How the rise of the edge is impacting data centres in AP

Data centre operators, hyperscalers and enterprises have their own conceptions of the edge based on their specific geographic requirements or perceptions of technical needs. Broadly, the edge can be best understood from two perspectives: physical places and geographies and digital spaces and technologies.

Initially, the data centre industry grew out of demand from enterprises and MNCs seeking to build their digital footprint from local to global coverage. Data centre operators concentrated on building facilities in key regional hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong. At that time, it was considered the edge of their data centre footprint, sufficient to meet requirements. This iteration of the data centre industry preceded the cloud. 

However, as the public cloud was born and expanded globally, cloud and hyperscaler companies started driving much of the current global growth.

The pushing of computing and storage to the edge, as well as the new demands of AI, are creating new business models, innovative new data centre designs and challenging new operational environments. Vehicles are emerging as mini data centres on wheels. Meanwhile, new data centre operators are coming to market with small container solutions that can be dropped into remote edge sites in metros. 

These new solutions, considered a form of the edge, are also creating opportunities and challenges for data centre design, architecture and operations. Therefore, opportunities exist across the entire data centre edge stack. Regional hub markets that once were the edge for many operators and enterprises will be considered less but will continue to grow.