TALKING POINT
The edge of criticality
Wendy Torell , senior research analyst at Schneider Electric ’ s Data Centre Science Centre , says that the dawn of edge computing requires a specific focus on reliabilty , availability and service demands .
The continued growth of Internet of Things ( IoT ), the rising volume of digital traffic , and the increasing adoption of cloud based applications are key technology trends that are changing the landscape of data centres yet again . Critical applications that once resided in on-premise data centres now reside in large cloud data centres . The result is a hybrid environment , with a dependence on both large centralised data centres as well as distributed data centres on the edge . Many data centres that were once 1MW or more may now consist of a couple of racks of IT equipment running critical applications and / or providing network connectivity to the cloud .
This has implications for the overall levels of security and resilience that may be expected . It also means that organisations need a new approach for calculating the overall levels of availability and system uptime that can be expected from applications that are hosted in several data centres with differing levels of security and redundancy .
It is accepted that centralised data centres have the highest standards for deployment of such functions as data back up , failover systems and physical security . Back ups are performed regularly and punctiliously ; there is ample storage and server redundancy , enhanced by virtualisation , to take up the slack in the case of equipment failure ; and physical security is strictly enforced to ensure no unauthorised access to sensitive areas by those with malicious intent .
The importance of security
Typically , such data centres have redundancy in their critical power and cooling systems to avoid downtime due to failure or maintenance activities . Physical security includes security personnel on duty around the clock as well as biometric sensors and video surveillance of critical entry points to ensure that only authorised personnel gain access to sensitive areas .
Racks containing IT equipment are locked and power and networking cables organised to reduce opportunities for human error from pulling the wrong cables , plugging dual power supplies into the same power path and so on .
Further down the chain , we don ’ t always see the same level of resiliency . Regional data centres may have many of the same security and availability features in place as the larger centralised facilities , however a small edge data centre installed in an office space , network closet or even a basement is unlikely to merit its
10 | March 2017