Buyer’s guide: Edge data centers

Data management: Data management systems determine which data can be safely ignored, which data can be processed on site, and which should be passed along to more robust systems, either cloud or on-premises.

Security and data privacy: Edge data centers constitute another attack surface that needs to be protected. IoT sensors themselves provide an entry point for hackers, and edge data centers might be situated in locations that don’t have dedicated IT/security professionals on site. Data privacy is another concern, particularly as these connected endpoints gather and transmit, for example, patient data in healthcare or customer data in retail.

Enterprises should take a platform approach to edge data centers. Trying to build an edge data center infrastructure in a piecemeal fashion could result in compatibility issues and could lead the organization into a technological dead end.

Major trends in edge data centers

“Data gravity” refers to the dramatic shift in how and where enterprise data is generated, driven primarily by the explosion of IoT devices across virtually every industry. The basic concept is that IT infrastructure should move to where the data is, rather than the other way around. That’s the fundamental driver of edge data centers regardless of application or industry.

IDC predicts there will be 41.6 billion IoT devices by 2025, capable of generating nearly 80 zettabytes of data — nearly half of the 175 zettabytes of data generated globally. (A zettabyte is a trillion gigabytes.) Cisco Systems predicts the number of IoT devices will hit 500 billion by 2030, and the trendline indicates that the volume of edge-generated data will exceed all other sources in the near future.

Enterprise and service provider spending on hardware, software, and services for edge solutions will reach nearly $317 billion by 2026; and 75% of organizations say they intend to increase their edge spending by an average of 37% over the next two years, according to IDC.