A WORD ABOUT COLOCATION DATA CENTERS
The colocation data center is certainly an important participant in the data center market. However, from a cabling
perspective, it can be viewed as falling into one of the other categories. This is due to how the cabling is administered.
• In the multi-tenant data center, each of the partitioned spaces (whether rooms or cages) is simply the
end-users’ enterprise data center in a remote location. The one exception is the MMR.
• In the wholesale data center, the entire data center is occupied by one or very few end users. Therefore,
the cabling design is driven by the architecture choices of the tenant whether they are a hyperscale
operator or a traditional enterprise.
• In the service provider model, the definitions that define the “cloud” would cover the application.
The purpose of this discussion was to focus on the similarities rather than the differences of each category.
In terms of the number of companies or data centers, the hyperscale
category is the smallest of the three categories. By most accounts, there
are currently less than 1,000 of them in the world. However, in terms
of the number of connections, it is the largest category.
SUMMARY
The traditional enterprise data center and the hyperscale data center are at opposite ends of the spectrum. However,
both are designed for use by one owner. As one might expect, they have very different scale, data rate and maintenance
expectations.
The cloud data center is fundamentally different. It is shared by many individual users and must accommodate
all of their needs and expectations. In interconnection terms, it is a blend of the other two categories. The scale
is closer to that of the hyperscale, but the data rate and maintenance expectations are more like the enterprise.
Relative Importance Key
High
Medium
Low
24 I ICT TODAY
Enterprise Cloud Hyperscale
Transmission
Data Rate
Installation
Latency
Density
Maintenance
Migration
While there are strong data center standards in place to ensure some level of uniformity from location
to location, creativity is also alive and well in the ongoing designs of the modern data center.