Australian Computer Society x DCA event: Why Fit-For-Purpose is especially important at the Edge
On 17th August 2021, DC Alliance presented about the topic “Deployment At The Edge” to the Australian Computer Society. The below is a summary of the discussion at the event.
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When you think about computing at the Edge, where do you expect that to be? The rural suburbs? For NASA, using Edge technology allows them to collect data from approximately 380 million km* away from Earth - on Mars!
The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover carries a drill that allows it to sample Martian rocks and soil, and state-of-the-art instruments that allow it to analyse geological features on the surface and underground.
Every day, it searches the surface of Mars for signs of ancient microbial life. Like with data centres, information captured is sent back to the Core. In this case, NASA scientists at mission control on Earth. Due to the great distance, it takes about 12 minutes for information to reach Earth, using a store-and-forward network that relays signals using Mars orbiters.
By working at the Edge this way, NASA scientists hope to glean clues to Mars’ past habitability.
Making a case for Edge
That may be an extreme example, but it shows how Edge is increasingly becoming a vital part of our everyday lives. For example, Edge helps Augmented Reality (AR) applications to perform seamlessly, sending needed data from mobile phone to server with low lag. This way, the changes you see on-screen appear in real-time to match your physical viewing angle.
Internet of Things (IoT) devices and the race towards autonomous driving are also factors pushing demand for higher bandwidth and lower latency, as is the promise of seamless connectivity and greater reliability that 5G networks bring. All of the above are pushing the growth of data centres at the Edge, so that the promise of changing the way we live, work and travel can be fulfilled.
The difficulty of transformation
The ‘holy grail’ for an IT application is to be deployed at all three locations (end node/on premise, metro edge and public cloud) with the network seamlessly routing users to the service location that makes the most sense from a performance, security and cost perspective.
However, what’s the most ideal for your company isn’t always readily available from a single supplier in the market. Thus, CIOs constantly find themselves dealing with digital transformation pain points when trying to execute their company’s vision.
These three are the most common:
1. Putting together the best components from the digital marketplace
It’s difficult to find the best solutions all under one roof. Besides having to manage several fronts, CIOs/CTO’s also often lack internal as well as external support, making it tough to even set change in motion.
2. Combining piecemeal and varied solutions to fit wide-ranging needs
IT teams and department heads also struggle to balance their spending, as it is a fine line between keeping pace with recent trends while ensuring their IT investments are able to continue to serve their purpose in the coming years.
3. Lack of support to pursue a more digital approach
While stakeholders may be committed to embracing digital transformation, the path to achieving on-ground positive outcomes is a long and winding one. Without support to take them through the transition, companies may give up before realising the benefits.
A better solution
We understand the difficulties of Digital Transformation, and we know full well the challenges of operating at the Edge. Edge needs the support of the core to work properly. We see Edge as part of an integrated ecosystem; near users but with the support of the core to allow you to get to the cloud effectively.
That’s why we’ve built up our “full function” data centre to allow us to propose our solution – “Fit-For-Purpose.”
In our terms, that means providing you with an integrated stack of service offerings that is completely geared to your specific technological requirements. Whether you need engineering expertise, networking technology, or backup services, we work with our various partners to create a custom offering that completely fits your purpose.
To further back that up, we offer a pay-as-you-use model so you can easily scale up (or down) your workload as business demand changes. Whether its Applications, Virtualization, Storage or Networking, working with our range of partners ensures that you have flexibility and scalability that completely fits your needs – at every step your business takes.
And because we’re owner-operators ourselves, we know full well the concerns that you may encounter, so we’re here to help, along with all the partners in our eco-system. If you want to speak to someone at DCA, just drop us an email!
*Depending on the distance of Mars from Earth at its current location.