Micro data centres have recently emerged as the solution of choice to meet a variety of growing computing needs. In today’s latency-sensitive world, they are also ideal in edge environments to support emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) deployments or autonomous vehicles.
When should an enterprise seriously consider a micro data centre, and what are the top capabilities to look out for?
When smaller facilities are better
Contrary to conventional beliefs, data centre size is no longer a prerequisite to support rapid growth and ensure reliability. In fact, the public cloud is a far better alternative to meet unexpected surges or spikes in computing demand, or to deliver adequate capacity in the event of a catastrophic failure at a colocation data centre. Indeed, a case can be made that two (or more) smaller facilities offer superior reliability to a large deployment at a single location.
One compelling argument for micro data centres is their unique ability to meet diverse and fluid IT requirements. Each data centre can be configured with distinct technologies and modes of operation, with each deployment tuned to address different aspects of the core business or to support new initiatives. The scale of micro data centres makes them easily replicable, offering a seamless way to quickly deploy local compute without the need for local IT support.
Micro data centres can also enable the upgrading of legacy facilities, especially for large organisations burdened with multiple legacy data centres across the globe. Instead of consolidating them into larger facilities and having to deal with issues such as increased latencies or data sovereignty requirements, enterprises can turn to micro data centres. Paired with a modern cloud-based DCIM software (Data centre Infrastructure Management) such as Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure, they can track and monitor the status of their new micro data centre infrastructure in real-time.
Evaluating your micro data centre
When it comes to selecting the optimal micro data centre equipment, look out for offerings that are pre-configured, pre-tested, and offer support for the latest hyperconverged computing hardware. In addition, ancillary capabilities such as environmental monitoring, power distribution and power protection are equally essential. And where ease of deployment is vital, consider a micro data centre solution that offers a “plug-and-play” deployment.
One class of solutions that is increasingly popular would undoubtedly be “Data Centre in a Box” offerings such as those from APC by Schneider Electric. These offer customisable and scalable systems that range from the smallest wall-mount racks to office environment enclosures, and ship integrated with full support for remote maintenance.
The space footprint should not be neglected either, though this must be evaluated in tandem with its suitability for the environments that they are deployed in. Be sure to check if external cooling is available and ensure that the solution is rated to work with the average ambient temperature of the destination.
As the interest in edge computing grows, expect to be faced with future decisions such as the upgrading of micro data centres and who will support these systems once they are installed. For now, be sure to read about how you can physically secure your micro data centre here if you are mulling their deployment at remote locations such as at the edge.
