Why Metaverse Hinges on Data Centers – What it means for the Future of Sustainability

By Sachin Bhalla, VP – Secure Power Division, India and SAARC, Schneider Electric

The metaverse is here – but companies have many miles to achieve before they can fully leverage this new iteration of the internet. One thing is certain: the metaverse will require A LOT of data centers. Yet, existing data centers are not ready to deliver the full range of experiences anticipated by the metaverse, and the extensive power needed to sustain it. In today’s era, business leaders should be hyper-focused on data center expansion, which starts by analyzing and understanding the equipment and infrastructure currently in place and implementing frameworks to measure their environmental impact.

The world’s data centers already represent one percent of the world’s electricity use, and although the industry has achieved incredible efficiency improvements over the past decade, it’s unclear if those efficiency gains can continue to offset data center energy demands in the years to come. Pair that with the high-capacity IT infrastructure needed to support the idea of the metaverse, and it’s clear that sustainable edge data centers are more crucial than ever. That’s why business leaders should be hyper-focused on data center expansion, which starts by analyzing and understanding the equipment and infrastructure currently in place and implementing frameworks to measure their environmental impact.

For large corporations, the time is now to invest heavily in technologies that are energy efficient and resilient. This starts with communicating your commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) programs, and then standardizing metrics to help with adoption, improve benchmarking, and progress sustainability within the industry.
This energy-intensive business and the need for data storage will continue to grow at a faster rate than ever. However, becoming green & and incorporating sustainability activities into their growth strategy are priorities for the data centres of the future.

It has become a shared value for Industry decision-makers to choose between sustainability and other values. Data center owners, operators, and consumers of digital infrastructure design and situate data centers of the future with sustainability and energy efficiency in mind.

CRN reports that “demand for cloud services and remote working” and “increasing demand for colocation and hybrid cloud opportunities” means the data center market will grow over the next several years. However, data centers use an estimated 200 terawatt-hours (TWh) each year. That is more than the national energy consumption of some countries. And energy demand continues to increase as hyper-scale data centers reach the limits of processor shrinkage, which limits further gains in energy efficiency.

India is working its way up in Metaverse. Among the ways it is doing so is by bringing in next-generation Data Center Infrastructure Management software solution, which is cloud-based and ideal for managing and monitoring your edge sites is the future of sustainability. This solution will also provide end-users and partners the ability to manage sites remotely and moreover, will enable the collection and analysis of data that leads to better performance with predictive capability. It will also create a platform for monitoring, management, and service to ensure optimal performance.

An increasingly important factor will be a micro data centre that makes it quicker, simpler, and more affordable to build and deploy compute at the network edge and that allows customers, partners, or integrators to pre-install IT equipment before shipment. Ideal for edge and IoT applications where deployment speed, reliability, and security are paramount, the micro data centers are also certified by leading converged and hyperconverged IT, vendors, with offers including solutions for IT, Commercial or Industrial environments.

In addition to that, another category, modular data centers significantly simplify design and
construction, offering an alternative solution to overcome the traditional challenges of data centers. It reduces deployment times by 50% compared to traditional builds and can be operational within six to nine months from design sign-off.

To conclude, with the rise of the Metaverse, there will be a bigger demand for data centres. On the flip side, with the growth in data centers, comes the need for greater sustainability. Rising expectations for environmental sustainability in data center construction would drive new innovations in building designs and other system installations, favoring markets with cleaner energy and utility profiles, and stronger support for green alternatives in the long run.