Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1219491
April/May/June 2020 I 35 tools, and remote functionality allow them to keep an eye on everything, including infrastructure and components, and to react or prevent issues as if physically there. For availability, a commissioning plan done for the design of a traditional data center should be done also for an MDC with clear documentation and the operations and mainte- nance (O&M) services agreement at hand. There should be a plan to have available skilled technicians nearby on a daily basis in order to ensure minimum downtime. LATENCY, RELIABILITY, AND COST FACTORS The "edge" is often associated with geography alone. While that is part of the equation, it is usually the result of other needs and requirements. Latency, cost, and reliability in terms of quality of service (QoS) requirements need to be considered when deciding how and when moving data processing closer to the data source makes sense (Figure 7). While building out a local edge costs money, sometimes the cost is less than the hosting fees charged by larger edges or even core data centers that may already be geo - graphically located close enough to accommodate latency and QoS requirements. As the edge moves closer, there may not always be a traditional conditioned space for the data center to reside. Some EDCs may look a lot like and be located in similar spaces and geographies as traditional data centers. In other cases, an edge may be an isolated part of a traditional data center that provides a special - ized service. Contrary to some beliefs, EDCs can be multifunctional. In the simplest configuration, they address a specific appli- cation, function, or process, but they can also serve as edge type colos serving many different applications and func- tions of varying sources. As the number of devices increase and latency requirements become more critical, costs and reliability of transporting and processing data will become areas of more concern and may force the edge to locations perhaps unimaginable today (Figure 8). The industry has yet to realize how 5G, IoT, and the other aforementioned buzzwords will play out in their early stages of real-world application. For now, determining where an edge is needed and to be constructed should be a careful assessment and mix of the latency, reliability and cost factors with a vari - able weighting depending on the application. FIGURE 7: Latency, reliability, and cost are three key factors to balance when determining the location and need for EDCs. FIGURE 8: As technology progresses, the look, size, and location of EDCs will adapt to meet the requirements. Edge data centers defined more from their function of being close to the data source than appearance or physical location. In the future, what we consider an edge may be much different than we imagine today. TODAY TOMORROW BEYOND A dedicated data center or a funtional area within A micro data center within a building or tower shack Mobile/Temporary In the neighborhood In the house On our person