What Is an Edge Data Center?

The CIO of a fast-growing SaaS company recently told us that the organization was starting to break the limits of their current infrastructure. Their platform—used by thousands of customers for real-time data analytics—was seeing more complaints about slow response times during peak usage hours outside of their default market. “Every time we get a traffic spike, we’re hit with performance issues,” the CIO said. “It’s frustrating. We’ve optimized everything we can in our core data centers, but our customers in more remote regions are still experiencing latency and performance issues. We’re losing deals because of it, and it is negatively affecting our NPS.” The challenges the company was facing quickly led us to edge strategy discussions focused on how they could use their global hybrid multicloud footprint more effectively.

Edge computing isn’t a new concept, but the way people think about the edge is changing—and for good reason. Secure, low-latency connectivity to end users has become essential to delivering the best customer and employee experiences. Meanwhile, business ecosystems are growing exponentially: Organizations are connecting with 30% more business partners in twice as many locations, according to the Global Interconnection Index (GXI) 2024, a market study published by Equinix.

Companies are also operating in and expanding into more global places at a rapid pace. Data has become the most valuable enterprise resource, and most of it is generated outside centralized data centers. Privacy concerns have become more prevalent with the increasing use of AI tools, and addressing them builds trust and customer loyalty. Mandates like GDPR that require data localization are becoming more common. And more than ever before, businesses need maximum agility to try new things and respond to ever-changing market pressures.

All these trends mean that organizations need to think critically about putting their IT infrastructure in the right places. Gone are the days of a single centralized on-premises data center. Instead, we’re in the era of global infrastructure spanning core and edge locations, and interconnecting partners and service providers to deliver the best user experiences.

Edge data centers play a key role in delivering infrastructure at optimal locations, enhancing user experiences and accelerating business insights. Traditionally, edge infrastructure was considered to be small sites located far from the central data center. However, with today’s distributed IT infrastructures, the edge can now be located virtually anywhere.

What is an edge data center?

An edge data center is typically defined as a smaller, decentralized facility strategically located closer to the end users and devices it serves. Unlike traditional centralized data centers, which are often situated far from users, edge data centers bring processing power to the edge of the network. So, instead of sending data back and forth from endpoints to your core data center location for processing, you process near those endpoints.

This proximity of infrastructure to users and devices offers several advantages:

• Reduced latency: By shortening the distance data travels, edge data centers significantly cut down latency, ensuring faster response times and seamless, real-time, personalized interactions.
• Improved data transfer efficiency: Localized processing enhances data transfer speeds and optimizes bandwidth, critical for latency-sensitive applications such as streaming, gaming and IoT.
• Scalability: You can deploy edge data centers incrementally, allowing you to scale your infrastructure based on demand without massive upfront investments.
• Enhanced reliability: Localized facilities provide redundancy and backup for critical data and services, enhancing overall system reliability.

The edge today is everywhere

As businesses move away from centralized on-premises IT, they’re recognizing that what’s most important in the digital era is putting the right workloads in the right places. While your edge could be along the coasts where population centers are concentrated, many organizations require edge infrastructure in other locations. For instance, a large healthcare provider might consider Denver their edge due to the high density of hospitals there. Therefore, they’d need local infrastructure there to meet their operational needs.

Similarly, a manufacturing company with facilities spread across the Midwest might establish their edge infrastructure in locations like Detroit or Indianapolis to optimize production and logistics processes close to their main operations.

The SaaS company we mentioned at the start of this blog post was based in the UK but had customers not only across Europe but in the Americas and Asia. By deploying their hybrid infrastructure closer to user bases, the company could provide faster, more reliable access to their entire platform, reducing latency and improving performance of their core infrastructure through edge expansion.

Edge data centers can be integrated into any modern IT infrastructure strategy, offering numerous benefits:

Complement your central data center

Edge data centers offload tasks from central data centers, helping manage peak loads and improving overall efficiency. This symbiotic relationship enhances the performance of both types of facilities.

Meet performance demands

For applications requiring real-time data processing, such as IoT devices, autonomous vehicles and interactive gaming, edge data centers provide the necessary low-latency, high-speed environment.

Enhance user experiences

By minimizing latency and boosting data transfer speeds, edge data centers contribute to a superior user experience, which is a crucial factor in customer satisfaction and retention.

Support strategic deployments

Edge data centers can be strategically placed in key geographic markets or industries, such as healthcare, finance and retail, which benefit most from localized data processing.

Optimize cost efficiency

By optimizing bandwidth usage and reducing the need for extensive infrastructure, edge data centers offer a cost-effective solution for businesses seeking high performance without heavy upfront CAPEX investment.

According to the Forrester Total Economic Impact™ of Equinix Digital Services, a composite organization representative of interviewed customers achieved a 60% reduction in holistic costs for internal infrastructure.[1]

Build your edge with Equinix

As you consider integrating edge data centers into your IT strategy, choosing the right partner is crucial. A global data center provider with a large footprint can help you find your edge anywhere in the world. Equinix provides unparalleled reach, allowing you to deploy edge infrastructure wherever you need it. You maintain maximum flexibility to choose where your edge is—and even change it in the future. You get to make the choice, instead of the vendor choosing for you.

Equinix global locations

Our global presence isn’t the only reason to partner with us for your edge deployments. Here are some additional considerations:

• 25 years of data center leadership: Equinix has been an anchor in the data center industry. Not only do we provide traditional infrastructure in colocation; we offer the flexibility of digital infrastructure, private connectivity solutions and all the major cloud on-ramps.
• Interconnection ecosystem: The robust Equinix ecosystem enables seamless integration with more than 10,000 businesses, including leading cloud providers, networks and IT service providers. Connect to us, and we’ll connect you to the world.
• Reliability and security: Equinix data centers boast an industry-leading global average uptime of 99.999%, ensuring the reliability of critical infrastructure.
• Scalability and flexibility: Our solutions are designed to grow with your business. Whether you need a single edge data center or a network of facilities, you can take small steps, moving workloads one at a time, and then scale as needed. And you can easily replicate an edge deployment in a new market when you’re ready.
• Expert support: With decades of experience and a team of skilled professionals, Equinix provides expert guidance and support to help you navigate the complexities of deploying and managing edge data centers.

Edge data centers represent a transformative shift in how businesses handle data processing, offering reduced latency, improved speeds, scalability and enhanced reliability. By integrating edge data centers into your hybrid multicloud strategy, you can unlock new levels of performance and elevate user experiences. This is the way of the future—putting the right workload in the right place, wherever your edge is.

When it comes to choosing a partner for your edge data center needs, Equinix has a proven track record of delivering exceptional value and performance. Consider Equinix for your edge data center deployments to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving decentralized, hybrid IT landscape.

To learn more about how Equinix digital infrastructure can play a role in your edge strategy, download the Forrester TEI study today.

[1] The Total Economic Impact™ of Equinix Digital Services, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Equinix.