Data gravity is the biggest challenge the majority of companies are facing nowadays. It is a fundamental process that all organizations have to figure out and address in times of digital transformation. Based on the Data Gravity Index DGx™ annual report, Data Gravity Intensity, as measured in gigabytes per second, is expected to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 133% or higher in each region through 2024. In the same report, it is stated that by 2024, EMEA is expected to remain the home to the greatest intensity of Data Gravity. But what Data Gravity means, and why does it matter?

Data gravity meaning

According to Dave McCrory, VP Growth at Digital Realty, “data gravity is a metaphor that presents the analogy for the physical way that objects with more mass naturally attract objects with less mass”. More specifically, data and applications are attracted to each other, similar to the attraction between objects that the Law of Gravity explains. And as datasets grow, they become harder to move. Gravity and other things attracted to the data - like applications - move to where the data resides. Another definition presents data gravity as “The effect that attracts large sets of data or highly active applications/services to other large sets of data or highly active applications/services, the same way gravity attracts planets or stars.”

How does it work?

The digital transformation of businesses and increased usage of smart devices generate more data from various sources and locations that need to be aggregated so as to improve the user's experience, optimize data and eliminate latency.

Network systems and workloads perform better the closer they are to one another and that’s the power of data gravity. Every byte of data must physically travel from one location to another within a network system. The closer data are to their destination, the faster they will get there and the faster the system will execute a task.  

Organizations are migrating or generating their business-critical data to the cloud since it provides lower overhead, fast start-up time, and infinite scalability. They also need to be able to shift their data from where they are being stored to where their applications are located. By bringing powerful computing resources closer to the data, organizations can eliminate the time and distance between the data sets that need to be crunched to power advanced AI models and get them out into the wild faster. Of course, this is not an easy process and thus data centers are evolving to centers of digital exchange where the interconnection of digital communities along with security are of key importance.

Data Gravity & PlatformDIGITAL®

Data Gravity inhibits enterprise workflow performance, raises security concerns, and increases costs while is also forcing a new data-centric architecture that inverts traffic flow to bring users, networks, and clouds to privately hosted enterprise data. According to Tony Bishop, SVP of Platform, Growth, and Marketing at Digital Realty, “IT leaders will look to lean more heavily on the experience of data center providers who lead in planning centers of data exchange zones—achieving a proper mix of on-premises and cloud-resident workloads—to solve data gravity challenges.”

Addressing those challenges requires a strategy where interconnection and management of big data are key factors. That’s why Digital Realty’s PlatformDIGITAL® was created; to enable the ever-changing data, control, and networking demands of global enterprises, while supporting metro connectivity hubs with wholesale space via connected campuses. PlatformDIGITAL® is the global data center platform to host critical infrastructure and interconnect digital ecosystems.

Does this sound complicated? Well, it might be, but we are here to help!

Lamda Hellix, as part of Digital Realty, provides access to PlatformDIGITAL® global platform and to more than 280 facilities in 49 metros across 6 continents. This way you solve global coverage, capacity, and ecosystem connectivity needs with a single data center provider enabling globally distributed workflows at centers of data exchange to remove data gravity barriers and scale your digital business. Our carrier-neutral data centers in Greece serve as a hub connecting telecoms providers, customers and partners and is a key connectivity gateway to south eastern Europe and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).  Want to know more? Contact us!