMING.
for connected devices could reach US$7
trillion by 2020, this stress is only going to
become more profound, not least on data
centres, which must adapt to cope with the
additional demand.
Machines can process information nearly
as fast as they can receive it. In the data
centre in particular, decisions are made
instantaneously, requiring a strong
supportive network backbone. Indeed,
where data centres once simply acted as
storage units for data, they now compute,
analyse and process information, and
they need to do this in real time. It’s
little surprise then, that one of IDC’s top
predictions for 2018 is the ‘modernisation’
of data centres, in which they make ‘heavy
use of predictive analytics to increase
accuracy and reduce downtime’.
Fibre everywhere
The advent of 5G is going to change
everything and network operators and data
centre managers alike will need to prepare.
The sheer volume of devices communicating
with each other and with humans will lead to
a significant increase in the amount of fibre
being deployed, for example, although much
needs to be done behind the scenes before
this can happen.
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Wireless networks need a lot of ‘wired’
assets to effectively deliver fibre backhaul
to the core and edge. The densification of
cell sites, adding more cell sites to increase
the amount of available capacity, will be
required to enable 5G, and we’ll also see
a number of different types of powering
solution come to market, offering operators
a cost-efficient way of powering up many
devices at the edge of the network.
THE EXPLOSION
IN MACHINE-
TO-MACHINE
TECHNOLOGY WILL
REQUIRE A CHANGE
IN MIND-SET.
Deploying copious amounts of fibre is
a best-case solution, however, and may
not always be feasible. The most efficient
scenario in allowing fast machine-to-
machine communication would be to deploy
high density fibre from the start, future
proofing the investment by using a modular,
high-speed platform capable of supporting
multiple generations of equipment.
Not all plain sailing
As the number of devices continues to grow,
and the volume of machine-to-machine
communication with it, there will, inevitably,
be problems. Machines are only as good
as their algorithms and programming,
after all, which makes them vulnerable to
manipulation by humans and even other
machines. As a result, there are certainly
concerns around data privacy; with more
devices than people in the world, it’s fair
to say that we’ll become increasingly
vulnerable to hackers and data thieves.
With additional concern that machines will
take over jobs previously only performed
by humans, the explosion in machine-to-
machine technology will require a change in
mind-set for it to be fully adopted.
However, with network operators and data
centre managers taking steps now to ensure
that they are ready for what’s ahead, the
ground will be laid for the rise of the machines
in an increasingly connected world. n
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