Will Data Centers Become Obsolete by 2025?

Know why 80% of enterprises will shut down their traditional data centers by 2025

Data centers are just physical spaces that businesses employ to store their crucial data and applications. The architecture of data centers is based on a network of computing and storage resources that allow for the delivery of shared data and applications. Routers, switches, firewalls, storage systems, servers, and application-delivery controllers are the main elements of its design. The data centers of today are substantially different from those of recent years. But the question is, will Data centers become obsolete by 2025?

Virtual networks that support applications and workloads across pools of physical infrastructure, as well as a multi-cloud environment, have replaced the traditional on-premises physical servers in terms of infrastructure. Today, data is present and networked across several data centers, the edge, and public and private clouds. These many locations, both on-premises and in the cloud, must be connected by the data center. A group of data centers even makes up the public cloud. Applications that are hosted in the cloud use the cloud provider's data center resources.

What Do They Offer?

Routers, switches, firewalls, storage systems, servers, and application delivery controllers are all part of the design of a data center. Data center security is crucial in data center design because these components house and manage business-critical data and applications. When combined, they offer:

Infrastructure for a Network: This links storage, data center services, physical and virtualized servers, and external connectivity to end-user locations.

Infrastructure for Storage: The contemporary data center runs on data. This priceless resource is kept in storage systems.

Resources for computers: The heart of a data center is its applications. The CPU, memory, local storage, and network connectivity on these server's power applications.

80% of Enterprises will shut down their Traditional Data Centers

In 2019, Gartner predicted that by 2025, 80% of enterprises will shut down their traditional data centers. Today, the trend shows no sign of slowing down. Steven Carlini, vice president of innovation and data center at energy and automation technology provider Schneider Electric said, "Similar to the vacating of office space by desk workers due to the pandemic, lots of on-premises IT equipment is no longer needed, leading to vacant data center space." He adds that the trend has spurred a growing number of enterprises to repurpose older and functionally obsolete properties and spaces.

When it comes to repurposing an existing data center, the first step is assessing the facility and its assets. "You must understand your current hardware lifecycle, power, cooling, and physical security before setting out to make any changes," says James Obukhovsky, associate director of cloud services at IT services and infrastructure consultancy Netrix.