THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
The Rise of the Micro-Edge Over the last two decades, we have become intimately familiar with the “cloud,” but today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the term on everyone’s lips.
We stand on the edge of a new era: autonomous vehicles are finally progressing toward reality, and drones have begun delivering post in the Highlands and lowlands. However, these innovations have yet to enter the mainstream. To bridge this gap, we must look toward the next evolution of digital infrastructure, often referred to as micro-edge cloud. The Connectivity Catch-22 Autonomous vehicles and drones offer transformative potential for our daily lives, but they operate on a razor’s edge of technical requirements. They demand ultra-low latency and, perhaps more crucially, high availability. In a world of autonomous logistics, a drone crashing or landing unexpectedly due to loss of control or network support is unthinkable. Historically, we have faced a “Catch-22” scenario: driverless cars require edge computing to function safely, but edge computing infrastructure requires the demand of driverless cars to justify its rollout. By deploying compact cloud computing hardware units across the country, it’s possible to provide the high availability and low latency these advanced applications require. In essence, cloud computing is no longer a distant data centre in a different time zone. Repurposing the Fabric of the UK The answer to this challenge lies in strategic partnership and infrastructure reuse. By collaborating with Cornerstone, Stonesthro utilises the existing power, communications, and security provided by the UK’s extensive inventory of mobile phone masts.
Andy Bates Chief Information Security OIficer
stonesthro.co.uk
Every mobile network mast already possesses the essential ingredients of a data centre: space, cooling, power, security, and high-speed connectivity. This means we can now house enough processing power in a small, ruggedised cabinet to service the needs of an entire county. While we have grown accustomed to the “hyperscalers”, the massive, centralised data centres owned by global tech giants, the industry is introducing the “micro-scaler.” This represents a hyper-distributed, sovereign UK cloud that brings the data centre to the data source.
CLOUD RESELLER NEWS
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