Data center latency is the time it takes for data to travel from one location to another. Latency is a measure of the delay in a network and is often expressed in milliseconds (ms).
Latency occurs because data packets take time to travel from their source to their destination. This delay varies depending on factors like network congestion, the distance traveled, and the quality of an ISP’s service.
Why is Data Center Latency Critical?
Data centers can experience severe latency issues during periods of heavy traffic or problems with Internet connectivity.
Latency is critical in determining network performance and can be measured using ping tests or traceroute commands. It is often measured in milliseconds (ms).
Latency is critical because it affects how quickly you can access information stored in your cloud computing environment.
The latency you experience will depend on how far away your data center is from your company’s physical location, as well as how fast your internet connection is.
The farther away your data center is from where employees work, the higher the latency because packets will have to travel farther over slower networks before reaching their destination. In the case of web applications, latency can cause delays in page load times and user experience.
For instance: If a user clicks on an ad banner or link on a website, it could take longer than expected for the content to appear due to high latency.
This could lead to customers leaving your website and moving on to another provider offering a faster experience. This means that if your application is hosted physically too far from users.
Data Center Expansion Shift to Edge
According to a new report, data center expansions are shifting to the edge of the network.
A new survey by IDC shows that spending on data center capacity will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.4 percent through 2022, with most growth occurring outside central data centers.
The survey found that more than half (56 percent) of respondents expect their organization’s total IT spending to increase in 2019. Of those respondents, 36 percent say they will invest more in cloud computing, 28 percent plan to invest more in edge computing, and 20 percent plan to invest more in IoT technologies.
The expansion of data center capacity has been a major challenge for many organizations. When budget constraints are high, new facilities must be built or existing ones expanded. Meanwhile, real estate costs continue to rise, and availability remains low in many regions worldwide.
As a result, many companies have begun exploring alternative approaches to expanding their data center capacity without building new facilities or adding more equipment inside existing ones. One such solution is shifting from traditional centralized data centers to edge computing (EC).
Edge computing refers to storing, processing, and delivering data closer to where it needs to be used – typically at customer premises or close by in public clouds – rather than keeping all resources centrally located within one or two large datacenters situated in one location that would require high bandwidth connections between them.
Read more: Data Center Energy Efficiency by Optimizing Its Airflow
Conclusion
Latency is an essential factor to consider when choosing a colocation data center. For example, if you are hosting a website that requires fast response times for visitors, then you may need to select a data center with low latency.
To meet this demand, many companies are shifting their focus away from traditional data centers located near major cities and moving them closer to end users. This shift is based on several factors, including lower costs, shorter network latency, and better security.
That’s why many organizations are turning to edge computing: a model under which computing power is distributed across multiple locations close to users’ applications so that latency can be reduced, and bandwidth requirements minimized.
The demand for data center expansion closer to the end users has grown rapidly over the past few years. In particular, Southeast Asia is experiencing a significant shift in its data center landscape as companies seek low-cost data center options to compete with other countries for business opportunities.