TAS ENERGY
Being at the Edge , presents further challenges with modular DCs being placed inside of buildings , on rooftops , in parking lots , or in a field in the middle of nowhere . “ The traditional , large data centers aren ' t going away , they ' re just being supplemented to remove the latency and other issues you must overcome for quick data at the Edge ,” says Mann . “ Localised nodes are coming into play here . It might be hospitals needing diagnostic support closer to patients or IoT that needs supporting across industrial or manufacturing settings .” “ We ' ve had customers trying to build factories that require specific IT elements that need to be repeatable to deploy at sites around the world . That ' s where it gets interesting . How do you make a standard when you have different standards in how things are applied across the globe ? We ’ re approaching modular structures now as IT devices rather than buildings - it requires a different approach to upfront planning .”
“ We ’ re dealing with the transition from traditional architectures and stick-built construction to modularity ,” he reasons . “ Customers want to take advantage of modularity , but they still want some of the features of a traditional stick-build approach , so there is some mixing and matching going on as the industry adjusts to these new dynamics . Even Hyperscale customers want certain elements of their data centers to be modularized . However , when you are considering a modular approach at any level , not all of the applications or processes from traditional construction apply . Ultimately , we ’ re having to educate the customer , and also help any third parties involved , to understand modularity with respect to design considerations , operations and even how you ship the modules to site .”