Data Centre Magazine August 2022 | Page 107

According to market forecasts , the global IT power footprint for infrastructure edge deployments will increase from 1GW to over 40GW .

In order to fuel this growth , predictions from the recent Linux Foundation ‘ State of the Edge 2021 ’ market report estimate a US $ 800bn expenditure on new and replacement IT server equipment and edge computing facilities between 2019 and 2028 . Obviously , such investments will be paramount to sustain sector growth on this scale .
Valuates Reports has corroborated these predictions , anticipating a monumental growth in the global edge computing market , from US $ 8.23mn in 2021 to US $ 55.93mn by 2028 .
In order to successfully satiate the world ’ s growing reliance on data and the rise of the IoT , data centres have had to rapidly expand their infrastructure . And for many , edge micro facilities offer an efficient , affordable and highly beneficial way of managing new market demands .
But , will this be enough to sustain such a surge in demand ? And , what exactly is the future set to look like for micro data centres at the edge ?
But edge data centres provide a solution that hyperscale sites can ’ t . Namely , they provide data sources that are opportunistically positioned at the ‘ edge ’ – ie at the location where the data is actually being used . By using edge data centres , large data centres can expand their services , improve their service efficiencies , and ensure providers are able to cope with the ever-increasing demand for data . Plus , all of the above can be achieved without requiring a reconfiguration of the site ’ s existing infrastructure .
What are the benefits of deploying micro data centres at the edge ? Running in constant parallel to the growth of their hyperscale cousins , micro data centres are also experiencing a rapid , consistent growth . And , as with data centres of any size , this is a growth trend that is set to continue long into the future . datacentremagazine . com 107