Transforming Network Infrastructure Week in Review: CyrusOne, Equinix, Micro

Agility is the name of the game as disruptive newcomers challenge the status quo. That’s why so many companies are talking about digital transformation these days. And it’s why we’re seeing new investment in data centers and networks that aim to make it easier and more cost efficient for companies to scale as needed and address resource requirements on demand.

One of the Transforming Network Infrastructure stories this week talks about a recent study discussing the importance of scalable technology in next-generation data centers.

“Extreme scale is what brings enough pathways inside a Mega data center to create a non-blocking (CLOS) networked server architecture,” according to the WinterGreen Research report. “Non-blocking network architecture benefits the business because it permits launching thousands of virtual servers on demand at the application layer.”

Speaking of scalable technology in the data center, Micron Technology Inc. recently unveiled its SolidScale integrated platform, which allows customers to build scale-out storage infrastructure.

This is a top-of-the-rack system that can support new cloud as well as legacy applications. It supports NVMe and solid-state drive technology for

scale, is relatively compact, and also has power efficiency benefits.

So what companies are investing in new and expanded data centers?

Well, CyrusOne of Texas, for one. The company recently opened a 184,000-square-foot facility in San Antonio. That means CyrusOne now operates 407,000 square feet of facilities. And it’s in the midst of adding to that with a fourth data center.

Meanwhile, The Discovery Channel has called on Equinix to house its IT operations within Equinix’s International Business Exchange data centers. The goal is to consolidate Discovery’s infrastructure and decrease latency related to its content delivery.

“The cloud is the future for digital media and entertainment – the agility and cost advantages are immense,” said David Duvall, the senior vice president of infrastructure and support services at Discovery Communications. “Once we started our digital journey, it was quickly apparent that we needed a neutral interconnect partner who would enable us to connect our entire ecosystem physically and virtually, allowing us to scale up or down to address current and future requirements.”