Show notes
According to a recent State of the Edge report, global capital expenditure on IT equipment for edge infrastructure is projected to grow to $104 billion by 2028. Moreover, recent IDC research forecasts worldwide spending on edge computing platforms to reach nearly $274 billion by 2025.As AFL executives in a related DCF 'Voices of the Industry' essay from earlier this year explained further, "Edge data centers are key to unleashing advanced use cases resulting in new user experiences and new business opportunities."As recently as last month, a market brief from JLL unpacked just why smaller data centers are taking off, as AI, 5G and hybrid work fuel an exponential expansion of edge computing footprints.As noted by the brief, "Hyperscale centers are usually located in cities and can typically house 10,000 racks with a capacity in excess of 80 MW. Edge data centers by comparison, have a smaller capacity between 500 kilowatts to 2 MW and, as the name suggests, are located on the outer edge of networks. They bring computing capability geographically closer to those users situated further away from the heart of the cloud."“These assets are increasingly important to the architecture of computing networks, thanks to the continued adoption of IoT devices and now the rise of generative AI applications, and machine learning,” added Tom Glover, JLL Head of EMEA Data Center Transactions.For its part, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwC) recently noted that "the global market for edge data centers is expected to nearly triple to $13.5 billion in 2024 from $4 billion in 2017, thanks to the potential for these smaller, locally located data centers to reduce latency, overcome intermittent connections and store and compute data close to the end user."PwC's edge data center examination cautioned, "However, the right timing and strategy for moving data centers (and related services) to the edge will be different for each organization, depending on the conditions, environment and business opportunities in its marketplace."So even a just a cursory reading of the business and technology prospects for edge data centers told DCF's editors that it was time for a podcast discussion probing the history and reach of this most evergreen (yet paradoxically sometimes elusive) technology topic for our industry.Here's a summary points discussed by of DCF editors Matt Vincent and David Chernicoff in today's podcast.1:01 - Framing the topic with a Bill Kleyman quote.4:23 - From Google and AWS to Akamai, Cloudflare and Rackspace.16:47 - "You just had to work AI into the conversation, didn't you?"Here are links to some recent DCF stories on edge data centers:Akamai Bets on Bringing Cloud In Closer with 5 New Data Center SitesGetting Closer to the Edge: Data Centers Move Closer to ConsumptionRoundtable: Growth Seen Across Many Flavors of Edge ComputingData Center Insights: Phillip Marangella of EdgeConneXTower Operators Step Up the Pace of Their Edge DeploymentsLet Form Follow Function at the Edge