Edge computing. It’s certainly a water cooler topic for those in the high performance computing (HPC) industry. But could edge computing be the next big thing for the data center industry, as well?
Download the full report.
A recent white paper from EdgeConneX explores how many data center providers, colocation companies — and colo customers — are turning toward the possibility of edge data centers to solve some of today’s concerns over high internet traffic and bandwidth overload.
The problem, or catalyst for the push to the edge for more localized data centers closer to the end user and colo customer? In part, “internet traffic bottlenecks,” says EdgeConneX.
And at the same time, cable operators and other broadband providers are seeing network transporrt costs increase, while cost per port or data packet continues to drop. But they don’t have much of a choice but to carry the ever-growing traffic load.
Take this stat, for example: Cisco Systems’ latest annual Visual Networking Index forecast projects that global internet traffic will grow threefold from 2015 to 2020.
Contributing to the expected surge is in part the “online video phenomenon.” Think Internet-connected TV devices, streaming media players and mobile video, for example.
On top of rapidly growing internet traffic, cable operators are also facing some regulatory challenges, including the strong net neutrality rules that the FCC recently adopted. The “Open Internet” rules explain what CSPs can and cannot do to manage the rising data traffic on their networks.
Regulations are shifting, traffic bottlenecks are escalating, and end users are noticing a difference. According to EdgeConneX, in light of these developments and more, the use of localized Edge Data Centers or EDCs could relieve many of these issues — instead of using the standard large, centralized data centers in “far off locations.” This serves to deliver bandwidth-intensive content and latency-sensitive applications close to end users.
“With more people using Internet, broadband speeds rising, more consumers wartching online video, the number of mobile devices exploding and webpage sizes steadily increasing, interest traffic is exploding and shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.” — EdgeConneX
The new white paper contends that the use of EDCs could produce significant cost savings for CSPs both nationally and regionally — as well as improve the experience for end users.
“Going local and getting close to the edge really can make the difference. The sooner providers can start doing that, the better of they will likely. be, along with both their residential and commercial subscribers,” the report asserts.
The new EdgeConneX report covers the following topics:
- Battling the Traffic Bottlenecks
- The Growing Traffic Congestion Problem
- The New Neutrality Conundrum
- Localizing traffic Management & Content Offloading
Download the full white paper, “Making the Case for Edge Data Centers,” courtesy of EdgeConnex.