The traditional data center and the data centers of the future, better known as the “Next Generation Data Centers (NGDC) are very similar in functionality. Both are designed and built to store data and applications for purposes like file storage and sharing, productivity applications, big data analytics, and email.
Next Generation Data Centers rely on software-defined technologies as their logical layer, allowing for better control of physical and virtual resources. These centers make use of more advanced technology, and are, therefore, capable of higher efficiency and better performance. One of the biggest priorities of an NGDC is automation—streamlining workflows and reducing the burden of manual upkeep. And the best news for data center managers and CIOs is that you don’t need any more physical space or real estate to build a NGDC. In fact, because Next Generation Data Centers are virtualized environments, leveraging the cloud and flash storage, they can help organizations consolidate their data centers’ physical footprint and drive agile operations and efficient acquisition processes.
Using the next generation of data center technology ultimately helps you in several key ways:
- Flexibility – The software-defined data center (SDDC). There’s practically no limit to the ways you can use a Next Generation Data Center. No longer purely limited by the hardware layer, you can customize your data center to serve almost any conceivable need. Think of this as the logical layer within the data center. Security, storage, networking and even the data center now incorporate software-defined technologies.
- Sustainability – Dynamic resource allocation and much higher efficiency mean your NGDC is going to yield superior performance, but it also needs to be sustainable. OceanTech believes that Next Generation Data Centers need to be fully green and energy-efficient while maximizing the recycling of all data center materials, ensuring a fully eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable data center ecosystem. Sustainable data centers can be achieved by utilizing green resources – electricity, land, and water – and maximizing the recycling of used materials throughout their life cycle.
- Improved Security – When it comes to data security, organizations need to adopt a virtualization strategy that enables network security infrastructure to be as dynamic as the rest of the environment or they will wind up with many of the same cost and complexity problems that plague traditional data centers. Next Generation Data Centers offer numerous security-related upgrades. With better software-level controls, administrators can tightly control accessibility, and with resilient architecture, you can rest assured that your data’s integrity will be preserved.
- Lower costs – Next Generation Data Centers not only save money on equipment and construction, they also conserve energy which accounts for a big portion of a data center’s budget. Ultimately, the combination of the aforementioned benefits can lead to lower total costs, without sacrificing performance or reliability in any way.