Big data is changing the world, forcing enterprises, service providers and government entities to deploy bigger, faster computing resources to capture and process an ever expanding avalanche of data from multiple sources. This rapid growth can put a huge strain on your existing data centers as they struggle to increase processing power and storage capacity within facilities that were built before the introduction of today’s high-density, high-capacity systems. So when you need to grow your data center, do you expand in your own home-grown facility or a look to a multi-tenant location?
Your organization is probably faced with the choice of expanding or improving your on-site data center, or turning to off-site data centers that provide infrastructure specifically designed to handle increased server densities and provide higher levels of reliability, redundancy, greater efficiencies and lower costs. Also, you might need to address complex requirements and criteria driven by compliance with new regulations specific to your industry, which your existing facility may not meet.
There are many reasons to use off-site data centers, including network accessibility, power reliability, dense cooling capabilities, geographic diversity and expansion, secure data storage as well as business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities. Off-site data centers do not require the additional capital that would be needed to improve or expand your own data center, freeing up funds to help solve the challenges listed above.
Today, organizations increasingly rely on systems deployed in the data center. Converged communications platforms now live in the data center and link all users globally to each other and their critical business systems. Cloud based applications and mobile applications service users on the go via numerous access methods, all of these apps and services are now mission critical. Further complicating your decision are the need for software applications to be constantly available and adapted to meet new requirements, and the continued evolution of hardware architectures — both of which require constant diligence, planning and forethought.
Whether you’re planning to expand your primary data center, relocate your critical IT to a new data center or add a secondary or DR facility, we can help. With nearly 350 multi-tenant data centers around the globe, we have the range of capabilities and network connectivity to help you plant the seeds that help your data center services grow, be it in your own back yard or in our community garden.
I’d like to share with you an example of what our Level 3 Data Center’s look like and encourage you to let me know what you’re thinking about when it comes to handling big data and evolving your data center strategy:
About Allan English
