The global data center market is expected to grow into a $22.73 billion business, according to research firm Research and Markets. The study predicts between 2015 and 2019, the industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.3%. Migration to cloud technologies and massive data generated by the growing “Internet of Things” make investment in IT infrastructure a driving force in capital expenditure.
Here are three key data center trends to watch in 2016:
Colocation
Many companies are trying to find ways to cut costs associated with IT infrastructure in order to spend capital on more progressive ventures such as software development and data analytics.
Colocation is said to provide a cost-effective alternative for companies looking to moderate spending on new data centers. This is one key reason the data center colocation market is expected to grow from its current $22.8 billion in spending to a $36 billion business worldwide by the end of 2017, according to a new report from 451 Research. The report predicts “between now and 2017, the global [colocation] footprint will grow close to 75%, while global revenue will grow 63%.”
Scalability, security and maintenance are factors that make colocation a cost-effective business model.
“With colocation you have the option of adjusting your amount of data center space as needed, paying only for what you use,” a blog post from data center operator OnRamp said. “As a result, you won’t have to worry about the costs of building a new facility, or wasting space in your current one.”
Hyperconvergence
In another cost cutting measure, companies are beginning to combine elements in the data center ecosystem using automation and virtualization. The “Internet of Things” will bring together data from technologies such as power and cooling systems for increased energy efficiency.
Automating the analysis and actions of these systems is set to further that efficiency. “Automation of data center management activities will become the norm to reduce the work load and human errors, and to speed up responsiveness to equipment failures,” Yossi Ben Harosh, president & CEO of RiT Technologies said in a blog post on Data Center Knowledge.
IoT is expected to supply IP-connected temperature and humidity sensors, power meters and CPUs that transmit operational server data to colocated data centers under one automated umbrella.
Harosh also predicts IT system components to become increasingly connected under a single software layer. “Virtualization will become a driving force for hyperconvergence, especially as virtualization exposes the inefficiencies of SAN storage and the need to virtualize the storage and network layers,” he said.
White box servers
The explosion in demand for streaming video content – to both homes and mobile devices – has set the stage for cloud-based content delivery, supported by constantly expanding server-packed data centers.
In this climate, cloud providers like Amazon.com, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have begun to eschew traditional servers made by companies like Dell and Hewlett-Packard in favor of less-costly, purpose-built white box servers.
This industry movement is reflected in the economics. Consider recent research from the Dell’Oro Group, which found more than one-third of all servers shipped in North America in the first quarter of 2015 were white box servers.
“While the growth in servers destined for cloud deployment has benefited various vendors, including the top U.S.-based server vendors, it has disproportionately bolstered the performance of white box server vendors,” Dell’Oro Group director Sameh Boujelbene said. “This is because most of the growth in the cloud data centers during the quarter was driven by the big four (Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft), who are mainly deploying white box servers.”
Joe Sanchez of VMware summed up the “why” of white box servers in a recent article.
“My point is this. To cloud providers like Google and Amazon, compute, space, bandwidth, efficiency and lower infrastructure costs are key to their success,” Sanchez explained. “I’m not saying we should all build our own servers, but do we need most of the stuff we’re buying? If all you need is compute that can be swapped out when something dies, then white box is good enough.”
