DE-CIX: AI Will Continue to Transform 2025 Tech Landscape
As AI becomes the core of smart business models worldwide, it requires equally intelligent IT infrastructures and networks that are as agile and autonomously scalable as enterprise self-managing systems, processes and workflows.
The wider technology industry is setting the stage for a 5G Advanced roll-out in 2025, DE-CIX sees the next generation of connectivity as being right around the corner.
With this in mind, we hear from DE-CIX CEO Ivo Ivanov and CTO Dr. Thomas King about some of the most exciting technology trends that are set to impact the data centre and communications sectors moving into 2025.
Embracing AI
“Standards, open architectures and APIs will make tomorrow's network interoperable and intelligent,” says Thomas. “6G will not only be up to 100 times faster than 5G, but it will also integrate AI to secure, manage and control networks. This level of intelligence will be needed in all connectivity technologies to manage future AI-driven data flows.”
Significantly, it will become more necessary for the data centre industry to have a clear AI strategy as, according to the IDC, data centre electricity consumption is expected to account for 2.5% of global demand.
Ivo adds: “Smart value creation demands equally smart technologies. AI not only offers support for more intelligent network management, but for operational excellence in all areas of the telecommunications industry.
“From network optimisation to energy efficiency, to fraud detection and customer service, smart solutions can enhance every single business process.”
The need for responsible AI is becoming increasingly clear throughout the global data centre sector. Already, the rise in AI is causing the data centre industry to experience overwhelming demands, so much so that European energy demand is expected to triple by 2030.
“AI will create new roles and free up workers to undertake different challenges,” Ivo says. “Human specialisations will focus more on areas that AI cannot solve and AI can also support companies to enable their staff to develop new skills and change their roles.”
Becoming more interconnected
The way companies train large language models (LLMs) is also expected to change, according to Thomas.
“Whereas huge, centralised data centres were previously needed to be able to quickly process computing loads on parallel clusters, in the future it will be necessary to be able to train AI models in a more decentralised way - if only for the reason that space for data centres is limited everywhere.”
“The solution is provided by AI Exchanges, which can interconnect disaggregated computing workloads and AI services via high-speed connections,” says Ivo Ivanov, “and which are already prepared for the coming technological leaps in the AI market.”
New Ultra Ethernet is also driving a trend towards disaggregated computing, an architecture that separates memory, compute and storage within data centre infrastructure, by replacing InfiniBand.
“This means that if computers and storage were connected via InfiniBand in an AI data centre, they usually had to be located only a few meters apart. Ultra Ethernet can bridge larger distances,” says Thomas.
“The standard is less complex, easier to use, is based on established and widely used Ethernet technology and allows large language models to be trained even in a metropolitan area.”
With the need for high-speed interconnection more important than ever before, it is necessary to operate distributed networked data centres in locations where there is still space or energy for them.
“Connectivity is the essence of every AI application,” Thomas adds. “The history of DE-CIX over the past 30 years has shown how important a neutral and interconnected Internet is for the economy and prosperity in the world.”
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