What is Data Gravity?
If you haven’t heard of data gravity yet, chances are you've heard of gravity. It’s a force of attraction that draws objects toward each other. When we add the word "data" to the mix, the definition doesn’t change much. Data gravity is the phenomenon the IT infrastructure industry is experiencing where certain data center hubs seem to have created an ecosystem that continues to draw in value and deliver more and more opportunity to tenants on an ongoing basis without much effort. The ecosystem is self-bettering in a way—a flywheel creating its own momentum. Right now, the edge is rich in data gravity, but not all edge data centers have this X factor. Data gravity requires the right beginnings.
Why Data Gravity is Essential to Edge Data Centers
Consider a data center in a tertiary market compared to an edge data center in an up-and-coming market in the center of the United States. Sure, the former is a data center, but its connectivity ecosystem potential is underwhelming. Tenants will benefit in some ways, but they’re cornered when it comes to spurring their expansion long-term and opening more tools for digital transformation and evolution. On the other hand, the geographically central edge data center in an up-and-coming market changes the game. This facility still services the edge (as opposed to major hubs like Ashburn or Silicon Valley), but because it’s a midway point for east-to-west and north-to-south routes, companies collocated here will have much more to choose from. These types of long-term benefits draw high-value companies in and launch a data gravity-driven data center ecosystem.
Another way to find data gravity is to look for edge data centers that double as a connectivity ecosystem—pulling in the easily accessible benefits of an internet exchange (IX) in addition to the advantages of colocation. Data centers and edge data centers all deliver connectivity as table stakes, but with an IX thrown into the mix, the data center becomes a living, breathing, opportunity-rich ecosystem full of low-cost connectivity resources. IXs are continuing to gain traction as strategic tools for expanding and managing network traffic, so they’re an invaluable resource for keeping local traffic local—and the communities that comprise them will only continue to grow and significance.
