EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
The data centre infrastructure market share in Middle East and Africa ( MEA ) is expected to grow due to growth in Internet penetration , growing broadband connectivity , increasing number of smartphone users , social media usage , high demand for colocation services and Smart City initiatives across the region to improve digital economies . The investment in the data centre market in MEA is growing significantly , pushed , and helped by the construction of data centre facilities by telecommunications providers , enterprises , government , cloud and colocation service providers The demand for Big Data , cloud , and Edge Computing , is likely to emerge as a prominent driver for data centre development in the MEA region . When it comes to data centres , the three main features CIOs need to keep in mind are performance , reliability and durability . Understanding these key features can be an effective means of reducing and managing the risk of downtime in demanding and often critical business environments .
CIOs will experience an increased switch to flash-based storage or all-flash-arrays . SATA / SAS technology based on high performance configurations , could be replaced and complimented with equally performing NVMebased configurations with much lower footprint and a great upgrade in actively removing bottlenecks . Due to this adaption , it is foreseeable , that NVMe will become more common with the adoption rates on the rise , with benefits in terms of performance , power consumption and reduced part count . In addition , DRAM will also experience a growth with higher densities / capacities and bandwidth .
For example , Saudi Arabia has strong fibre connectivity in the MEA market that is connected to several parts of the world . Due to higher demands from Internet users to access fast Internet connections , Saudi Arabia is investing into expanding the instalment of fully functional 5G networks . To reduce latency and therefor enable the 5G network to run at its fastest , cities are also investing in Edge Computing devices to process most the produced data at its origin , leading to a rapid growth in data centre investments .
CIOs in the MEA region , should further consider solar power as an important renewable energy . The availability of renewable energy to power data centres is increasing year-on-year in the MEA market .
That aside , we strongly believe in the adoption of more future proof technologies such as NVMe ( U . 2 or EDSFF ) and the switch to flash-based / all flash configurations in order to optimise server infrastructures . Kingston Technology is exploring the optimisation effects , reached through the usage of AI and Machine Learning , automation , and virtualisation .
One of the major challenges that enterprises are facing now , is the marginal decrease in their capital expenditure . There are a variety of reasons relating to project delays as the focus on building in-house project management capabilities due to payment delays by clients and absence of funding .
Other reasons include increased cost of materials , labour and equipment , along with challenges relating to working capital .
Given that 5G networks have been a focal point for several years now , massive deployments were expected in 2020 but the pandemic and other reasons saw postponement and delays from many telcos . The rise of 5G will involve many other technologies such Big Data , Edge and cloud computing to go along with it . To succeed and accelerate the access to the digitally connected world , organisations will be compelled to continue investing in the latest data centre technologies and infrastructure . p
ANTOINE HARB , TEAM LEADER , MIDDLE
EAST AND NORTH AFRICA , KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY
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