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The part virtual reality (VR) can play in the evolution of the data centre has been mooted as far back as 2013 – but now the future looks good so long as organisations’ infrastructure can stand up to it, according to Aegis Data.
Three years ago, writing for Data Center Knowledge, Rich Miller reported on data centre provider IO, whose latest innovation was to provide a 3D visual representation and walkthrough of a customer’s specific environment, with IO describing it as a “gamification of the data centre.” And according to Greg McCulloch, CEO of Aegis Data, the data centre industry has the potential to be the largest beneficiary of VR – but it will take time.
“As a concept, its presence has been felt for a long time but limited computing power combined with slow connectivity speeds means there has always been a cap as to what can be achieved,” said McCulloch. “Now that we have the technology in place, it looks like early visionaries for VR are starting to see it come to fruition.”
Evidently, there are more obvious – and arguably sexier – candidates to benefit from the VR boom, not least gaming and entertainment, as well as enterprise use cases ranging from military to manufacturing. Yet McCulloch argues for the data centre industry, speed, connectivity, and a secure infrastructure is vital, as well as high performance computing (HPC) capabilities.
“Historically one of the criticisms levelled at VR has been its inability to handle the demands on it,” he said. “Having dedicated fibre connections to key internet exchanges will enable customers to benefit from high connectivity and speeds, allowing the user to have a seamless, unhindered experience.”
