Data Centers in 2017: The Ultimate Round Up

We have arrived again at that time when year-end lists proliferate for perusal by a workforce distracted by the holidays. The data center industry continued to chug forward in 2017, with M&A activity heating up in particular. Here are the top stories that broke throughout the data center world, plus a list of the most visited posts from our own humble blog.
 

1) Hyperconvergence Picks Up Steam

With hyperconverged-focused acquisitions by HP Enterprise and Cisco, it appears that the market is ready for solutions that can make data center and IT asset management more simple. Both acquisitions added hyperconverged software platforms to the giant hardware manufacturers, and as this type of technology proliferates in the enterprise and with service providers, should help position them as software-defined vendor leaders.

VMware and others have their own hyperconverged software solutions, which allow most data center functions and storage administration to be performed from standard servers, including storage provisioning (which is no longer always necessary alongside automation features), deduplication, and replication. OEM hardware vendors picking up software companies could undercut this layer, as the software comes preinstalled on a hardware appliance.

2) SSD / Memory Shortage

Demand for flash media increased dramatically in 2017, pushing prices up 10 – 20% in some cases. The shortage began towards the end of last year, but doesn’t appear to be abating. Demand for SSD storage — which functions in much the same way as RAM — has increased due to its performance benefits. The shortage could have a ripple effect throughout the hosting industry due to increased costs and an inability to meet customer needs.

3) Edge Keeps Interest

The edge data center remains a compelling idea in 2017 as the industry refines its conception of what edge means and continues to invest in small scale processing and data center operations near the edge of the network. The basic concept — spreading computing power closer to end users in secondary, tertiary, and even further afield markets. Micro data centers and other self-contained solutions will continue to proliferate as more and more demand is generated by mobile devices and the Internet of Things.

4) Biggest Year for Data Center Investment in the United States

Real estate firm CBRE published research back in September that showed investment in data centers within the United States had already reached over $18 billion — more than double the total from 2016 and a new record for data center investments. In fact, the total was already on its way to outstrip the totals of 2014, 2015, and 2016 combined.

This is good news for the industry as demand for data storage, processing, and IT infrastructure continues to grow at an exponential rate. While more competition may be entering the market, the overall pie is growing as well, making all of our slices larger at the same time.

Top Posts from the Green House Data Blog

It was another solid year here on the blog, too, with thousands of readers visiting to learn more about cloud hosting, colocation, and data center design and trends. Here are our top four posts from 2017.

1) Avoid Virtual Machine Problems from Antivirus Tools

Your AV or antimalware tool can severely impact virtual machine performance. This blog gives some tips on what to exclude from scans, whether to use agent-based or agentless antivirus software, and more.

2) Everything You Know About Passwords is a Lie

Strong, long, and unique passwords remain the best variety. But this blog explored new revelations from the original creator of common password advice like using a number instead of a letter or adding exclamation points or other special characters to the end of your password. Read why he changed his mind and how you can create an easy to remember password in the post.

3) Legal Battles Over Local Data: Why Your Cloud Location Matters

The physical location of your data when stored on a cloud platform can have significant legal implications, as this blog post describes in detail. With Microsoft, Google, and other giants fighting the federal government over data access, plus a wide variety of legal compliance measures to consider, learn why you might want to specify your cloud location.

4) Four Hybrid Use Cases to Get Your Head in the Cloud

We’re sometimes surprised at how many customers approach us with uncertainty as to whether their application can run on a cloud server. Chances are usually high that the cloud can accommodate. This post describes four great ways to start using hybrid cloud computing, from backup/disaster recovery to standard or packaged apps.

So there you have it: the biggest news from the data center industry in 2017, alongside the hottest posts from this very blog. Here’s to another year of constant change, IT infrastructure growth and investment, and business and IT success!