Jan 25, 2023
0 Data Center

The Future of Data Center Security and Compliance

With the growing Data Center market, imbibing new security technologies and compliance are a higher priority for DC service providers.

Future of Data Center Security & compliance

Data Centers are increasingly being used to store and process sensitive data, making their security and compliance with industry regulations more important than ever.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies

One trend likely to shape the future of data center security is the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies. These technologies can be used to detect and respond to security threats in real-time. They can also help to improve compliance by automating the monitoring and reporting of security-related data. For example, AI-powered security systems can automatically detect and respond to anomalies in network traffic, such as a sudden spike in traffic from a specific IP address.

The Growing Use of Edge Computing

Another trend likely to shape the future of data center security and compliance is the growing use of edge computing. Edge computing refers to the use of small, decentralized data centers that are located closer to the source of data, such as at the edge of a network. By bringing data processing closer to the source of data, edge computing can reduce latency and improve the performance of data-intensive applications. However, it also raises new security and compliance challenges, as these smaller data centers may have a different level of security and compliance than larger, centralized data centers.

Regulatory Changes and Compliance

In addition to these technological trends, regulatory changes will likely shape the future of data center security and compliance. For example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires organizations to take several steps to protect the personal data of EU citizens. Moreover, similar regulations are likely to be adopted in other countries. As a result, organizations must ensure that their data centers comply with these regulations, which may require additional security measures and reporting requirements.

The Growing Use of Cloud Computing

growing use of cloud computing

Finally, the future of data center security and compliance will likely be shaped by the growing use of cloud computing. Cloud computing allows organizations to outsource the storage and processing of their data to third-party providers, which can provide significant cost savings and operational efficiencies. However, it also raises new security and compliance challenges, as organizations must ensure that their data is secure and compliant when stored and processed in the cloud.

In Conclusion

The future of data center security and compliance is likely shaped by several trends and regulatory changes. Therefore, organizations will need to stay up-to-date with these developments and take steps to ensure that their data centers are secure and compliant. This may include investing in new technologies such as AI and edge computing and ensuring compliance with regulations such as GDPR and other similar regulations.

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Dec 29, 2022
0 Data Center Data Centers

Datacenter Security in the Age of Cyber War

Data centers are essential to the global economy’s future.

Certainly, as more people and organizations migrate to the digital realm, the demand for efficient information processing grows. Data centers serve as communication networks even remotely, enabling end users to access information quickly.

Data centers are more important than ever at a time when remote working environments are expanding and becoming more common.

Data centers are much more than they appear. They are central to a digital transformation movement.

The global data center market is expected to reach $105.6 billion by 2026.

The expansion of data centers shows no signs of reducing. On the contrary, there is an increasing demand for greater digital data access, processing, and storage.

Global Data Center Market

Understandably, the combination of remote working trends and a tech-savvy culture indicates that the data center market size will continue to grow indefinitely.

Growth, however, has its challenges.

One of the most significant barriers facing data center expansion is how the sector can comprehend to manage its security issues.

Data security concerns 76% of business data centers.

Data security is the company’s first worry, as it can expose enterprises to unintended data loss, corruption, and exposure. However, security solutions can be time- and money-consuming for data centers that handle vast amounts of data.

Simply put, assume you have million dollars & you are responsible for safeguarding them. Would you leave it open for criminals to steal or lock it away?

This parallel applies to your data center, a virtual goldmine of information. Still, many businesses prefer to do the bare minimum regarding data center security. The data center of your organization, which consists of connected computers, servers, and devices that process, distribute, and store valuable information, is an integral part of its digital infrastructure. The mix of policies, methods, procedures, and technology that protect data centers from cyber attacks and other virtual dangers is known as data center security.

So, what data security standards should you be aware of to meet and maintain compliance?

Let’s talk about it.

Firstly what data can be found in the data center, and how can the data be exposed?

It should be no surprise that data security is critical for any business. It’s priceless information that can make or extinguish your business. Examples of data contained in a data center include proprietary information like intellectual property and trade secrets, as well as personal and financial information from clients.

  • Customer trust and reputational harm: Why should your customers trust you if they know you aren’t protecting their data (or even your intellectual property)?
  • Noncompliance fines from industry rules: PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SAE 18 (previously SAE 16), and ISO 27001: 2013 are among the regulations that have data center security standards.
  • Financial losses and revenue loss: Organizations are concerned about downtime because it could result in large revenue losses.

Tip for Datacenter Security in the Age of Cyber War

Datacenter Security

Tip #1: Data Center Security at Physical Level

When people evaluate the security mechanisms to secure their organization’s data, they often overlook the physical security aspect. Why? They are frequently focused on concerns about data loss hazards caused by cyber assaults and data breaches.

Businesses may need to realize that physical security threats can be among the most damaging.

If you’re building your own data center rather than using a cloud or colocation data center, it’s critical to plan out the physical space of your data center ahead of time. This includes selecting if your data center should be in a remote location or in a more crowded area.

But, in terms of security, what else should you consider when choosing a location for a data center? Keep an eye out for weather-related hazards and low-lying places. Keep an eye out for heated geological zones that are prone to earthquakes.

If you intend to build in a more densely populated region, you can conceal your data center by making it blend in with its surroundings.

Physical Security Measures for Data Centers

Aside from the location, there are numerous other physical security concerns. Datacenter hardening can comprise the following measures:

  1. Walls and structures made of reinforced concrete can defend the facility from external attacks.
  2. Server cabinets and cages that are anchored to the ground and locked.

3. Temperature and humidity variations are monitored and regulated via environmental controls.

Tip #2: Invest in the Right Tools to Protect Your Data and Network

Traditionally a solid data center security plan employed perimeter-based security solutions to monitor and protect your network from both internal and external threats. But, nothing is constant in security, and this is especially true when it comes to the basic approach and model that many firms are adopting.

Zero Trust cybersecurity is a term that isn’t necessarily new but has become increasingly relevant as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Zero Trust solutions are quickly becoming the norm for remote and scattered employees. The concept is that no person or device, whether inside or outside the system, should be automatically trusted.

If you wish to harden your data center’s cyber security even more, you can (and should):

  • Audit your assets, security management processes, and access protocols regularly.
  • You can protect data between endpoints via network encryption and on the server by using server-level encryption.
  • To continuously monitor logs and report on security events and threats, integrate automation and security information and event management (SIEM) solutions (or use a third-party service).

Tip #3:  Monitor and Restrict Physical & Virtual Access

However, more than having door locks and cameras are needed to secure your data. It would help if you also kept an eye on digital access. Why? According to IBM and the Ponemon Institute’s 2019 Cost of a Data Breach Report, 49% of data breaches were caused by human errors and system malfunctions rather than cyber attacks.

Tip #4: Have Redundant Data Backups and Infrastructure in Place

No matter how often we discuss data backups, more is needed. As you’ve read in the news, ransomware and cyber attacks have impacted major municipalities, hospitals, and companies. However, for some reason, organizations prefer to refrain from taking the necessary safeguards to create redundant data backups.

Is it due to laziness? Perhaps it’s the “it won’t happen to me” mentality. Regardless of the reasons why they shouldn’t, having redundant backups – both data and secondary infrastructure — in place can save you a lot of time, money, and problems. When the crap hits the fan — and it will, inevitably — you’ll wish you’d taken the time to prepare.

Tip #5: Keep Your Servers and Systems Updated

Nobody enjoys taking time out of their day to run tedious updates and patch their systems. After all, you have far more essential things to attend to, don’t you?

Keep your servers and systems updated

When manufacturers offer patches, it is their means of plugging any security holes found in their devices. It’s similar to fixing a hole in your roof to keep rain from spilling or leaking through. It’s their technique of patching the flaw before a lousy man can exploit it and cause problems.

Final Thought

Your network computers, servers, and other critical components are kept in your data center. In a calamity, it serves as a safe refuge for your data.

You have less control over the physical security measures in place if you consider hiring a cloud or managed hosting service provider than you would with an in-house data center. However, you can request compliance reports from the service provider, giving you more confidence in their security capabilities.

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Nov 16, 2022
0 Cloud Computing

8 CLOUD COMPUTING TRENDS FOR THE FUTURE

8 CLOUD COMPUTING TRENDS FOR THE FUTURE

Technology is gaining ground daily and transforming both our personal and professional life. Additionally, the market for cloud computing is expanding more quickly. The cloud computing industry is experiencing a number of exciting advances. Both the new and established corporate sectors have welcomed them with open arms. The market for cloud computing is anticipated to reach $623.3 billion in value by 2023.

This blog will discover the value of cloud computing options and the Cloud Computing Trends for the Future

Cloud Computing Trends For The Future

8 CLOUD COMPUTING TRENDS FOR THE FUTURE

Sustainable Cloud

Companies have seen their energy usage drop by up to 65 percent simply by moving some of their infrastructures to the public cloud. As a result, their carbon emissions have decreased by as much as 84 percent. You can significantly reduce your server needs and, thus, your energy usage by focusing your resources on your most crucial tasks.

Up to 59 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions can be avoided annually by shifting data to the public cloud, which is the same as taking 22 million cars off the road. This big cloud computing trend will only become more significant over time.

Increased cross-platform integration flexibility

The market is moving toward hybrid and multi-cloud systems, which enable the deployment of infrastructure across numerous cloud models, with their platforms acting as a one-stop shop for businesses’ cloud, data, and computing needs. Customers are increasingly asking big cloud providers such as ESDS to make their systems more accessible and to take down barriers that prevent the use of multi-cloud techniques.

With the help of cross-platform integration, businesses can work collaboratively to share data with external participants in the value chain who are working on multiple applications and utilizing various data standards. The multi-cloud advanced trend might open up new business prospects and give start-ups a chance to offer cutting-edge services that make it possible to collaborate seamlessly across different cloud platforms.

Cloud gaming

In 2022, one of the cloud industries with the highest growth will likely be the gaming sector. Leading global companies like Amazon and Tencent offer specialized cloud computing capabilities to the video game industry. Additionally, gaming is imitating Netflix and Amazon Prime Video by offering players access to enormous game libraries via the cloud, which can be downloaded and played for a price.

In 2020, cloud gaming services from Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft were all launched in opposition to Sony’s PSN network. Despite the PS5 and Xbox’s recent releases, experts believe that it will be soon that buying expensive specialized gaming hardware is no longer necessary. Cloud gaming will dominate the gaming entertainment market.

Faster & efficient Cloud computing with AI

The biggest cloud computing development in recent years has been cloud computing plus artificial intelligence (AI). AI is now available to everyone because of cloud computing. Regardless of budget or skill level, SaaS and PaaS vendors have today made AI accessible to enterprises of all sizes and sectors. Self-driving cars, 5G, cancer research, smart city infrastructure, and crisis response planning are a few examples of the industrial uses for AI capabilities made possible by cloud-based infrastructure.

Additionally, the use of AI in the management and upkeep of cloud data centers will grow. AI optimizes numerous crucial infrastructure elements through monitoring and control, such as hardware networks, cooling systems, and power consumption. As this field’s research picks up speed and makes significant strides, we can anticipate that cloud services will become quicker and more effective.

Multi-Cloud

In the future, more businesses will create cloud-native applications with little to no architectural reliance on a particular cloud service provider. By developing a stronger understanding of their cloud requirements and the cloud market, organizations will be able to expand more clearly than they have in the past. However, this paradigm shift depends on the development of cloud capabilities because time-to-market is advancing quickly, and the capacity to accommodate altering workloads enables businesses to profit from even the smallest trends.

The process of adapting cloud technologies to your particular business is ongoing and requires ongoing effort and control in order to produce savings. Although this approach by itself won’t solve your application portability issue, multi-cloud plans that prioritize risk mitigation, functionality, and feature acquisition will significantly improve your cyber posture.

The innovative and adaptable services offered by the public cloud may enable the multi-cloud strategy to scale more quickly and efficiently. This will take place without abandoning the benefits of the private cloud, such as improved cost-effectiveness, quicker reaction times, and regulatory compliance.

Cloud Automation

Due to the governance challenges associated with a multi-cloud strategy, many firms are turning to automation to simplify the management of their public, private, and hybrid cloud systems. Businesses have a rare opportunity to design comparable infrastructure across platforms securely, thanks to cloud-agnostic technologies.

Engineers would benefit from being able to access all of their many cloud services in one window, so dashboards, for example, can be supported by such technologies in the future. Such a clause would also increase the prospects for machine learning. Particularly in a multi-cloud or hybrid cloud environment, organizations are looking for analytics to help them compare the performance of their clouds. If you run your business without a firm understanding of its effectiveness, you leave your company more open to a hostile environment. Your business may create more contingent data with the use of machine learning capabilities, better preparing you for present and upcoming threats.

Containerization

The 1950s saw the advent of shipping containers, which completely altered the world economy. Finally, a standardized procedure for bundling loose goods and moving them from one location to another was created. After 70 years, containerization is back in style, but it’s on the cloud this time.

Encapsulating a program and all its dependencies in a condensed, standardized set of libraries and APIs is a process known as containerization. All components are stored and shipped using a standardized process, ensuring that a program runs quickly and consistently across a range of platforms. Because each container is merely tens of gigabytes, a single server may host multiple programs, saving money on hardware and upkeep.

DevOps can deploy container apps directly on top of the cloud application layer because many cloud providers offer them as part of their consumable services. Because each program is wrapped separately in a consistent configuration, this strategy significantly increases security, scalability, and load times.

Data fabric

One of the main effects of cloud adoption is the desegregation of information technology because interoperability is necessary for security, optimization, and interpretation services. As a result, the term “data fabrics” is removed from its analytical context and repositioned as a significant cloud industry promise. Simply put, a data fabric is a network that serves as both an access point and a connector for various sources, types, and locations of data.

By the end of 2022, 90% of businesses will view information as a significant organizational asset, making analytics a critical skill. To eliminate silos and give businesses seamless data access, administration, and security across cloud providers, APIs are utilized in data fabrics. Using their dispersed services, these centralized data management frameworks assist businesses in gaining a single perspective of their operations and escaping vendor lock-in.

THE WAY FORWARD

In order to maximize the benefits of your cloud services, you must be committed to change and agility. These numerous trends are inherent to the cloud and will continue to accelerate as usage increases, and the cloud is tuned to provide more precise insights. Tracking and analyzing these patterns will assist your business in gaining access by utilizing the expertise and knowledge of the sector. These gateways will be more crucial for long-term growth in 2022 and beyond as the world adopts cloud services.

As the epidemic shakes, the world, businesses, and organizations are realigning their digital strategies. Before now, companies resistant to new technology have started to accept cloud services more quickly. If you, too, are looking for a Cloud service provider, there are a number of cloud service players in the market, ESDS being one of them who, along with the Cloud, also provides managed services.

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Feb 22, 2022
0 Data Center

Top 7 Data Center Solution Providers in India You Should Know

Top 7 Data Center Solution Providers in India

Arising Need for More Data Centers in India

India has witnessed a digital boom in this past decade, which is only going to rise exponentially in the future. As per a study by Statista, India is the second-largest online market in the world and the projected number of internet users in India will reach 650 million by 2023. The consistent hike in internet users, government interest in digitizing India’s market with its ‘Digital India’ initiative, and the arrival of the 5G network add fuel to making India a truly digital nation. This growth also generates a huge demand for data center infrastructure.

Top 7 Data Center Solution Providers in India

Owing to the need for Data Center Infrastructure in India, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is planning to introduce a national policy framework for data centers across the country. While big tech giants are already providing data center services and solutions in India, there are still local data center service providers that are dominating the Indian market. What gives a competitive edge to local data center service providers over global data center service providers is their better understanding of Indian businesses’ needs and subsequent service offerings. What’s more? The government’s data localization law has led to higher significance for the regional data centers. Let us take a look at the top 7 data center solution providers in India.

Top 7 Data Center Solution Providers in India

1. ESDS Software Solutions Ltd.

ESDS is a very common name in the Indian tech world for being one of the leading managed data center services and auto-scalable cloud solution providers. ESDS operates three data centers in India, which are located in Navi Mumbai, Nashik, and Bengaluru. These data centers have state-of-the-art infrastructure and are highly secure with high uptime levels and 24×7 technical support.

ESDS serves across various industries including BFSI, Manufacturing, Education, Healthcare, Hospitality, eCommerce, Agriculture, IT & Telecom, Government, etc. ESDS claims to have the largest baking customers in India with a total number of 400, Furthermore, it serves 150+ organizations utilizing their SAP HANA cloud services, and over 200 government institutions using their cloud platforms.

2. CtrlS

Dubbed as Asia’s Largest Rated 4 Hyperscale Datacenter, CtrlS has Data Centers in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Noida, and Bengaluru. The company claims to be serving 60 of the fortune 500 companies.

3. Sify Technologies

Sify is recognized for its wide array of ICT Solutions and Services. With its breakthrough technical offerings in the Indian market, Sify also provides data center services in India and has 10 operational data centers with 24*7 tech support and caters to over 8500 enterprise customers. It has also set its footprints in the United States.

4. STT GDC India

Formerly known as Tata Communications Data Centers Pvt. Ltd. has 21 Data Center facilities across nine cities in India. The organization has been a catalyst in data center innovation and is serving 1000+ customers globally.

5. Yotta

Yotta Infrastructure provides hyper-scale tier IV data center solutions in India. They have proven expertise in offering colocation, hybrid multi-cloud, Managed IT, and security services. Currently, they have a data center in Navi Mumbai and are coming up with new data centers at Delhi NCR, Chennai DC Park, Pune, Kolkata, and Gujarat.

6. Netmagic (An NTT Communications Company)

Netmagic Global Data Centers is a division of NTT Ltd. It has 10 data centers in major cities and 160 data centers across 20 countries. It is a leading data center in India in terms of market share. It has been a recipient of hyper-scale data centers, multi-tenant data centers awards and has also won managed to host service provider of the year.

7. Web Werks

Web Werks offers data centers at multiple locations in India. Each of these data centers meets the highest requirements in terms of security, availability, scalability, and best-in-class service support and uptime.

To Conclude

Identifying the market needs, many Indian data center service providers are expanding their data center facilities and are ensuring to build data centers with the latest features and world-class standards. As per a report by JLL, India’s data center industry will see a double growth and cross the 1GW mark by 2023 and the capacity will grow from 499MW in H1 2021 to 1008 MW by 2023. Considering how crucial is data in today’s time, it is only wise to choose the best data center service providers that have expertise in providing services for your industry vertical. Be wise, choose right.

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Feb 15, 2022
0 Data Center

Data Center Predictions for 2022

Data Center services

The outburst of the ongoing pandemic in late 2019 and throughout 2020 & 2021 forced various CIOs from different industries to enhance their focus towards gaining operational agility. To remain competitive in their business domains, it is getting inevitably essentially important for a business to adopt Digital Transformation & prioritize their technology trends, such as Data Center Services. Apart from the technological front, CIOs and business heads also must emphasize talent retention & improve business relationships with their stakeholders. Various top Data Center providers have time and again highlighted the challenges associated with Data Center growth &  the role of Data Center Solutions in creating a digitally ready futuristic society.

Data Center Predictions for 2022

Impact of Pandemic on Demand for Data Centers in India

The outcome of an IT spending survey suggests more than 65% of enterprises of Indian enterprises have understood the benefits of opting for a Cloud-based service to acquire new clients, serve the existing customer base & gain profitability. About 81% of corporate organizations have adopted Cloud Services owing to the pandemic as the implementation of work from home culture got predominated. During the first quarter of 2020, the spending of enterprises on Cloud infrastructure enhanced by ~35% compared to Quarter 4 of 2019 (Source: Ken Research).

Data Center Services in India.
Source: Interview with Industry Experts and Ken Research Analysis

The research clearly inferred that the pandemic served as a blessing in disguise for Data Center Services in India.

Expected Trends in Data Center Industry

1. Growth of Edge Computing

Recently, there has been a multi-fold demand for highly available & low latency networks, with end-users demanding digital content services. Organizations aim to enhance their IT flexibility by providing an improved customer experience. End-users are also looking to use Colocation Data Center services to out-grow their edge computing capacities in their core areas. Instead of having a centralized repository for all their assets, enterprises look to create diversified network data that remain closer to their end-users. Edge computing offers users high-performance networks for their work-related requirements.

2. Growth of Small Data

Small Data is usually linked with edge computing in applications demanding lower latency. Small data infrastructure boosts a faster analysis for all those data that demand high availability & bandwidth. It is important to understand that small data doesn’t eliminate Data Centers; rather, it facilitates their usage since edge computing processes data locally. Overall, this boosts the need for applications with low latency, connecting devices to colocation Data Center providers. Thus, it is clear that there will be a broad-scale adoption of devices that will use Small Data capabilities in the coming years.

3. Resiliency & Uptime Continues to Be the Core Focus Area

Assuring maximum uptime for hosted critical applications & data is always the top priority for any Data Center services provider. However, maintaining uptime has been a challenge as more companies are now opting for a hybrid infrastructure, involving backup and failover strategies, including Cloud, Colocation & on-premises facility. On the operational front, users continue to optimize their IT infrastructure to match with any failure or outage, with its impact depending on the Data Center provider.

4. Accelerated Investments in Regional Markets

The influx of global capital has increased digital infrastructure growth in all regions. Much of the capital investment is being made by adding more Data Center Services across major Data Center market chunks. In 2022, there will be a deep penetration of some best Data Centers within Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities due to localized users’ data hosting & security needs.

Indian markets have witnessed an increased focus on Data Recovery & Disaster Recovery Management services being offered by leading Tier 3 Data Centers in India, driving the expansion of the market across different cities. High penetration of OTT in the rural market has resulted in an increased need for Data Centers Services in India.

Below is the illustration depicting the details of upcoming gross space Data Centers by region (in India) based on new space additions (in %). This is from March 31, 2020, to March 31, 2025.

Data Centers Services in India.
Source: JLL, Industry Articles, Interview with Industry Experts, Ken Research Analysis

5. Liquid Cooling Data Centers

The Data Center industry is continuously changing its focus to adopt liquid emersion cooling Data Centers. In the coming year, significant advancements will be made in this direction due to reassessed cooling demand for avoiding usage of excess water for cooling hardware.

6. Cloud Diversification: Emergence of Multi Clouds

Today, Enterprises don’t rely on a single Cloud Provider to manage their technological needs. Instead, they tend to avail services of a single Cloud provider, often termed as Multi-Cloud. With Multi-Cloud, enterprises enhance their capability to transform their business areas completely. Enterprises can migrate, modify & redeploy their workloads with different Cloud providers and address the changing needs of their customers.

7. Microgrids

The concept of Microgrids is becoming a notable trend as a notable on-site generator within the premises of some best Data Centers. With microgrids in place, Data Center Services get access to multiple energy sources, ensuring they operate independently of the installed energy grid in case of outages or disasters. Data Center microgrids can be easily integrated with renewable energy sources, resulting in in in lower carbon emissions. Microgrids can be of great significance as the Data Center providers are looking to become green Data Centers through these alternate & clean sources of energy.

8. AI & Automation for Easing Data Center Tasks

The current pandemic resulted in a reduced number of on-site technicians and domain experts who could handle any data center problem. Advanced technologies like AI & Machine Learning can be of great help in remote management & monitoring of Datacenters. Automation could find its best usage for driving infrastructure management using robotics. With huge volumes of data being generated & stored within Data Centers, it will utterly surpass human handling capabilities. Hence, efficient usage automation & AI could result in accurate managing & monitoring of data stored within Data Center hosting. These technologies also have an important role in determining user data patterns & preferences.

Concluding Words

These are only some of the prominent trends that will positively impact the Data Centers, influenced by challenges thrown by the pandemic. With data volumes rising persistently, there might be more disruptions emerging, resulting in enhanced data hosting within Data Center services. Implementation of Advanced Technologies will boost Data Center hosting services by multi-folds.

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Dec 14, 2021
0 Colocation

Managed or Unmanaged Colocation: Which One to Choose?

Managed or Unmanaged Colocation

As an end-user, if you have decided to opt for colocation hosting for your web servers, you need to determine the best colocation option for yourself. The first option is to physically take your machines to the colocation provider’s location and use their racks. At the same time, the second option could be renting out the server machines from the colocation provider. When you decide to take the machine to the provider’s location, it is usually termed Unmanaged Colocation. When you rent out server machines from the provider, it is known as Managed Colocation. Be it managed or unmanaged Colocation. They significantly impact a Data Center’s maintenance, pricing, processes, & applications that run on the servers residing in the Data Center.

What is Colocation?

Colocation or ‘Colo’ is the practice of leasing out server spaces and other computing hardware at the premises of a colocation services provider. Colocation services generally include a physical infrastructure where everything is present at one place comprising networking devices, physical security & other cooling components needed for supporting servers & storage offered by users. With a colocation hosting service in place, businesses have to share the costs related to hardware. Usually, some of the best colocation providers have the capability to store numerous servers, generators & uninterrupted power supply. Also, the providers are standardized with industry certifications, much like other hosting providers.

Benefits of Colocation Services

1. For a business of any size, colocation hosting services help them to save their initial infrastructure investments. The Colocation hosting infrastructure costs are shared amongst other enterprises that are availing the service of the colocation provider. Additionally, colocation hosting provides state-of-the-art services like robust security & redundant bandwidth to an end-user. Smaller enterprises can be benefitted from larger IT departments without incurring any huge expenses.

2. One of the financial benefits of colocation services is minimized downtime, and downtime for a few seconds could cause huge monetary losses. Through a scalable infrastructure & supporting resources such as bandwidth, diversified power sources, etc., colocation providers ensure near-zero downtime and smooth functioning of hardware even during physical disasters.

3. Colocation service providers ensure multiple layers of security are deployed through smarter mechanisms. Colocation Data Centers are strategically placed at a distance from the client’s on-site. Additionally, an on-site IT support team is kept for monitoring the security of technology assets. Colocation providers also offer industry-leading security mechanisms that allow easy restoration of physical & virtual data in case of losses or disasters.

4. With colocation hosting, businesses can guarantee that enterprises are easily able to handle traffic surges with ease. For this, colocation providers offer enhanced levels of bandwidth, while this spike in data is shared with other tenants present on the colocation server. This ultimately reduces the overhead bandwidth cost for an individual server tenant.

What is Colocation

What is Managed Colocation?

Managed Colocation is a bit different from traditional colocation hosting. In managed colocation hosting, the provider is responsible for managing a business’s IT infrastructure along with the physical hosting of these. Other managed services like security, backup, and storage are also offered in Managed Colocation services. Managed colocation hosting can be an ideal option for those who’re looking to retain their infrastructure with a certain level of expertise in server management. For smaller businesses, the biggest advantage of Managed Colocation is that it helps their costs in terms of physical space and the need for hiring IT expertise & infrastructure.

What is Unmanaged Colocation?

In an unmanaged colocation hosting costs related to housing & protection of servers are done by the colocation provider. Here, the end-user can directly benefit from the Data Center’s infrastructure, and however, the user is responsible if the server malfunctions. Unmanaged Colocation services vary from provider to provider, with one thing in common: providing a safe & secure passage for housing the servers. Unlike managed colocation hosting, the user has to perform all sorts of software upgrades, monitor configurations, patches, security & troubleshoot if any problem persists.

Colocation Data Center Industry Growth

The colocation Data Center industry is at a growing phase and has witnessed growth at a CAGR of 10.4% during the period Fiscal 2015 – Fiscal 2021. The industry has gained significant traction during the pandemic phase due to pent-up demand from different business verticals. The past few years have witnessed the emergence of several new players in India, resulting in increased supply. Several Government-led initiatives such as Draft Data Center Policy 2020, Data Localization policy have accelerated the demand for Data Centers in India.

Wrap Up

The final choice between managed and unmanaged Colocation should be carefully determined. CIOs and business heads must consult with their internal staff & experts regarding how much of the servers they wish to keep in-house. The decision should be made by keeping in mind the long-run benefits that the business aims to achieve.

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Sep 14, 2021
0 Data Centers

Determining How CDN Can Be Beneficial for Enterprises

CDN solutions 1

Businesses often use a Content Delivery Network or CDN to reduce the delay & latency on a network. CDN uses multiple & geographically scattered Data Centers, also known as Points of Presence (PoPs). When it comes to image hosting, static images can be deployed across these servers that ensure quick delivery, thus reducing the download time.

What is a CDN?

A Content Delivery Network or CDN defines a system of multiple servers containing replicated data present & stored across different PoPs. A rightly implemented CDN Solution helps in improving the data access as it increases bandwidth, thereby minimizing the latency. A CDN Solution comprises various elements like video downloads, image downloads, applications, and other objects. A trusted CDN provider comprises multiple & localized Points of Presence (PoPs) or Data Centers connected over the Internet.

How CDN Works

CDN Solutions contain several replicas of static resources present in the website and then cache these across various Data Centers that are geographically scattered. Whenever there is a website visitor, the visitor is presented with core and dynamic content present. The user updates the content frequently, and the static content present in the website uses their source URLs to be rewritten, delivered from different geographically scattered Data Centers.

Types of CDN

There are two basic models in any CDN Solution: peer-to-peer (P2P) network and peering/private models.

  • Peer-to-peer Network Model

This CDN Model is highly decentralized and made up of systems of individual users having access to certain files that can be extracted from the servers. In a P2P CDN Model, it becomes feasible for the CDN users to host their website along with the associated files. The biggest drawback of this CDN Model is security, and the complete processing of collecting files at a single destination can sometimes become a challenging task.

  • Peering/Private CDN Model

In this CDN model, enterprises ensure servers are geographically scattered. Each of the localized PoPs contains replicas of user files, and when a website visitor visits it, they can download the files from the Data Center that is present geographically closest to them. In a peering/private CDN model, the loading time gets enhanced multi-folds and secures the website from any crashes or failures.

How CDN Benefits?

With a CDN Solution in place, the following benefits are gained by users-

  • Speed

A CDN Solution assures website visitors by serving files directly from the Data Center present geographically closest to them. Such localized Data Centers reduce the distance traveled by the file and the number of relays & steps. This enhanced speed offered by CDN Solutions can be of great help, especially in large-sized files, as they tend to take a longer time than the small ones.  Smaller images have very low loading times and are fetched quickly from the nearest Data Centers.

  • Provides Alternates to Hosting

Users often use webservers for multiple reasons. The primary concern rests with the fact the website visitors are geographically dispersed, resulting in lower loading & accessing speeds. With a CDN solution deployed, it becomes easier to determine the main server and the hosting provider that meets the increasing needs of website visitors.

  • Reliability

CDN Solutions are well known for delivering redundancy. There is a constant risk of webservers facing physical damage or lags in the installed software. In case a node is not available, and a CDN solution is deployed. The network reconfigures itself for delivering the user requested data from the best node present in the network. In the case of websites, it is proven that hosting images enhance viewership by multi-folds; however, a single PoP can hamper the website’s performance during traffic surges. With a Content Delivery Network in place, the network distributes the load by redirecting the image requests to different CDN servers. As the load is distributed within the network, images and other media files on the website get loaded at faster rates.

  • Security

CDN solutions are often used by business heads handling highly confidential & sensitive data. CDN helps such CIOs & CTOs from these industries by providing them a high-level cyber defense against attempts made for hacking. Such security mechanisms are implemented on a broad level, benefitting every end-user.

Concluding Remarks

Content Delivery Network or CDN plays an important role in reducing the time taken by web hosting servers to process and deliver the user requested content. It also minimizes latency by fetching data from the nearest Data Centers present in the network, resulting in lower delay. Longer delays in data loading result in lower user experience, but with CDN, this problem is easily addressed, and user experience gets enhanced. Besides faster loading & data replications, CDN ensures that during scenarios like traffic surges, network downtimes, the website remains secure & safeguarded across the network. For websites, it plays an important role in improving their ranking.

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Aug 4, 2021
0 Colocation

Colocation Benefits – A simplified solution

Colocation hosting refers to the transfer of your IT infrastructure to a third-party data center. The data centers are extremely dependable, secure, and have a fully redundant infrastructure. Co-locating your web servers to a data center is always a good idea because it offers many advantages and provides a secure physical environment for your server.

Colocation web hosting provides all of the extra capabilities while also protecting data from natural calamities. Customers who have their own server can host it at a purpose-built Data Center, which is referred to as colocation (or Colocation Center). Customers pay for rack space in which to store their server while maintaining control over it.

There are numerous benefits which can be classified as follows:

Cost-effective

The colocation service is considered one of the cost-effective solutions for your servers to maintain. Basically, you don’t need to build and maintain the in-house requirements that your server demands can cost you valuable capital in facilities, Internet connectivity, and maintenance personnel. The colocation hosting providers have such kind of full facility available with their infrastructure.

Reliable Uptime

For server owners, uptime is always a big worry. With a colocation facility, one can rest assured that his server will be up and running at all times. Everything in a colocation center is redundant, so if something goes wrong, the colocation customers’ server and network equipment will be unaffected because redundant systems are in place to automatically replace the ones that went wrong.

Air conditioning systems, UPS (uninterruptible power systems), power generators, utility electricity, network routers, redundant Internet backbones with plenty of extra capacity, and redundant onsite network engineering employees are all examples of this.

More Security

Security is of prime importance when it comes to the servers or leasing any services for your IT equipment. Data centers are generally considered to be secured and well-established infrastructure. Data centers should be monitored 24-7. Your systems should be housed in a state-of-the-art data center, with redundant air cooling and filtering systems, designed to operate even in the event of a power failure. Data centers should be located and built to withstand natural disasters and other emergencies.

Network Speed & Reliability

Every server owner is concerned about getting good performance and dependability. The gear is designed to withstand both a climate-controlled environment and power conditioning. You can use server hosting to have access to enterprise-level backup and monitoring capabilities.

Many colocation service providers use BGP and have multiple Internet backbones and redundant Internet networks entering their facility. When a firm sets up a network at an office, they typically only receive the Internet bandwidth capacity that they require, such as a single T3, which is 45 megabits, or an OC3, which is 155 megabits, without redundancy.

Outage Protection

When deciding whether or not to move computers to a data center, power redundancy and backup are critical considerations. Power generators and backup power supplies are frequently used in colocation data centers to provide redundancy. This will allow networks to stay up even if there is a long-term power outage. Colocation providers frequently provide flood and fire protection for servers.

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Jun 24, 2021
0 Data Center

Data Center Checklist – Key Pointers to Consider

Data Center Checklist

In today’s Data-Driven world, Data Centers have an important & indispensable role to play. They are the home to numerous servers that drive the Internet and networking. Recently, the world has witnessed a massive transition in the technologies being deployed in these Data Centers. Server Visualization and powerhouses offering high-speed connectivity are seen as technological upgrades.

Data Center Checklist

However, any end-user of Data Center needs to consider some critical components, which are listed below-

  • Security

Today, Data Centers store vast volumes of critical data that are processed and distributed across used for driving valuable insights. This data varies in terms of vitality and confidentiality. Hence, security is one of the significant factors that must not be compromised at any cost. The capability of servers to encrypt the data, uplink security, etc., are some worthy aspects to consider for enhancing online security. Additionally, there also needs to be a proper hardware security recovery plan, which can be implemented in case of an unforeseen disaster or mishaps. Hence, servers and other hardware must be adequately secured against thefts and natural or human-induced disasters. Thus, the user needs to choose a Data Center provider that ensures the highest levels of security on multiple layers.

  • High-Speed Connectivity

High-Speed Connectivity is an important aspect when selecting a Data Center. Businesses usually like ‘High Speed,’ ‘High-Speed Servers,’ etc., but these are misleading. A Data Center user needs to understand that High Speed refers to the backbone network that connects Data Centers users and providers. Besides all this, the Data Center providers should also offer customized Solutions like routers, switches, load balancers, and their blueprints. A professional Data Center provider will go beyond providing traditional services and ensuring the guaranteed uptime.

  • Reliability

Reliability is an important consideration when evaluating a Data Center provider. It becomes essentially important to have robust backup plans and RAID offerings. The power systems must offer high backup, and the power equipment is well-versed in tackling emergency situations. As an end-user, he must carry out extensive research and review checks about the Data Center provider and the service quality level that they offer. Discussing the requirements with a Data Center provider like ESDS can make the decision process faster and efficient. Data Center users must have a clear idea about their provider’s Disaster Recovery mechanism and the guarantee levels for securing the critical data.

  • Redundancy

Today, most of the leading Data Center providers have their Data Centers located at multiple locations and different seismic zones. These redundant Data Centers help in the faster recovery of data in any unforeseen disaster event. The data present at these redundant Data Centers are secured by multiple level cyber and physical security. A reliable Data Center Hosting provider will have its different Data Centers in different seismic zones to avoid losses due to natural disasters.

Wrapping Up

The points mentioned in the above section are some critical aspects when looking for a Data Center provider. Users must carry out in-depth research and carefully evaluate Data Center providers on these parameters. Providers offering their own Data Center are keen to offer their infrastructure with the utmost security and end-to-end management. Some Data Center providers also offer a wide array of web hosting services if a user wishes to use them.

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May 12, 2021
0 Data Centers

HYPERSCALE DATA CENTERS: INDIA’S DATA CENTER EXPANSION

There will be an expansion of data centers in India as digital users are growing unprecedentedly.

Indian consumers are among the significant users of social media services. Facebook has a practically equivalent number of users in India if compared to the US. Data localization will require storing all user-related information that incorporates the need for Facebook and other social media platforms to store its data and soaring data center demand in India.

The requirement for data center infrastructures in India is developing dramatically, as the scale of cloud adoption as well as data utilization and generation of half a billion digital users in India, is growing unprecedented.

Increasingly more Indian companies are hoping to evolve into digital-first businesses, with a characteristic movement towards increased cloud-driven advancements in all cases.

The spread of COVID-19 has halted different data center development projects in India. Experts at Arizton expect that the pandemic will respectably affect forthcoming projects expected to be opened in Q4 2020 and Q1 2021. In any case, the spread of Covid-19 has fundamentally led to the growth of data traffic from March 2020.

To give all-time availability services, administrators are taking careful steps for their on-location workers. Hence, the COVID-19 effect on data center operations is expected to be low in India.

According to a new report (covered by Fortune India), jointly penned by real estate services company Anarock, and Mace, a London-based consultancy and construction company, stated that India will see an expansion of at least 28 enormous hyper-scale data centers in the coming three years.

The Anarock-Mace report contends that these hyperscale data centers will length over 16+ million sq. ft. with at least 1,400+ MW of IT power limit. This is almost “0.6 million sq. ft. What’s more, 50 MW per facility on an average per hyperscale data centre. It further mentions that India will see a significant development in the data center industry, driven by expanded data consumption and policy incentives.

According to another study, local vendors will rule the colocation market; nonetheless, the presence of worldwide sellers is expanding by means of inorganic techniques. Further, as the investment in technologies such as AI, big data, IoT increases, there will be a surge in demand for application-specific infrastructure solutions in India.

Source

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