Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Resilience, 24/7/365 – these are all terms that we associate with data centres. After all, it is the role of the data centre to protect and process our data, no matter what the emergency and that is precisely what they have been doing during this global pandemic.
“Historically, most business continuity plans for data centres were based on local scenarios, where ‘acts of God’ wreaked havoc on one place. Rarely had many considered that one place being the entire planet.”Says Simon Cocking, IrishTechNews.ie
Of course, the frontline medical staff are undeniably the heroes in this fight against COVID-19, but we must acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our Data Centre workers who are the unseen (and unacknowledged) backbone of our digital lives.
Our Work
While we adapt to this social change and swap watercooler chats for online gatherings, data centres have been working silently in the background to ensure a seamless transition to this, previously unimaginable, “new normal”.
“From Netflix to Zoom to home-schooling; data centres are creating and maintaining the new normal amidst a global pandemic,” says Garry Connolly, Host in Ireland.
As a result, many businesses are reporting that their workers are happier and more productive working from home and are eager to keep some form of remote working when restrictions lift.
Our Entertainment
INEX reports that in the first two months of the Irish lockdown there was a 35% increase in traffic peaks. Not only are we now relying more on the internet for our work, but it is also our source of entertainment and more importantly a gateway to staying connected with our loved ones whom we can’t see physically right now. Who would have thought Zoom Quiz Nights would become a Saturday night trend of 2020?
Data Centres are always preparing for the unknown, and while no one could have predicted this pandemic, our data centres were ready and able to react to the surge so that we could find comfort in our online realms.
Our Frontline
More critically, data centres have been supporting our frontline workers and government, allowing them to share insights and resources with colleagues around the world so that we can fight this pandemic with a global collaborative effort.
Cast your mind back just a few short few weeks when an online campaign was launched to repatriate Irish doctors to work in our hospitals – #answerirelandscall. Without the power of digital, this campaign couldn’t have had the overwhelming positive response from the diaspora in every corner of the planet and resulted in the welcome addition of more than 100 doctors to our emergency teams.
Putting Data Centre performance in numbers;
- 38% increase in demand on the bandwidth per day.
- Now over three hundred million people using Zoom.
- Netflix gained 16 million new subscribers over two months.
- Microsoft Teams grew by 40% in one week to 12 million daily users.
How Do Data Centres Stay Ahead?
In the world of Data Centres, planning and advanced construction is a continuous process globally and this will continue apace. For now, many internet providers such as Netflix are working to scale up their capacity over the coming months to ensure an undisrupted service.
According to technologyreview.com, Netflix typically partners with the largest data centres in a given region to ensure speed of delivery into people’s homes. The company is now looking to install 100’s of additional servers in the 2nd and 3rd largest data centres in different regions to ensure continuity of service.
ATC Support Our Data Centres
At ATC, we have been supporting our data centre clients, working with them through commissioning, maintaining, and finally decommission of EOL assets to ensure that all stages of the data centre eco-system are managed efficiently.
It is our pleasure to be supporting the digital frontline workers, and we thank you for keeping us all connected during these unparalleled times.
Alan Young
Founder and Director
