Each year Data Center Frontier identifies eight themes that we believe will shape the data center business in the coming year. Here’s a look at how our predictions for 2020 turned out.
Insights: Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Machine learning and artificial intelligence have arrived in the data center, changing the face of the hyperscale server farm as racks begin to fill with ASICs, GPUs, FPGAs and supercomputers. The race to leverage machine learning is led by the industry’s marquee names, including Google, Facebook and IBM. As usual, the battlefield runs through the data center, with implications for the major cloud platforms and chipmakers like Intel and NVIDIA.
The Top 10 Data Center Stories of 2020
It’s been a strange and extraordinary year, in which many existing data center trends have been amplified by the pandemic. Here are the 10 most popular stories on Data Center Frontier in 2020, ranked by page views.
AI Hardware is Disrupting the Data Center. Here’s Who to Watch
As powerful new chips target AI workloads, here’s a look at the players to watch, including specialized hardware from startups, incumbents and hyperscaler operators.
Roundtable: New Generation of AI Hardware Raises the Bar on Cooling
As AI brings more powerful chips into the data center, our DCF Executive Roundtable weighs in on the present and future of rack density, and how it may influence data center equipment and design.
NVIDIA Buys Arm: What It Means for Data Centers, AI and the Server Sector
NVIDIA’s $40 billion acquisition of Arm comes at a dynamic moment for data center hardware. Here’s how analysts see the deal’s implications for servers, AI, the Arm ecosystem and the data center industry.
DataBytes: Internet Uptime Holds Firm During the Pandemic
Data Bytes: The Internet performed just fine during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with “little evidence of systemic network duress, even when traffic shifts and volumes were at their peak,” according to ThousandEyes.
Data Bytes: AI Still an Enterprise Priority, Even as Growth Slows for COVID-19
DataBytes: IDC says investment in artificial intelligence (AI) has remained solid during the COVID-19 pandemic, with growth moderating only slightly during 2020. KPMG sees a similar pause in spending for “emerging technologies.”
Cisco: AI Can Make Network Operations More Manageable
Artificial intelligence will have a dramatic impact on network operations, according to data from Cisco Systems, augmenting human decision-making and reducing the time spent on repetitive or manual tasks
Predictive Analytics are Key to a Smart, Proactive Business Approach
Arthur Mulligan and Ed Spears from Eaton explore the value of predictive analytics when planning risk mitigation for critical system management. They also share examples of customers using predictive analytics to avoid problems associated with business and environmental challenges beyond your control.
Pandemic Prompts New Urgency for AI, Software Automation in Data Centers
The COVID-19 pandemic will drive innovation in data center operations, forcing companies to embrace automation to manage some duties that currently rely on close human interaction. The first in a series on innovation to address pandemic-driven challenges.
Data Center Frontier is edited by Rich Miller, the data center industry’s most experienced journalist. For more than 15 years, Rich has profiled the key role played by data centers in the Internet revolution.