Micro data centres: from strategy to implementation

This white paper – written by Minkels’ Lead Data Centre Expert Niek van der Pas – offers a closer look at the developments in the micro data centre market. In Chapter 1, you will read all about the growing demand for micro data centres.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE DATA CENTRE MARKET?
The micro data centre market is expected to expand globally from 2,67 billion dollars in 2017 to 8,47 billion dollars by 2022 (Source: Markets and Markets). Looking at the data centre market, 3 drivers that are affecting market demand can be distinguished: the cloud, the growing desire for efficiency and the Internet of Things (IoT).

THE MAIN DRIVER IN THE MICRO DATA CENTRE MARKET: IOT
IoT is the main driver in the micro data centre market and is changing our world at a rapid pace. It has a major impact on the data centre ecosystem and on connectivity. Both the core and the edge layer offer new chances and challenges which are discussed in Chapter 2.

MICRO DATA CENTRES AND THEIR STAKEHOLDERS
Micro data centres can be the answer to the challenges in the edge – when used in the right way. To understand the considerations leading to the selection of the best micro data centre solution, we will first discuss the Data Centre Decoupling Point (DCDP) in Chapter 3. Determining the DCDP is a first step in understanding the level of influence a data centre operator has on the final IT output. Understanding the range of variability with which the data centre design must comply gives an indication of how general or specific a design needs to be. An example of the DCDP is followed by a stakeholder analysis. The stakeholders’ overview discusses the different perspectives of the stakeholders, followed by a business risk analysis which will be translated into availability, security and resource efficiency demands.

EN 50600 - AVAILABILITY, SECURITY AND RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
Chapter 4 examines different micro data centre solutions in greater detail. Aspects covered in
the previous chapters are projected to the practical implementation. Making it possible for you to make the right considerations.

IMPLEMENTING DIFFERENT MICRO DATA CENTRE SOLUTIONS
Chapter 5 concludes that the micro data centre can become the cornerstone of the modern IT Infrastructure fulfilling all the needs of a high demanding low latency highly available IT platform at the edge. For sure optimisations of the size and the feature load will follow in the future but the basis is described in this white paper. If IT, Facilities and the other stakeholders work close together, the solution can provide a solid base for the ever more demanding IT landscape.