Big data, the Internet of Things and edge computing are among the market and technology trends that have led to new demands and changes in the field of distributed computing.  In line with these changing trends, are changes in the information technology (IT) infrastructure required to support an increasingly connected environment.

Housing for computing power has moved from traditional network cabinets, often characterised by nests of tangled wires and poor labelling, to powerful yet compact micro datacentres, explains energy and automation digital solutions company Schneider Electric.

The company aims to provide smaller and more convenient IT closets and asserts that its latest 6U wall mount has enabled convenient and easy deployment of edge computing systems.

The space-saving solution is approximately the shape and size of an electrical panel and allows heavy edge servers to be safely mounted on the wall.  It can be used for  a range of applications in businesses, shops, manufacturing sites and warehouses, thanks to its integrated dust filter and fan ventilation.

The solution can be deployed almost anywhere and offers critical computing infrastructure to remote locations. It is designed to house servers, uninterruptible power supplies , storage and networking equipment and can help in rolling out mission-critical IT equipment into places where it has never existed before, explains Schneider Electric.

Additional solutions on offer include battery backup, power protection, remote monitoring, standardised designs, redundancy and cooling solutions, all of which aim to help provide data-centre-like resilience.

As the applications for edge computing have expanded, so has the diversity of the types of micro datacentres available to meet end-user edge computing needs. The size and complexity of a micro datacentre is said to depend on the IT technology required to address the business challenges, productivity goals and local applications that need to be supported.

Schneider asserts that many of those challenges can be addressed by its new 6U wall mount because the low-profile form factor and small footprint of the unit make it less conspicuous and intrusive, compared to standard floor-based, rack-mounted solutions. It also aims to enable customers to support critical business operations in non-IT environments and is designed to be easy to use, catering for the changing needs of businesses with the rise of edge computing.