EXPERT OPINION
Jürgen Hatheier , Chief Technology Officer , EMEA at Ciena
a key example which requires far lower latency because this type of gaming reaches its optimal performance when running on remote servers . Hence , servers in Edge Cloud data centres would be ideal because gamers would no longer have to worry about buffering and lagging issues . In addition , in a cloud gaming scenario , gamers would no longer require dedicated hardware , such as a traditional gaming console . They would continue to play their games using gaming controllers , but they would be connected to a gaming app on their device of choice . In an Edge Computing model , gaming videos could now be streamed to the gamer ’ s device from a server in an Edge Compute data centre . To match the performance of a local gaming set-up , both the low latency of these connections and the required bandwidth of gaming video , increasingly 4K , must be served from the cloud edge .
IoT services also require low latency and high network performance , particularly when it concerns smart manufacturing , as companies want to reduce manufacturing defects and maximise the safety of workers . For example , with a 5G network , a manufacturer can improve factory productivity by adding thousands of sensors to machines so that it can remotely monitor the status on the supply chain and assembly line . This has become even more important now that we have entered this new COVID-19 world where more businesses are looking at remote processes to help improve efficiencies .
E-learning is another key use case to watch out for . At the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic , many schools and educational institutions had to make an unplanned and swift move to digital learning and tackle bandwidth and latency issues . Fast forward to now , students have headed back to school inperson . Although , the uncertainty of this pandemic could mean that educational institutions could once again become heavily reliant on e-learning resources and collaborative communications platforms . If this happens , institutions and schools will demand their student ’ s data be hosted at the edge to address privacy and security concerns .
Establishing an adaptive network to support Edge Cloud
Currently , today ’ s centralised cloud is comprised of more than 10,000 data centres scattered across the globe . In the next five years , we will see tens of thousands of additional scaled-down data centres at the edge of the network – forming the Edge Cloud . In fact , the annual global Edge data centre services market is expected to increase by more than US $ 7 billion by 2024 , according to ResearchAndMarkets . com . This shift means data centre numbers will explode across the globe , with thousands of Edge data centres set to rollout .
This data centre expansion also needs to be supported by advanced networking and software capabilities . Automation and analytics will play an important role , particularly because the automation of Edge Cloud workloads allows applications , processes and services to meet demands in real time . Not only that , but predictive and Big Data analytics will enable networks to become more efficient and smarter to the point that they start to anticipate network demands before requests are even made .
As the UK continues to prepare for the rollout of 5G , data centre expansion should be at the forefront of the conversation . With Edge data centres supporting 5G networks , we will be able to achieve the speeds and bandwidth it is set to promise . And , if network providers and cloud providers – even uniquely designed Edge Cloud-only providers – get this right , it will become a key growth driver for our industry . The business impact will be in the trillions of dollars . And how we function at home and at work-at-home , on the factory floor or in the vehicle , will become a much more immersive and productive experience . ◊
AS THE UK CONTINUES TO PREPARE FOR THE ROLLOUT OF 5G , DATA CENTRE EXPANSION SHOULD BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE CONVERSATION .
42 Issue 22 www . intelligentdatacentres . com