Why Scaling up the Capacity of Data Centres is Vital
The need to collect, store, process, and retrieve information is constantly growing, obliging data centres to develop strategies for expanding their capacity. At the same time, the increased incidence of malware and other forms of cyberattacks, combined with stricter data protection laws, has made tight security a vital issue for any company that is required to store information in digital format.
While the link between pollution and global warming is well established, the underlying cause of the latter is a world population rapidly approaching nine billion. However, a less obvious but equally significant consequence of this trend is that the need for additional information storage space grows with each new birth.
In 2010, it was estimated that the volume of data stored globally was in the region of two zettabytes. That’s two trillion gigabytes. Today, that volume is approaching 80 zettabytes and is expected to exceed 181 within the next two years. Furthermore, 99,9% of that information is in digital form.
Data storage technology has improved vastly since the early days of hard drives and floppy discs. However, although cloud and decentralised storage offer a partial solution, data centres must continue to update and expand their existing infrastructure if they hope to benefit from these new opportunities.
Expediting the Expansion of Data Centres
Firstly, financial directors must accept the importance of investing in the future. A relatively modest capital investment today could secure their operations for years ahead. It would be unwise to rely on the possibility that technological advances like AI and future developments will solve today’s problems.
On the contrary, while leveraging the growing range of artificial intelligence applications can accelerate and significantly improve the outcomes of many complex day-to-day tasks, AI also generates masses of data, adding to the problem of maintaining adequate information storage space. At some stage, your current installation will inevitably no longer cope with the burgeoning volume of data you are required to process. Centre managers, therefore, should not doubt that prevention is better than cure. The best time to take action is before the event.
Essential Strategies for Expanding the Capacity of Data Centres
Designing an effective strategy to cope with growth in a data-storage environment can be challenging. The following suggestions should provide centre managers with some helpful guidelines.
- Make Flexibility a Priority: IT departments are constantly pressured to achieve more and to pursue continually changing goals despite having limited resources. Often, their abilities are limited by outdated legacy stems or limited connectivity. Migrating your data to a carrier-neutral facility might be one way to help you expand your options and become more flexible.
- Focus on Scalability: Failure to plan for growth quickly results in constraints that could threaten business expansion. What might have been adequate during the startup phase will eventually fail to cope. Only by investing in new and improved hardware with increased capacity can you guarantee continuing to meet your client commitments.
- Don’t Overlook Security: Ensuring the safety of the data on your servers is paramount. The more you have, the greater the potential consequences of a security breach. Securing digital information requires both physical and digital precautions. Firewalls, encryption, VPNs, and antivirus software are all invaluable but only part of a fully comprehensive solution. Don’t overlook the possibility of an internal breach. In addition to your routine hierarchical login credentials, it might be worthwhile to consider installing a biometric access control
- Seek the Help of an Expert: Whatever your plan, it would be wise to leave the implementation to someone who fully understands the ongoing needs and operation of data centres. For on-site and off-site solutions and data security, many companies in South Africa rely on CCI Technologies.
Don’t wait until your data becomes unmanageable. Instead, get in touch to learn how we can help you upgrade and expand your IT services today.
