Ever wonder what (or where) the “cloud” is? There are a variety of functions that the cloud can be used for and each one requires a separate complicated explanation, but for the purpose of this post I’m going to focus on one simple aspect: remote storage of data. I’ll define it using some common real world examples:
* videos that are shared via YouTube
* email that can be read on a phone, tablet, or computer (and have it all synchronize simultaneously)
* pictures, comments, and ideas that are shared on Facebook or Pinterest
* maps and the little voice that guide us when we use GPS for directions
* applications and games that are downloaded to a phone or tablet
* the list goes on and on!
All of the videos, emails, pictures, maps, and applications that are uploaded or downloaded need a place to be stored. In some cases, the data is stored locally (on the device using internal memory), but the growing trend is to store the majority of data remotely and access it as if it were stored locally. Data Centers are the facilities that companies use to store all of this information. Large service providers like Amazon, Google, and Facebook have their own data centers but many companies lease space from “cloud” providers. As one can imagine, for each image that is uploaded to Facebook and for each minute of video that is uploaded to YouTube, space needs to be available for the size of the file being uploaded. Now think of it in terms of the millions of people that do this each day. According to YouTube, 72 hours (3 days) of video are uploaded every minute! As this trend continues, the need for more storage space and data centers continues. The market share of Data Center Real Estate will inevitably experience significant growth in the decades to come, and NavPoint Real Estate Group is fully capable and well-positioned to broker any deals related to Data Center Real Estate whether it be colocation, cloud, or managed hosting services.