NETWORKS EUROPE The magazine for network and data centre professionals IN THIS ISSUE: 2021 NETWORKING PREDICTIONS IMPLEMENTING HYBRID CLOUD NETWORKS MODERN NETWORKS SUPPORTING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION January/ February 2021 DAWN OF A NEW INTERNET ERA WHAT MAKES A GOOD CONNECTOR DESIGN? OUT-OF-BAND & AUTOMATION A solution that guarantees reliability and network resilience More speed and devices, but infrastructure is lagging behind There may be more to it than you think!www.networkseuropemagazine.com 03 32 34 50 06 News The news desk highlights some of the industry stories. 16 Casting reflections on 2021 One must always reflect backwards in order to move forwards, with last year giving us many lessons on how to advance our technology quickly and efficiently. 20 Networking predictions As the world embraced a new way of working in 2020, overhauling business processes and transforming services to deliver value to customers and employees became a top priority. 22 Looking back over 2020 Data centre and edge computing predictions from Schneider Electric. 26 Hyperscale, HPC and colocation predictions for 2021 As we plan for the year ahead we will see greater changes within the sector; many will be influenced by the innovation of hyperscale providers, high-performance computing (HPC) technologies and by the OCP-Ready colocation data centres supporting them. 28 Smart predictions Smarter Technologies looks at the connected technology that will transform 2021.. 32 Three things to consider when implementing hybrid cloud networks We have seen an increase in hybrid cloud networks, combining private and public cloud infrastructures. 34 How out-of-band and automation help MSPs deliver network resilience Today’s MSPs need to ensure uptime using a proven solution that guarantees reliability and the network resilience their customers expect. 36 Technical advantages in cloud- based contact centres The move from on-premises to cloud-based architecture certainly has clear business benefits, but the technical aspects deserve equal consideration. 40 IT outages still a major issue LogicMonitor looks at how to prevent problems before they arise. 42 Only modern networks will support and accelerate digital transformation Working regulations are constantly in flux due to the pandemic so it is no surprise that organisations are thinking ahead to what the ‘new normal’ will look like in a post-COVID-19 world. 46 What makes a good connector design? PEI-Genesis suggests there's more to it than you think! 48 The dawn of the new internet era More speed, more devices, but infrastructure is lagging behind 50 Movers and shakers We take a quick look at some of the industry's movers and shakers, including new appointments, promotions and personnel changes. www.networkseuropemagazine.com contents 03 16 NETWORKS EUROPE 1 Tudor Business Centre, Waterhouse Lane, Kingswood KT20 6EN www.networkseuropemagazine.com Published by: Abacus Communications Limited Publisher: Greg Ward Editor: Laura Vallis Sales Executive: Keith Foster The views expressed in the articles and technical papers are those of the authors and are not endorsed by the publishers. The author and publisher, and its officers and employees, do not accept any liability for any errors that may have occurred, or for any reliance on their contents. All trademarks and brandnames are respected within our publication. However, the publishers accept no responsibility for any inadvertent misuse that may occur. This publication is protected by copyright © 2020 and accordingly must not be reproduced in any medium. All rights reserved. Networks Europe stories, news, know-how? Please submit to editor.networks@abacus-comms.co.uk including high resolution (300dpi+ CMYK) images.UPS Service and Maintenance • Battery Replacements • Impedance Testing • Emergency Call-out • Capacitor Replacements • Fan Replacements • Preventative Maintenance .co.ukEditor's Note It might be said that making predictions in a global crisis is a futile exercise. After all, who might have predicted a viral pandemic that would affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people? Yet, as Churchill apparently once said: "never waste a good crisis". Last year, as COVID-19 forced us to accelerate digital transformation, and the world embraced a new way of working, continuing to deliver value to customers and employees became a top priority. In this issue we look at what we have learned over the past 12 months and consider what we believe to be trends and predictions in 2021. We cover innovation of hyperscale providers, high-performance computing (HPC) technologies and the OCP-Ready colocation data centres supporting them. We also take a look at how to implement the hybrid cloud and how out-of-band and automation can help Managed Service Providers (MSPs) deliver network resilience to manage and maintain networks for their customers. With increased use of internet services, broader application of IoT devices, and COVID-related shift to remote work we have accelerated our transition into the new era of the internet. However, there are concerns that the current network architecture is falling behind the imposed expectations to support new-age integrations. Will the fallback force current developments to hit the brakes until it can catch up? While no one can predict exactly what will happen in 2021, we do know that technology is constantly evolving and changing. We can see trends developing and transformations happening, forced out of necessity and requirement. We can't wait to see whether our 2021 predictions do come true! Laura Vallis Editor Networks Europe foreword www.networkseuropemagazine.com 05 www.networkseuropemagazine.com 05European Cloud and Data Centre industry commits to ambitious sustainability action One year after the adoption of the European Green Deal, several cloud infrastructure providers and data centre operators have created the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact. Twenty-five companies and 17 associations have agreed to a Self Regulatory Initiative to make data centres in Europe climate neutral by 2030. Companies joining the Pact represent significant industry players in cloud infrastructure and data centres in Europe. This is an unprecedented commitment by an industry to proactively lead the transition to a climate neutral economy. The Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact establishes a Self Regulatory Initiative developed in cooperation with the European Commission. It supports both the European Green Deal, which aims to make Europe the world’s first climate- neutral continent by 2050, and the European Data Strategy by making EU data centres climate neutral by 2030. Progress towards achieving climate-neutral data centres will be monitored by the European Commission twice a year. n www.networkseuropemagazine.com NEWS IN BRIEF www.networkseuropemagazine.com 06 With many data centres turning to Aggreko for help bridging the gap during their own energy transition, the temporary power solutions company is now putting its money where its mouth is with a £4.5million upgrade to its production facility in Scotland. As part of Aggreko’s industry-leading Net Zero strategy, the site will turn into a future energy hub, replacing all diesel with low-emission HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) as well as exporting surplus power generated during production tests of next-generation gas gensets back to the national grid. Smart battery storage systems and LED lighting systems will also be used to make the use of energy at the facility more efficient. The investment and plans form part of the Aggreko’s commitment to achieve Net Zero emissions from its own operations by 2030 – something the business has been supporting customers with since 2019. Aggreko has significantly invested into a plethora of research and insights to better- understand industry’s pain points and divers when it comes to Net Zero targets, as well as investing in the latest green technology to facilitate change. Rolling out a significant project of this magnitude was a natural next step for such work. With leading players in the European data centre and cloud infrastructure industry agreeing to take firm steps to make their data centres climate neutral by 2030, this project could not be more pertinent for a major supplier to the sector. The scheme includes the acquisition of land at Lomondgate Park next to the existing site, which is owned by Strathleven Regeneration CIC (SRCIC). Construction started in November 2020 and represents an investment of £4m with local firms, bringing over 300 employees together in a campus environment which will add a state-of-the-art rental depot to the existing manufacturing site. Aine Finlayson, Director of Manufacturing at Aggreko, said: “Our Dumbarton facility sits at the heart of everything we do around the world, and is driven by the amazing team of people who work there. This investment is a demonstration of our commitment to our team and the local area, and making sure that we’re continuing to produce the high-quality, reliable and greener products that our customers expect. We continue to look for ways to enhance the value that the site brings to the business and the local community. Scotland is on an exciting journey towards Net Zero and we want to be part of that.” Chris Rason, Managing Director of Aggreko, said: “I’m incredibly proud to see what our colleagues are about to achieve with our own facility in Dumbarton. It demonstrates a true commitment to the work we are enabling our own customers to achieve throughout the UK’s ambitious energy transition. Hopefully, this will give them an additional boost of confidence that they are in expert hands.” Aggreko’s Lomondgate facility develops modular power, storage and temperature control solutions which are used across the world to support projects in key sectors including data centres, construction, manufacturing, utilities, mining, and at events including Glastonbury Festival and the Super Bowl. n Aggreko leads by example with £4.5m Net Zero investment SnapLogic supports Siemens Digital Industries establishing real-time data supply SnapLogic has announced that Siemens Digital Industries, an innovation and technology player in industrial automation and digitalisation, is using SnapLogic’s leading integration platform to connect its data management systems and provide over 80 regional sales teams with product master data in real-time. Master data is crucially important to Siemens and its sales teams. But as the volume of data at Siemens grew, the IT team decided to review how to manage the growing demand for existing applications more efficiently. In this context, Siemens Digital Industries deployed SnapLogic’s Intelligent Integration platform in combination with Kafka data streaming service to revolutionise its data approach. The SnapLogic platform integrates product master data with a number of enterprise applications and supports a range of business processes within Siemens. This includes support for real-time quotation generation to the delivery of critical product data to sales teams exactly when they need it. The Siemens Digital Industries team has benefited from the SnapLogic platform's self- service capabilities, enabling a wide range of business users to contribute meaningfully to data initiatives. This now helps them to develop, manage, and improve data projects in a fraction of the time it took previously and with a much greater degree of agility. nShare your news. Contact the editor at: editor.networks@abacus-comms.co.uk Ekinops and LiveAction announce partnership Ekinops, supplier of optical transport equipment and enterprise connectivity solutions, and LiveAction, a provider of network performance analysis and management, have announced the integration of their technologies to provide service providers with advanced, real-time network performance analytics and value- added services via a combined routing solution. The solution pairs Ekinops’ field-proven branch routing solutions with LiveAction’s LiveSP program to offer a 360-degree overview of network and application performance. The integrated solution allows service providers to create dynamic dashboards and reports based on application recognition and by measuring network performance metrics, such as application traffic, COS (Class Of Service) information, delay and jitter, allows them to support their enterprise customers’ operational teams in managing performance. Proximus, a leading Belgian service provider, has successfully deployed the combined technologies on its MPLS service ‘Explore’, helping thousands of enterprises to meet the network infrastructure needs of their business lines with measurable performance delivery. “The combination of these innovative technologies enabled us to both strengthen and grow our customer relationships. Not only are we offering a new service, but we’ve also been able to showcase the reliability of our connectivity services, all delivered via a simple end-user interface. Access to these new metrics has been invaluable,” commented Tania Defraine, Head of Business Management at Proximus. Tailored to the needs of service providers, LiveAction’s LiveSP collects advanced reporting metrics from network devices and translates valuable information to end- users, enabling network and application performance monitoring. Combined with Ekinops’ customer premises equipment (CPE) portfolio and embedded OneOS6 middleware, routers can easily activate sophisticated built-in services such as Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) intelligence, firewalls, SD-WAN and SBC, while also providing related performance metrics. “With this compelling technology integration, service provider partners can easily create additional value- added services for their customers while leveraging existing Ekinops access infrastructure,” comments Damien Defer, SP Sales Director at LiveAction. “Our collaboration enables us to offer them a unique opportunity to differentiate, safeguard revenues and elevate offerings to a more flexible, application- based portfolio.” “Going up-market by delivering higher value-added solutions is at the heart of Ekinops’ mission. And increasingly, insights into network and application performance are critical to this market,” commented Sylvain Quartier, VP Marketing and Access Product Strategy at Ekinops. “By pooling our expertise, we’ve been able to define a solution that empowers service providers to remain competitive and tap into new revenues, without huge additional infrastructure costs.” n The Eurotec case frame family from Verotec is a modular multi-purpose design based on the KM6 sub-rack system, designed for applications that require standard 3U and 6U PCBs or modules to be housed in either a desktop, 19in rack-mount or portable enclosure. Standard depths are 240, 360 and 480mm and backplane or DIN41612 connector rear extrusions can be specified. The core design is a versatile enclosure in its own right. It is finished with stylish front trims and latching feet for desktop instrumentation use, fitted with standard 19in earpieces for rack mounting and the portable units have a locking carry handle. The top and bottom covers are readily removed for system building and servicing requirements. Three thermal management options are available. For low power applications, the 3U and 6U units have unventilated top and bottom covers. 4U and 7U versions are fitted with additional ½U high ventilated covers that offer enhanced convection cooling and for high power applications, the 5U and 8U versions are fitted with a ½U ventilated top cover and a 1½U bottom cover with a front filter unit that accepts a fan tray for forced air cooling. EMC screening kits that provide enhanced attenuation levels are available. Further standard configuration options include vented and fan rear panels as an alternative to using the bottom fan tray version. The use of standard KM6 sub-rack components means that Eurotec is fully compatible with KM6-II card guides, front panels, plug-in units and accessories. A large number of standard elements enables application-specific designs to be configured from standard components, reduces time to market and ensures that non-recurring engineering costs are minimised. n Eurotec caseframes are Verotec’s elegant solution for easy Eurocard PCB housing NEWS IN BRIEF www.networkseuropemagazine.com 07 www.networkseuropemagazine.com 07Amagi selects GTT’s network to support its cloud-managed broadcast services for TV and OTT GTT Communications, Inc has been selected by Amagi, SaaS company in broadcast and streaming TV technology, to deliver its cloud-managed broadcast services to clients in Europe and the U.S. Amagi's services help its clients transition from a physical on-premise operations model to a flexible, secure cloud-based approach using Amagi’s cloud infrastructure, where they can create and distribute broadcast-grade live linear channels. Srinivasan KA, co-founder of Amagi commented, “The broadcast industry is going through a huge change which has only been accelerated over the past year with the sudden shift away from office-based work. Amagi’s cloud platform enables media clients to manage their broadcast operations remotely in the cloud, providing greater flexibility without compromising visibility and control. GTT’s cloud networking services make sure our clients have secure access directly into our cloud platform and that their content benefits from the low latency and high resilience of GTT’s global Tier 1 network.” GTT is providing Amagi with diverse ethernet connectivity from London to leading TV operators in the U.S. and Europe, direct connectivity into the global GTT video network, which offers 100+ video PoPs and 100% quality of service infrastructure for low latency, low jitter and high-resolution delivery, the ability to book occasional use video services between Amagi’s London Broadcast Distribution Nodes and global high-profile venues, such as major TV studios, sports stadiums and satellite downlink stations and dedicated Tier 1 internet access for Amagi’s Amsterdam and London Broadcast Distribution Nodes, enabling remote access to its public cloud-hosted SaaS. n CNet Training celebrates its 25th anniversary CNet Training, a global specialist in technical education for the digital infrastructure industry, comprising the data centre and network infrastructure sectors, is proud to be celebrating its 25th birthday this year. For 25 years, CNet has been committed to delivering high quality and professional technical education programs to individuals and businesses across the globe. CNet remains the only industry dedicated technical education provider in the world to award both industry-recognised qualifications and official certifications. Since launching in 1996, the CNet team has grown significantly and continued to develop and expand its delivery locations and program offerings to learners from all corners of the world. Over the last 25 years, CNet is proud to have educated over 70,000 individuals, in 45 countries to 153 different nationalities in 218 delivery locations and in 19 time zones. These delivery locations span the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and Africa. All of CNet’s programs are delivered by CNet’s expert Instructor team who are all full-time employees based across the globe and have combined over 300 years of first-hand industry experience, providing learners with access to some of the most respected and technical minds in the data centre and network infrastructure industry. To celebrate 25 years, CNet has also re-designed its brand logo especially for 2021. The new blue design will appear across the CNet website and all marketing materials throughout the year. CNet was initially established with a focus on training military personnel in internal and external copper and fibre cable installation. From there, the company rapidly expanded and is now the largest and longest-serving industry dedicated education provider in the world. Originated by CNet, The Global Digital Infrastructure Education Framework is recognised worldwide. It provides designations that have become key skills reference points that allow those holding them to demonstrate their ability and experience. In 2017, CNet launched its live instructor-led Remote Attendance capability, initially anticipating a drive to need to operate in a more sustainable and environmentally sensitive way. Remote Attendance has allowed learning to continue throughout a global pandemic and make learning even more accessible across the world. Learners can now select the best time to attend a program from a wide variety of time zones available across the globe, for example, if individuals work night shifts or are unable to study during their standard time zone due to other work/life commitments. Looking ahead, CNet is working on exciting plans to expand its technical offering, adding more programs to its education framework and working alongside the industry and organisations to create further technical apprenticeships for the network infrastructure sector. n www.networkseuropemagazine.com 08 NEWS IN BRIEF Colt DCS European operations go 100% green Colt Data Centre Services (DCS) announces that its operations across the UK and Europe are fully powered by 100% renewable power. Colt DCS has also committed to providing green power to sister company Colt Technology Services and its customers using DCS data centres in the region, in an effort to help them also reduce their own carbon emissions. Across the UK and Europe, Colt DCS currently operates 17 carrier-neutral data centres, with three in London. These pledges align with Colt DCS and Colt Technology Services’ joint commitment to becoming a market leader in sustainability, as both companies begin their transitions to support a zero-carbon economy. The data centre provider has also committed to setting ambitious, science-based emission reduction targets which will be finalised in 2021. Colt DCS Director of Energy and Sustainability, Scott Balloch said: “Our accelerated transition to renewable energy is just the first step in our journey to becoming more sustainable as a business and industry, with much more to come. At Colt DCS, we believe the responsibility lies with us as an industry to lead the way, generate our own high standards for sustainability, and present these to governments. That is why we are currently developing impactful, science-based metrics that we can hold ourselves accountable to.” Colt DCS and Colt Technology Services are developing an ambitious sustainability strategy underpinned by both companies' visions on becoming the most customer-focused across the industry. Colt wants to enable its customers to reach their own sustainability goals by being a strategic partner of choice who is passionate and proactive in driving change across the industry. Within its existing workforce Colt has already established a global ‘Green Team’ who have already implemented several initiatives including minimising the use of plastic bottles and cups across its entire estate, the use of more efficient LED lighting within its data centres and offices as well as promoting cycling initiatives for its employee base. “We want to be leaders in changing the way the industry thinks about becoming more sustainable, and it’s something that is becoming increasingly important to people making informed decisions about what organisations they want to build and progress their careers with. It is something that is important to a lot of the millennial workforce, so force is crucial to embed within our organisation in order to attract future talent” added Balloch. nHUBER+SUHNER launches MASTERLINE Ultimate Micro solution to advance 5G small cell deployment HUBER+SUHNER, provider of optical connectivity solutions, has launched its MASTERLINE Ultimate Micro (MLUM) compact and discreet fibre optic distribution box as part of its Network Densification product range, designed to ease installation and operation of 5G deployments. Operators are often faced with the challenge of providing cost-effective 5G in urban areas. Small cells are critical to providing increased capacity and coverage in these areas, where networks are highly congested with growing numbers of wireless devices. However, creating new cellular sites in urban areas is very challenging with only limited space available for installation in harsh conditions. To overcome this, HUBER+SUHNER has developed its versatile MLUM solution to address critical challenges in the planning, building and operation of new wireless infrastructure deployments. It provides an affordable solution that is simple to install and takes up the minimum amount of physical space. “An obstacle right from the initial planning stage of small cell sites is the unique demands of different locations, from street boxes, bus stops, street lamps or even house walls,” said David Neher, Product Manager for Outdoor Fiber Connectivity at HUBER+SUHNER. “For this reason, there is a great need for products and solutions that are compact and can therefore be used flexibly in the available space. HUBER+SUHNER is proud to address 5G deployment requirements and challenges with its product portfolio to support the success of the next- generation ecosystem.” The MLUM features plug and play functionality with multiple mounting options, providing a number of placement possibilities to achieve robust, flexible, high-capacity deployments for up to 4 RRHs. “Given the increasing number of 5G sites, there is also the requirement to connect the products as quickly as possible to meet the growing demand for faster site deployment. That’s why our MASTERLINE Ultimate Micro solution is a game-changer; easy and simple to install with a low visual impact,” concluded Neher. Adding to its extensive portfolio, with small antennas and Standard Plenum Jumpers (SPJ) solutions for both indoors and outdoors, the MASTERLINE Ultimate Micro establishes HUBER+SUHNER as a leading sustainable solution provider in the market. n DigiCert solves challenge of PKI management in the IoT device supply chain DigiCert, Inc., a provider of TLS/SSL, IoT and PKI solutions, helps companies provision and manage digital certificates at any point during the product lifecycle with the new release of the IoT Device Manager. Manufacturers can now embed certificates on chipsets before and during manufacturing, or directly to an edge device, for complete end-to-end device security. IoT Device Manager is built on DigiCert ONE, which enables rapid, automated PKI deployment as a customer-managed, on-premises or cloud solution, or managed by DigiCert for any environment. A challenge that manufacturers face when implementing PKI is figuring out how to provision certificates to devices during the manufacturing and assembly process. Changing manufacturing processes by implementing new technology can be a time consuming and expensive undertaking. To address this challenge, DigiCert provisions authentication and signing certificates to chips before arriving at the manufacturing plant for assembly. Having certificates pre-provisioned allows manufacturers, without changing any processes, to achieve the benefits of device identity, strong mutual authentication, and secure boot and over-the-air updates through the use of digital signatures. Additionally, as manufacturers look for more device-level data and management capabilities, metadata on the device's characteristics — including serial numbers, batch numbers and digital certificate data — can be loaded into DigiCert IoT Device Manager to support full device management capabilities throughout a device's lifetime. “Signing is a critical component of strong IoT security, and manufacturers are continually signing a variety of programming elements to ensure the integrity of interactions with their devices, and the data coming from it,” said DigiCert SVP of Product Brian Trzupek. “Together with assuring the identity of the device at the time of manufacture and enabling certificate requests directly from any deployed device, IoT Device Manager is part of a holistic security and threat response platform for IoT device security.” n BrainChip completes Akida production design BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN), a provider of ultra-low power high- performance artificial intelligence technology, announces update on the development of the Company’s Akida Neuromorphic System-on-Chip. (NSoC). The Company confirms that the Register-Transfer Level (RTL) design has been completed and transferred to the Company’s manufacturing partner, Socionext America (SNA). SNA will complete the physical design of the device and all related engineering tasks required to transfer the full device files (tape-out) to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for mask creation and wafer fabrication. The mask set will be utilised to manufacture production wafers as well as support qualification testing and parametric testing of the Akida device. Production wafers will be used to support potential customer requirements, including a full range of Quality and Reliability (QA) data as well as a detailed Data Sheet (DS) and User’s Manual. BrainChip CEO, Louis DiNardo commented, “The Akida device design will be transferred to TSMC for use in manufacturing production wafers in support of potential customer requirements in 2021 and beyond. This is a major milestone for the Company as we move to commercialise the Akida NSoC.” He continued, “Our chosen markets in Smart Home, Smart Transportation, Smart Medical and Smart City include some of the most discriminating customers in the electronics industry. Through our partnership with SNA and TSMC, we have world-class resources and expect to have a robust Integrated Circuit (IC) that suits their requirements for both performance and reliability.” Akida brings artificial intelligence to the edge in a way that existing technologies are not capable. The solution is high-performance, small, ultra-low power and enables a wide array of edge capabilities. The Akida NSoC and intellectual property can be used in applications including Smart Home, Smart Health, Smart City and Smart Transportation. These applications include but are not limited to home automation and remote controls, industrial IoT, robotics, security cameras, sensors, unmanned aircraft, autonomous vehicles, medical instruments, object detection, sound detection, odour and taste detection, gesture control and cybersecurity. n 09 NEWS IN BRIEF www.networkseuropemagazine.com 09Next >