In recent years, the Data centre segment has experienced double-digit growth, and this trend is expected to continue for the next five years. The Covid-19 pandemic has also accompanied a shift in work and education culture, increasing remote working concepts across industries and sectors, thereby causing an upsurge in data generation and improved access capabilities, necessitating the expansion of edge data centres.
Edge data centres are connected to larger data centres and multiple data centres thereby increasing the demand for the data centre industry owing to the 5G boom. They process data close to the source. Network services are supplied faster and with less latency since processing takes place near the end-users. Edge data centres’ decentralized small cell network provides low-cost, low-latency support for 5G use cases with high device density.
In 2021, India’s internet user base surpassed 830 million, an increase of almost 530 million in the six years since 2015. In addition, due to the rise in popularity and accessibility of OTT and streaming platforms, India’s average internet data usage per user has climbed from 1.24 GB per month in 2018 to 14.1 GB in June 2021. As the volume of data grows, corporations, OTT players, cloud service providers, and global offshore centres will need more resilient digital infrastructure in the form of data centres to meet consumer demand.
As India gets closer to deploying 5G, edge data centres are attracting a lot of attention. India’s 5G plans are now taking shape, with the Indian government announcing the entire ecosystem of 5G networks. Edge data centres are positioned at the network’s edge and are smaller facilities located closer to the population that they serve. This enables edge computing, which involves processing data and services closer to the end-user. End-users can access cloud computing resources and cached material via an edge data centre. The two are in charge of delivering faster performance and lower latency by removing the need to move data from far data centres to process it. End consumers will eventually benefit from a network that is quicker, more stable, and more responsive.
The data centre sector has undergone a tremendous change in the last decade. Businesses are moving away from keeping captive data centres and toward colocation facilities (rental DC space), owing to improved security and cost savings. On the other side, as cloud adoption grows, cloud server providers are building more Hyperscale data centres. With the commercialization of 5G services in the country, the rise of edge data centres is likely to accelerate. Data consumption will increase as 5G infrastructure improves data speeds, particularly for high-latency apps like social media, OTT, and streaming platforms.
ANI recently reported that an Indian government-owned company, is planning to build 102 edge data centres in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Several Indian companies are setting up data centres, which are power-intensive. The finance minister granted infrastructure status to the data centre industry while announcing the Union Budget 2022-23.
For any data centre, MEP (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) infrastructure constitutes a significant portion of the Construction cost. From a reliability aspect, MEP Design & EPC is very critical. Data centres, unlike ordinary buildings, contain precision and strategic cooling systems to maintain temperatures and humidity at an optimal level for reliable server operations. Data centre managers need to keep a tight eye on energy consumption, which necessitates the usage of resource monitoring technologies. When constructing a data centre, security, power, cabling and redundancy are all important considerations. HVAC and even building pressure must be managed when working with electronics to ensure a safe working environment. This is where MEP services come in. MEP systems are the central nervous system of any building and are in charge of a structure’s “creature comfort” qualities. Whether it’s a single-story or a widespread data centre, they make the structure more efficient and safe.
A concerted effort is underway to reduce data centre power consumption in order to reduce their carbon footprint. Data storage is expected to account for 14% of global carbon emissions by 2040. Given this, India must implement a variety of measures to reduce its carbon footprint, such as reforming data centres with energy-efficient equipment, virtualizing networks across servers in multiple locations, and implementing renewable energy sources to ensure greener practices.
With the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, OTT platforms augmented and virtual reality, enterprises will increasingly invest in edge data centres to improve application performance and content delivery. This is further expected to drive growth opportunities for MEP and Infra players who will benefit from the expansion and development of data centres across India.