THE EDGE
Safety and security
The majority of edge data centres
are designed to protect their valuable
infrastructure and the data it holds.
However, while cybersecurity dominates
conversation around the subject nowadays,
it’s important not to overlook physical
security measures such as the use of
biometrics in addition to key cards and
more traditional means of identification.
Fire safety is a key consideration and must
be viewed from a specific data centre
perspective. In order to prevent specialist
equipment suffering water damage, for
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example, the installation of special inert
gas-based systems is required in place of
traditional sprinkler systems.
any eventuality and design their physical
layer infrastructure to accommodate a
number of upgrades over its first three to
five years.
Forward to the future
It is essential to ensure that any data
centre is ready to deal with whatever the
future may hold. After all, with the first
commercial rollouts of 5G happening this
year and all that this entails, the volume
of data due to be processed at the edge is
expected to be huge.
Service providers looking to embrace the
cloud and virtualisation should prepare for
The points outlined above offer an overview
of just some of the considerations service
providers should bear in mind when
building an edge data centre.
Ultimately though, with demands
around latency, bandwidth and customer
experience growing – and showing no sign
of slowing in the foreseeable future – the
key is to accommodate today’s needs and
prepare for tomorrow’s. ◊
www.intelligentdatacentres.com