DATA CENTRES OF
THE PAST DECADE
Capacity
• 2MW sites
• 30-50MW deployed capacity
Colocation & cloud
• Small footprints
• Disaster Recovery
• Cloud onramps/introduction of regional zones
Role
• Part of the picture, but not a strategic anchor
CURATING THE SERVICES
AND INTERACTIONS OF
A DIGITAL SOCIETY
Data Centre centric
business solutions
Data Centre centric
data connectivity
The new strategic
anchor for present and
future connectivity
When we think about the phenomenal growth of data centres in this country,
It’s intimately connected to the future of connectivity.
It’s the ultimate curator of a connected, digital society.
Looking back
If we look at the history of Data Centres
A decade ago in Australia, a big data centre was 2MW
And there was between 30-50MW of deployed capacity nationwide
Colocation was a place to host some data, or smaller footprints such as Disaster recovery, and we were starting to see cloud deployments
Data centres like NEXTDC’s had a role to play in the bigger picture, but they weren’t the anchor of the strategy
On the other side, there was the connectivity landscape
10 years ago we were met with largely fixed contracts
Predominantly office to office and office to user interactions
And there was a high degree of reliance moving data around using MPLS and high capacity dedicated services and contracts with telco providers.
Today’s reality – data centre
Today we’re building sites that deliver 150MW capacity, and we’re deep into planning the fourth generation of our data centre platform with capacity of 300MW per site
In Australia today, there’s more than 2GW of built and forward planned capacity
That’s 100X the capacity
Today’s reality - connectivity
Network solutions are inherently more flexible and agile for customers to consume
There is an abundance of choice in the market
Pay as you go, on-demand services with no long term commitments - consumed as a service are the go-to
There is a lot that has changed on both fronts from just a decade ago, especially at the network layer
A big part of this shift is down to network solutions being materially more DC centric
Data that moves without a DC at one end, is becoming less frequent to the data that moves within and between DCs
By 2025 70% of data will be created and transmitted within the DC environment
The new anchor for present and future connectivity infrastructure, is the data centre. The curator and the hub that brings together the digital services that drive society
Cloud and other megatrends, and the onset of Covid-19, has seen the DC industry growing at an astonishing rate
Evolution in technology and infrastructure will keep coming.
Our role is focusing on the strategy piece – working alongside technology and infrastructure providers to
future–plan and enable those continued evolutions
A huge component of those evolutions is the diversification in the connectivity ecosystem to a new generation of services
Traditional telco services – broadband/fibre/IP transit like Vocus, Telstra, Optus, Aussie BB etc
Software defined networks and services – Megaport/ PCCW, OTW even NEXTDC’s AXON platform
Satellite providers like ViaSat, LEO and GEO services
Irrespective of the kind of connectivity, How do they all deal with market challenges, and how are they working with MW scale compute platforms to scale and evolve their own platforms?
The future of DC’s doesn’t just look like this anymore
The foundation of societal growth and innovation lies
in the connectivity layer which make up a big portion of DC foundations
When we think about the phenomenal growth of data centres in this country,
It’s intimately connected to the future of connectivity. It emphasises the importance for all of us to consider how we are working together to address future needs.
The future of DC’s doesn’t just look like this anymore
The foundation of societal growth and innovation lies
in the connectivity layer which make up a big portion of DC foundations
When we think about the phenomenal growth of data centres in this country,
It’s intimately connected to the future of connectivity. It emphasises the importance for all of us to consider how we are working together to address future needs.
We’ve come a long way in a relatively short amount of time
Connectivity requirements for businesses have evolved virtually in lock-step with the evolving need for DCs.
Many of you will remember the early days of connectivity and the joy of building networks with these <Metal bundle image>
… or this – for those of us who have been around a while <Dot Dash Image>
Just as data centre infrastructure and its evolving use cases grew, so have connectivity use cases.
From 300bps Smart Modems in the 80’s <first image>
To 28.8k modems a decade ago <second image>
To 1Gbps and 10Gbps being the common requirement today. <third image>
Which increasingly is heading more toward 100Gbps
That’s a 3.4 million X increase over the last decade.
Just within the customer data centre!
From the core to the edge, cloud and beyond
The growing adoption of cloud, and subsequently the search by organisations to find the ‘hybrid IT holy grail’ has resulted in a sprawling network phenomenon.
The evolution of connectivity is everywhere
The evolution is happening underwater, via subsea networks and cable systems
The evolution of connectivity is everywhere
The evolution is happening underwater, via subsea networks and cable systems
The evolution is happening overhead
With satellite gathering momentum
The advancement of LEO, MEO and GEO networks
The evolution is happening overhead
With satellite gathering momentum
The advancement of LEO, MEO and GEO networks
And its happening right across the country with 5G networks, eventually 6G
The growth of fibre and terrestrial networks
And its happening right across the country with 5G networks, eventually 6G
The growth of fibre and terrestrial networks
What will that look like for customers 10 years from now?
Today’s applications may be ok with latency of 100ms.
What will be required to support latency of 10ms or less?
As an industry, it’s up to us to figure out what the future needs of customers look like.
We need to ensure we’re always prepared for growth in connectivity and customer demand.
A key role we play is working with connectivity providers ahead of time, ensuring we are capacity planning and building in lock-step together to ensure they’ve got the capacity and capability they need to grow within the DC
What will that look like for customers 10 years from now?
Today’s applications may be ok with latency of 100ms.
What will be required to support latency of 10ms or less?
As an industry, it’s up to us to figure out what the future needs of customers look like.
We need to ensure we’re always prepared for growth in connectivity and customer demand.
A key role we play is working with connectivity providers ahead of time, ensuring we are capacity planning and building in lock-step together to ensure they’ve got the capacity and capability they need to grow within the DC
The data centre of today has become the core switching and hand off point for data exchanges of the future.
The strategic alignment of the connectivity infrastructure and data centres forms the catalyst for future continuous improvement.
As one component grows and evolves it leads to a surge in demand for the other. Forming an infrastructure virtuous circle of importance.
We need to align the ecosystem to deliver growth in infrastructure
When we plan far enough in advance, the journey becomes clearer – less twists turns and bumps along the way
Architecture - Investment into strategy over which tech they choose.
Commercial planning – Commercial best practice for application support and next round of growth. Establishing known pathways to expand and operate reliably.
Operational cooperation - Engage more deeply to drive high performance/lower cost/low risk outcomes
Build and plan as one connected infrastructure ecosystem – to drive most efficient outcomes, long term network security, future-ready solutions and less stumbling blocks by thinking far enough in advance.
We’re all in the same boat. We need to build solutions for the long term but continue planning for agility in the short term.
The value we all bring to customers is enabling them to use you as a platform to springboard their business.