The benefits of the cloud are well understood, and it is no surprise that many enterprises are turning to a cloud-first strategy for their IT deployments. Indeed, analyst firm IDC predicts that worldwide public cloud services spending will continue to grow rapidly and reach US$500 billion in 2023.
Yet a cloud-only world is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Enterprises are keeping their on-premises data centre deployments for reasons ranging from performance, need to support legacy systems, and compliance with data privacy regulations that are increasingly being drafted and enforced around the world.
Hybrid and Edge Data Centres
Even the major public cloud providers have tacitly acknowledged this reality when Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services rolled out on-premises solutions designed to support private cloud or hybrid cloud deployments. This gives enterprises the best of both worlds, giving them the ability to migrate workloads as necessary.
Elsewhere, edge computing is also on the rise, driven by demand for the effective data storage facilities for the massive volumes of data generated by IoT applications. Equipment makers are launching solutions designed for the edge data centres, and at least one report pegged the edge data centre market at more than US$13 billion by 2024.
With edge computing, IT infrastructure is moved into data centres that are located either on-premise, or at locations near to end-users. Designed to complement public cloud or colocation deployments, edge data centres offer advantages that neither possess, and are typically used for applications that demand a significant amount of bandwidth, require rapid response times, or are latency sensitive.
Supporting Remove Data Centres
So how can organisations support their IT infrastructure at edge and on-premises facilities? Support for remote access is among the most crucial features on this front, considering how IT team members are unlikely to be physically near. This also offers the added advantage of allowing smaller IT teams to manage large IT deployments.
This calls for dedicated hardware for remote access and management that will work even in the event of catastrophic failures such as operating system corruption or boot failure. Some technologies that make this possible to control and monitor servers centrally range from proprietary such as Intel Remote Management Module, to support for interfaces such as Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI).
A UPS for the Edge
It is vital that edge and on-premises facilities are adequately defended against power outages or transient power issues. On this front, an uninterruptible power source (UPS) such as Schneider Electric’s Galaxy VS is designed specifically to address the unique requirements of edge computing where space and access often come at a premium.
With support from mid to large-sized workloads, the compact Galaxy VS can comfortably support deployments at either traditional data centres or remote edge locations. Site managers or technical personnel can remotely monitor its status at any time using a smartphone, allowing for rapid decisions and remediation to be made.
Its compact design, high-density technology and fault-tolerant architecture maximize availability, operational efficiency, and critical load protection, while minimizing total cost of ownership. Thanks to patented technologies, this UPS delivers up to 99% efficiency in ECOnversion mode, which ensures very high energy savings.
Finally, lithium-ion battery options serve to protect equipment even during repeated power interruptions, while offering longer life than traditional battery solutions. You can read more about the benefits of lithium-ion UPS batteries here.
Edge data centres and traditional on-premises IT deployments are not going away soon. The onus is on enterprises to ensure they get the right UPS for their data centres.
Article by Bhagwati Prasad, Vice President, Business Development, Secure Power Division, International Operations, Schneider Electric