Mini data centres are gaining global stature

The average data centre is a gigantic facility where thousands of servers bleep and blink as they process terra bytes of global data.

The biggest data centres are in China where the size can be 7 to 10 million square feet. Even in the Europe and the US the size of data centres can be three to seven million square feet. Most such data centres are located in remote locations away from urban areas.

The large data centres offer economies of scale but are extremely energy-hungry. As the world becomes more connected, the amount of data to be managed is growing exponentially. Not all regions and countries can afford to set up gigantic data centres.

Consequently, there is now a rising argument for setting up small and mini data centres. Moreover, locating the data centres closer to users in business districts, rather than remote regions, has a big advantage. Data centres that are close to users can offer reduced response time, which is often measured in milliseconds. Real-time data computing demands the lowest level of latency to minimise delays in information flows.

In some ways the wheel is turning full circle. When the cloud computing trend began, data centres took away the load from corporate premises to distant but large facilities. However, as computing demands and data flows are gushing at higher speeds, the need for local data centres has risen, too.

The micro and mobile data centre market is expected to double to $6.5 billion from its current size, according to a report by the research firm MarketsandMarkets. “The size and flexibility features of micro mobile data centres make them ideal for use in applications, such as instant data centres, remote office and branch office, and edge computing. The growing requirement for high performing, energy efficient, and cost-effective data centre solutions is the major growth driver of the micro mobile data centre market,” the report says.

A small data centre can be as small as a few racks of servers or be about the size of a shipping container. These can be located inside an office or in a neighbourhood building. 

Other advantages of small data centres are the speed which with they can be set up. These data centres are flexible, can be scaled up and consume less energy. And for densely populated markets, small data centres are more suitable than large server farms. 

The demand for data centres in the Asia Pacific is the highest in the world. Not surprisingly, China and India lead the pack. Companies like IBM, Oracle, AWS, Microsoft and Google are investing in data centres in India, especially since the rollout of 5G networks is imminent.

Even government organisations are playing a huge role. RailTel, owned by the government, has announced that it will set up more than 100 mini data centres across the country. Most of these will be set up in tier-2 and tier-3 towns in India to take data processing facilities beyond the mega cities.

The deep penetration of mobile data usage has encouraged companies to set up offices in smaller towns. Improved connectivity will enable small data centres to serve local business needs at lower costs than global services. Additionally, RailTel is expanding its 60,000-km optical fibre network laid along railway lines. The edge computing data centres will be linked to the optic fibre network.

Several players are planning to invest in small and large data centres in India as computing and data demands rise. A mix of small and medium-sized data centres can accelerate the growth of digital India.