Is your network optimized for your data centers?

Organizations across all industry verticals are replacing their monolithic, centralized data facilities with an interconnected system of distributed resources.  The overarching goal is to be able to reduce latency when responding to the shifting workloads of a distributed workforce. However, IT Leaders must also meet business and organizational imperatives of satisfying increased bandwidth demands, reliability, scalability and security.

To meet these business imperatives, data center functionality should no longer be centralized in one specific physical location. While this was once a good solution, advances in network technology mean that monolithic data centers are no longer the most optimal, cost-efficient, secure or highest performance option. Today, data center functionality is being deployed to answer modern organizational needs by utilizing all options — including data center, on-premise, cloud, co-location and edge deployment locations.

Yet, despite the rapid growth of cloud services creating an impression that data centers are yesterday’s news, the market is robust and growing. Gartner® predicts data center spending to increase 11.1% in 2022 and to continue steady growth through at least 2026.¹

Reliance on centralized data centers combined with cloud storage is becoming more prevalent, as is evidenced by increased migration to hybrid cloud environments. A recent study from Radware, conducted by Osterman Research asked respondents if they used combinations of on-premise data centers, private cloud services, and multiple public cloud environments. Radware found that 41 percent of respondents currently use three different environments, 34 percent are running on four platforms, and 10 percent are running across five or more platforms.

The desire to incorporate data-driven decision-making into an organization’s business-as-usual procedures has also factored into the moves to distribute resources and functions.  Subsequently, thought leaders are focusing on how they can better capture and leverage data, even as the volume of data generated is expected to more than double by 2025, according to Statista. ²

To continue delivering traditional data center functions, including backup, compute and storage, in a distributed fashion, enterprises are increasingly offering virtualized functionality to their workforce. Tech leaders and their technology partners are seeking to leverage virtualizations and place data center functions in support of workloads where they will be most effective while meeting cost, reliability, performance, agility and security requirements.  In some cases, this will require multiple, identical, versions of the same functions in different locations, as end-user needs and usage patterns are typically the driver for location preference of applications and functions.

Choosing on premise (or close) over the cloud 

Organizations choose to retain selected applications and functionality in data centers (rather than the cloud) for a variety of reasons. These include security, legal, regulatory, intellectual property and data sovereignty concerns, as well some organizations having home-grown or highly-customized applications that are not cloud-compatible.

However, the best-laid plans for distribution of functionality across diverse locations will all come to naught if the network connecting all an organization disparate resources is not fully modernized and optimized.  To ensure your organization’s network can meet the challenges of modern technology, it must adapt quickly, which requires connectivity solutions that can scale to meet the growing need for high-capacity bandwidth. 

Further, every moment that employees are without data takes a toll on operational efficiency and cost. High-capacity circuits can be used to reinforce network resiliency by enabling rapid offsite backups and restoration of data. IT teams must also be enabled by the network to quickly and easily transport large loads between locations and data centers after a power outage or natural disaster.

According to the Gartner report How to Evolve Your Physical Data Center to a Modern Operating Model: “Most organizations exist somewhere within a hybrid cloud model, in between the legacy on-premises data center and public cloud extremes. This blended environment of traditional, public and private cloud services will be the primary operating model out of necessity for at least the near term for most organizations because not all applications are able to be migrated to the public cloud.” Gartner estimates that 50 percent of workloads will move to the cloud by 2025.³

If 50% of workloads are shifting away from data centers by 2025, that still leaves 50 percent of workload that is either on-premise or in an edge computing situation. This creates additional IT challenges as teams rely more heavily on access to cloud, data center and edge resources over internet and Ethernet connections.  All of which requires connectivity solutions that can scale to provide high-capacity bandwidth. 

Find a partner that can scale with your applications

The fast pace of change and growth can strain networks, impacting connection speeds and performance. As your use of cloud resources evolves, so does your need for high-performing, low-latency connectivity. Today, there are solutions available that offer scalable bandwidth for internet and Ethernet solutions with speeds up to 100 Gbps for your most data-intensive applications. To ensure your network can meet the challenges of modern technology, it must adapt quickly, which requires connectivity solutions that can scale to meet the growing need for high-capacity bandwidth.

Ensure a dedicated, high-performance internet connection with a partner you can trust. The modern network requires nationwide, dedicated internet connectivity with symmetrical upload and download speeds, delivered securely over a private fiber network.  To meet ever-growing data needs organizations need the capacity to connect your locations, data centers and cloud resources with a fast, secure, reliable, private wide area network (WAN) solution backed by performance guarantees and delivered over a dedicated fiber infrastructure.

As your organization evolves, so does your need for high-performing, low-latency connectivity

Spectrum Enterprise offers scalable bandwidth for internet and Ethernet solutions with speeds up to 100 Gbps. Our internet and networking services are backed by stringent service-level agreements (SLA), and 24/7 support that you can rely on. We offer managed or co-managed solutions —or you can keep all network operations in-house — so you can choose whatever option best fits your business model. 

Wavelength Services: Ensures fast data transfer for the most demanding applications including data replication, critical cloud services and data center connectivity. Using dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology, Wavelength Services provide speeds of up to 100 Gbps with very low latency to deliver or replicate critical data.

Dedicated Fiber Internet (DFI):  Offers the dedicated, high-performance internet connection needed to keep critical applications up and running. It provides nationwide, dedicated internet connectivity with symmetrical upload and download speeds, delivered securely over our private fiber network.

Ethernet Services: Meets ever-growing data needs by connecting locations with a fast, secure, reliable, private wide area network (WAN) solution backed by performance guarantees and delivered over a dedicated fiber infrastructure.

For more information on how to improve network performance with high-capacity bandwidth.

1. Gartner, Gartner Market Databook, 2Q22 Update, July 1, 2022
2. Amount of data created, consumed, and stored 2010-2020, with forecasts to 2025. Pedroc Taylor. Statista.
3. Gartner, How to Evolve Your Physical Data Center to a Modern Operating Model, March 29, 2022.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.