The insider's guide to a data centre fit for purpose

By Bob Wright, Chief Data Centre Operator, Ilkari

I am not going to lie; we all know what data centres are, but do we really understand why we need them and their purpose in a world flooded with data? Yes, they are massive warehouses packed with computers and servers taking in streams of data, storing and protecting those zettabytes. Data centres are the mothership, the digital filing cabinet that binds our modern digital world; without them businesses would grind to a halt.

Imagine a world without the internet, with no access to information or not being able to process and store all the information your company needs to do business and be competitive.

According to The Conversation our general appetite for data is unparalleled. We generate 500 million Tweets, 294 billion emails, four million gigabytes of Facebook data, 65 billion WhatsApp messages and 720,000 hours of new YouTube content every single day.

But you can’t stop there – you have to heap on the foundational data generated by businesses, financial institutions, governments, public sector organizations – the list goes on…and on. Applications like 5g, IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are driving the demand for data beyond all expectations and then some. (I know, you’ve heard that before).

The purpose part of this story

Each of those business drivers requires massive amounts of computational power. In 2020, the world created, captured, copied and consumed 33 zettabytes of data (ZB) – or the equivalent of 33 trillion gigabytes. By 2025, this is predicted to grow to 175ZM. One zettabyte, by the way, is equivalent to 8,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bits.

If each bit were a £1 coin around 3mm thick, then one ZB would be 2,550 lightyears, enough to reach the nearest star system of Alpha Centauri, 600 times over. Well, buckle up because people and businesses produce 59 times that amount of data, so our journey into the universe would be colossal.

The amount of data we consume is rapidly increasing, so, the question becomes, do you trust who manages, stores, and processes all that data, which is vital to ensure the security and protection of the data we hold?

Is bigger, higher, taller better?

That amount of data is going to need enormous resources and computational power. At the moment, there are about 1.2 million data centres globally. But that is going to increase dramatically as we scale up. The temptation is to build bigger, better, faster data centres and go hyperscale.

Synergy Research Group says the number of hyperscale data centres has passed the 1,000 mark already and it has taken just four years for the total capacity to double. In the next four years, it will double again. According to Cisco, despite representing less than 10 percent of the market, more than half of all data processed in 2020 passed through a hyperscale facility.

But for us, big is not always better. What you gain in scale, you lose in control and accountability. What we find is better is a purpose-built facility that suits your unique needs.

Be a data centre insider; be in control

At Ilkari, we want you to maintain control of your data. We go beyond hyperscale, and operate at a hyper-private scale, ensuring that colocation is at the core of everything we do.

This helps to keep control of operational costs, digital infrastructure, and regulatory compliance. You can rent space and facilities on-site with the security of knowing where your data is at all times.

Here are four reasons why fit-for-purpose data centres with colocation provide these benefits over hyperscale:

Security: You have control over your sovereign data and ensure that every piece of data you store is under your own digital lock and key. Not only are the premises secure, but the servers and backup systems are under your full control too.

Compliance: Our modern data centre, in the Tocancipá Free Trade Zone near Bogotá, is the first in Colombia with the latest ANSI/TIA-942-C Rated-3 certification. The standard covers site location, telecommunications infrastructure, architectural and physical structure of the building, electrical and mechanical systems, fire safety and physical security.

True Sovereignty: Our sovereign cloud solution goes beyond hyper-scalers and hybrid cloud concepts. We build it with open-source technology, preventing vendor lock-ins found with public cloud offerings.

Sustainability: Our data centre was built to be green. Our collaboration with Huawei means it is provided with the highest environmental standards, reducing the heat and energy demands produced by large amounts of computing power.

For us, the game key that unlocks trust and control over your data is being smart and choosing the benefits of a data centre that fits for purpose–your purpose of control.

For more information about how co-location can benefit your business, contact sales [at] ilkari [dot] tech.