DATA CENTRES
“ Colocation still has a role to play in the data centre sector ”
IAN COTTINGHAM SALES DIRECTOR ,
BT WHOLESALE well as rapid growth at the edge , has been suggested to be pushing colocation sites , or carrier hotels , towards extinction .
In November of 2020 , Colt DCS even announced plans to sell off 12 of its colocation data centres in Europe in order to focus its efforts on the hyperscale section of the market . “ Demand for data storage and cloud capabilities has never been higher , and so is the need for businesses to scale and find capacity . By restructuring and focusing on our hyperscale facilities , we can meet our customers ' needs on demand with true scalability and efficiency , while meeting their sustainability targets " said Niclas Sanfridsson , CEO of Colt DCS at the time .
Obviously , colocation facilities aren ’ t disappearing , and won ’ t do so any time soon . But the way in which they ’ re treated by their operators and the customers that use them could see colocation data centres functionally become extensions of the edge , rather than a middle ground .
Are we headed for a future where everything is either a hyperscale facility or part of the edge ? “ If we were talking 10 years ago , we ' d be talking quite generally about a ‘ data centre ’; now , we can ' t have that same simplified conversation ,” explained Robert Davidson , Director of International Operations at Digital Realty when I interviewed him back in 2021 . Traditionally , data centres were - as Davidson put it - just ‘ data centres ’: enterprise colocation facilities that resided within a city ’ s central business district .
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