India’s data center landscape is edging closer to responsible climate action

To make up for the sacrifices, DC operators will always seek increased efficiency, performance, security and resilience while complying with regulations

In India’s data center sector, design and construction trends now revolve around sustainable development, scalability, energy efficiency and security.

Increasingly common are green initiatives such as “renewable integration”, alternative cooling systems, and modular designs: to boost productivity while reducing environmental impacts.

Moreover, measures to optimize performance and user latency have led to a switch towards edge computing across the nation. In this regard, advanced surveillance systems and robust physical security infrastructure are putting safety first — both during construction and ongoing operations. The objective is to establish not only physical strongholds but also digitally-protected environments that ensure the safety of sensitive data. How?

Piyush Somani, Chairman and MD, ESDS Software Solution (India), explained more to DigiconAsia.net.

DigiconAsia: How are data centers (DCs) adapting to meet the increasing demand for cloud services and storage solutions in India amid urgent global sustainability concerns?

Piyush Somani (PS): Data centers in India are developing their infrastructure; they are also grabbing hybrid and multi-cloud environments as well as improving connectivity due to the growing demand for cloud services, and storage solutions. Through such actions, DCs have had to expand their data center footprints to be closer to subscribers and to meet local data sovereignty regulations. In addition, they are aiming to achieve a high degree of scalability through the use of flexible architectures that can be used for varying workloads. Finally, they are working with native firms and government interventions tailored to suit specific markets.

In order to minimize energy consumption DCs are now including the use of renewable sources such as solar and wind; improved cooling through advanced airflow control and liquid cooling technologies; and server optimization via virtualization/consolidation. These measures are speculated to yield up to 40 reductions in energy consumption while providing an equal amount of performance increase.

Examples of sustainable energy sources used by green data centers include solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal power plants: often cleaner than traditional energy sources since they emit fewer hazardous gases. By minimizing waste and maximizing energy consumption efficiency, DCs are expected to achieve more-sustainable operation overall.

Additionally, the use of more energy-efficient hardware, and reutilizing the waste heat, is helping DCs to improve sustainability.

DigiconAsia: With the rise of edge computing adoption in DCs, how are data centers evolving to support the processing needs of IoT devices and real-time applications?

Piyush: Data centers handling real-time processing of IoT devices and applications are evolving from centralized data collection hubs. This shift aims to minimize latency, making it particularly beneficial for applications with stringent time constraints.

At the edge of the network, there are tiny, portable computing facilities known as “micro data centers” which have been put in place specifically to undertake processing tasks. The scalability and flexibility of edge data centers that can accommodate varying workloads and fluctuating demands enhance their efficiency.

Furthermore, networking technologies such as 5G connections and “edge caching” are highly efficient in improving how data is handled and transmitted within this framework.

DigiconAsia: How are DCs addressing the AI/ML and data science to meet the challenges posed by cyber threats?

Piyush: In addition to applying multi-tiered security protocols such as firewalls; intrusion detection systems; biometric access controls and surveillance systems; as well as data encryption, DCs perform regular security audits to detect vulnerabilities and enforce tight compliance.

Additionally, AI and data science methods help in optimizing resource allocation, equipment failure prediction to enhance reliability, maintain availability and boost business resilience.

On the whole, this dynamic DC capability of adjusting to changing demands; improving work processes; and boosting performance allows AI/ML-empowered DCs to meet environmental regulations while embodying innovation and fostering competitiveness within the sector.

DigiconAsia: What other trends are worth considering in India’s data center landscape?

Piyush: The increasing cost of real estate in India may shift DCs towards spending more on physical data storage. In the overall business landscape, there is an increasing inclination towards hybrid cloud deployments by making use of both on-premises and cloud infrastructures, with big players opting for a more cloud-first approach; and the smaller firms trying to find middle-of-the road solutions. This impacts on how DCs are tooling up to cater to the nation’s digitalization trends.

Also, some business sectors and regulations necessitate the use of on-premises storage solutions. DCs may therefore invest more into improving their existing storage infrastructure to increase capacity as well as efficiency to reduce real estate costs while catering to different industry trends in the country.

Likewise, they could consider other alternatives such as colocation facilities or rented storage spaces in response to burgeoning real estate rates. Nevertheless, the extent of investment in physical storage will be influenced by budgetary constraints, projected growth data as well as other peculiarities that balance cost-effectiveness with accessibility and information security.

DigiconAsia thanks Piyush for sharing his industry viewpoints with readers.