An increasingly regionalised pan-European footprint of data centers is very conducive to ensuring the future deployment and scalability of edge computing. Clearly, without strategically located, highly connected data centers in place to provide fit for purpose space and power, edge computing cannot fulfil its true potential. 

Somewhat comparable to the emergence and rapid growth of the original colocation data center markets going back 20 years – known as FLAP-D – the arrival of edge computing and the perquisite data centers is a function of necessity and demand. In the case of FLAP-D, it was the high cost of fibre networks that made it a total necessity to be as close as possible to the carrier exchanges which had already congregated in those particular cities.

Now, data center location is being driven by the new requirements of SME and enterprise organisations who want to deploy next generation AI and IoT based edge applications. Out of necessity, to meet this demand, the end users, data and applications need to be physically much closer together to ensure low latency.

Finding the Edge Hot Spots

Exactly where to locate data centers is a key consideration. Each data center must be sited in proximity to population areas which are sufficiently dense with SME and large enterprises to justify their viability from an edge application demand perspective, while also meeting the all-important low latency requirement.

In certain markets it is easier to identify such edge demand hot spots, for example in Germany, there are distinct business and industry locations such as those for manufacturing and automotive. France and the UK are quite similar in this respect.

At the same time, the incumbent carriers typically have multiple locations through the country where they interconnect with other (mobile) networks. Often, this strongly influences the edge data center location as does the power availability.

A Pan-Europe approach

In Europe, country by country geographies, population densities, business and industrial demographics all vary considerably. This is why they need to be thoroughly researched to ensure edge data center facilities are sited in the optimum locations. 

The following examples serve to illustrate a few of the challenges involved in finding the optimum locations for edge data centers, capable of meeting the growing demand for reduced latency and lower data transit costs. 

With over 84 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populated country in the EU. Although many of these live in the four metropolitan areas of Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt and Hamburg and their catchment areas, there are many other important economic and industrial centers. This is one of the reasons why edge data centers play an important role in Germany.

For example, our sites in Cologne and Dusseldorf in the Rhine-Ruhr are ideally located in a highly industrialised, densely populated region of Western Germany. With a population of about 10 million, the region is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in Europe and one of the world’s 10 largest economic regions. It’s at the center of Germany’s industrial heartland and the historic headquarters of steel, mining and automobile production. Rhine-Ruhr has also developed its service economy, with significant sectors in health, information technology, transport and logistics.

Elsewhere, consider the Stuttgart Region, an area of 2.8 Million. It is the world or German headquarters of global players such as Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Bosch, IBM and Hewlett-Packard. At the same time there are many innovative, medium-sized companies including general and electrical engineering companies. Along with its position in the aerospace industry, the region is well-known for its emerging industries such as clean energy, fuel cells, and nanotechnology. Many innovative companies from these fields have set up operations in the Stuttgart Region in recent years.

France, the second largest country in the EU in terms of population and gross domestic product, has several economic and technological centers. These include Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Sophia-Antipolis, Toulouse and Bordeaux. The economy is characterised by several features, including a strong telecommunications services sector and an advanced industrial sector focused on industries such as automotive, aerospace, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

In a country the size of the UK, with the relatively short distances between the major economic and industrial conurbation areas, it may appear relatively straightforward where to locate edge data centers. And there’s a high overall population density – 725 per mile compared to just 87 in the US.

But, away from London, easily the most densely populated area with around 9.4 million there are still around 57 million citizens to reach. Unlike in London, these are dispersed unevenly throughout the UK. This is in spite of major conurbation areas around Birmingham in the West Midlands and Greater Manchester in the North West both of which account for around 2.5 million people. The Liverpool City Region in the North West also has a sizeable population of 1.5 million with over 37,000 active businesses. But don’t forget the many millions and enterprises  spread across cities and towns in the South, East Midlands, East Anglia, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Data centers in the London area will not be close enough when looking to serve these populations efficiently with low latency applications and services. 

As the map shows, nLighten is already well on the way to building a comprehensive, highly connected pan-European edge data center platform that addresses these issues and demands.

Ultimately, the acceleration of fit for purpose highly connected and scalable regional edge data centers outside of FLAP-D is vital for delivering and future proofing the edge computing concept. Enterprise organisations can then be assured of a more uniform user experience no matter their physical geographic location.

Furthermore, our customers, many of which are local governments and enterprises, value the ability to have their data center provider in closer proximity to their people. Not only saving on time by cutting back on travel, but also seeing the direct impact of our ability to integrate with regional energy projects – including the direct implementation of heat re-use solutions in their city or region.