Local data centers have become a technology of the past. With the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, portable devices and flexible working styles, data centers no longer serve as just hubs for large volumes of information. They
now assist with making business services and operations work more seamlessly together. This is where virtual data centers come into play. Upgrading an organization’s data center can create more protection for those working remotely, ensure less downtime and increase the response rate times from the servers. However, building a virtual data center should not come as an afterthought; it should be designed-in from the beginning.

According to a recent study from marketing research company, Gartner, the IoT will encompass 26 billion interconnected devices by 2020. This includes all tablets and various mobile phones that are now being used by millennials and the working force as work devices. As we know, the days of plugging a laptop into a TV via an HDMI cord are gone; and the days of being able to connect wirelessly to any room, network, or conference line are here to stay. These trends place a huge stress on the capabilities of the current data centers and open up new options for virtual data centers and structured cabling.

Designing and building behind the scenes

The design of a data center is a large undertaking. Because of the significant increase in inbound and outbound traffic from a data center, it’s imperative for an organization to purchase the largest amount of bandwidth it can afford in preparation for the future surplus needed by network-enabled devices. The more users on a network, the slower the response rates.
In conjunction with the larger amount of bandwidth needed comes the requirement for a carefully-implemented network design as well as the ability to easily manage it. Knowing the inventory of all equipment, including the location and status of all ports, switches, links, cables and routers and how they connect to the network is imperative to the success of an organization and it’s Information Technology department. Managing and monitoring a network can allow an organization to discover security breaches, and plan for data center improvements and upgrades. However, if not properly planned and implemented, infrastructure management can lead to many staff hours, unnecessary costs and make inventory consolidation difficult.

Solutions

When it comes to assisting with inventory and monitoring of data systems; Traffic Access Point (TAP) Modules is one of them. TAP Modules include continuous network monitoring and application performance. With utilization improvement, network resources can be used more efficiently, downtime may be reduced and cost savings will increase. The biggest benefit to the use of these modules is to help reduce power outage by having real-time inventory of network components.

Overall, the way data centers are being used is changing rapidly, and it’s advised that organizations look into upgrading. However, this will require a completely new approach to architecture, infrastructure and structured cabling.