Author Archives

Liz Goldsmith

Advantages of Data Center Management in the Cloud

As hybrid digital infrastructures consisting of on-premises and cloud-based systems become more and more common within companies, complexity significantly increases. A professional data center infrastructure management (DCIM) tool should be able to manage not only the data center itself, but also hybrid digital infrastructures in all their complexity. In the future, for example, even proprietary customer systems will have to be supplied with detailed information from the data center to ensure end-to-end processes.

5G for enterprise: an ABC-suite

Some leadership teams might think back to the step from 3G to 4G and remember that it was relatively easy. You got new phones for your staff, dongles, a few training modules, and you’re good to go. The shift to 5G will be significantly more complex because 5G’s speed, reliability and flexibility will have a profound impact on value chains and processes, IT and personnel, across every sector. It will allow the collection, analysis and interpretation of data that could, if handled correctly, make every corner of a business more efficient. It provides the widespread untethered connectivity that will unlock all other digital transformation ingredients – IIoT, big data, cloud computing, AI, robotics, digital twins and more.

Cabling design considerations for smart buildings

Enterprise networks have become as equally critical as electricity, water and gas to the successful operation of a business and the well-being of building occupants. In fact, nearly 75% of leasing decision-makers feel it is critical to have a reliable internet connection in their office space to conduct company business, according to research by the building certification firm WiredScore.

5 Tips for an Effective BOM

Low-voltage cabling infrastructures are becoming more complex than ever. LANs have more connected devices in more locations and data centers are shifting to fully-meshed leaf-spine architectures where every switch is connected to every other switch via redundant pathways. With these complexities come a wider variety of copper and fiber cable and connectivity components and associated racks, cabinets and cable management needed to build reliable, high-performance networks-and that means more extensive and diverse project bills of material (BOMs).

Broadband is critical for unlocking the lockdown

The global crisis created by COVID-19 will have a profound and long-lasting impact. Broadband has played a vital role during this crisis as people work, study and shop from home. These changes in digital behavior have had a seismic effect on our networks. Until now, broadband operators have been using growth models that predicted a gradual increase in bandwidth demand of 30-40% over the next 3 or 4 years. COVID-19 has generated 30-40% growth overnight. We’ve seen huge spikes in usage across online gaming, VPN, streaming services, social media and video conferencing, to name a few.

Innovative Shared Research Computing Storage Project Takes Shape in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) brings together the major research computing deployments from five Boston-area universities into a single, massive data center in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The 15-MW, 780-rack data center is built to be an energy- and space-efficient hub of research computing, with a single computing floor shared by thousands of researchers from Boston University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, and the entire University of Massachusetts system. Because the data center is run by hydro and nuclear power, it leaves nearly no carbon footprint. By joining together in the Holyoke site, all of the member institutions gain the benefits of lower space and energy costs, as well as the significant intangible benefits of simplified collaboration across research teams and institutions.