As with any trend, blockchain technology has a number of advantages and disadvantages, especially in connection with the data center. However, the growing influence of blockchain can give organizations a competitive edge when they use it properly.
Today, blockchain technology is one of the biggest trends in the industry. According to Deloitte’s 2021 Global Blockchain Survey, 81% of top executives in large organizations believe that blockchain technology is broadly scalable and has achieved mainstream adoption. Furthermore, 78% also reported that their management teams believe it is a compelling business case for the use of blockchain in their organization, and 80% discuss how to integrate it into their current strategies.
Blockchain is a very secure and unchanging record keeping technology. Bad actors can not break into the system or falsify the data stored on it. This distributed ledger technology records transactions and related data in multiple locations simultaneously, preventing a single point of error and validating each information it stores.
Compared to traditional databases that store data in rows, columns, tables and files, a blockchain is decentralized and managed by computers in a peer-to-peer network. It stores data in linked blocks; during a transaction, each data block is sent to each computer node in the network, where it is authorized and then connected to the block chain in a secure manner. Once a block is added, it cannot be changed.
The validation process ensures that the data is unique and legitimate with timestamps to prove it. Should anyone attempt to replace a block, copy it, or change its state, the network of computers that make up the blockchain receives an alert immediately, and no one can add new blocks to the chain until the issue is resolved.
Safety is simply the blockchain’s biggest advantage, followed by resilience. Each block is continuously tuned by a network of computers. If one node fails, it cannot get the whole system down because all the other nodes have a copy of the general ledger.
There are several types of blockchains and a variety of uses across industries. The financial industry is currently leading blockchain adoption because of the way technology can simplify the transaction process and lock it as well.
How blockchain transforms data center architecture
When it comes to data center architecture, blockchain takes a different approach to data storage.
Blockchain uses decentralization to manage and store data. The blockchain network can consist of dozens, hundreds or thousands of computers spread all over the world in different locations. For a blockchain to be successful, hackers must shut down multiple computers on the network – and even then, blockchain data storage is encrypted, minimizing security risk.
The emergence of blockchain also requires more reliable power, high-performance equipment that can process blocks of data quickly, and more intensive cooling to prevent the equipment from overheating during intense calculations.
These benefits compete directly with traditional data center storage. Data centers contain huge amounts of data in a single place. This centralization puts them at risk of natural disasters and disruptions in the local area. To add some redundancy and prevent data loss, organizations can copy data and store it elsewhere; However, this process can be time consuming and costly, and it creates an excess of information that also needs protection.
Blockchain data storage can deliver higher levels of security, reliability, redundancy, resilience and transparency. The distributed nature allows users to have a higher degree of control over where they store their data, which also affects accessibility and availability.
That said, accessibility and accessibility can be a detriment to the decentralized approach. To retrieve a block of data, the various nodes on the network must synchronize, validate, and drag the block; this can take considerable time, depending on the location and load of the nodes. Traditional data centers can deliver much higher speeds and higher levels of data availability.
The security of the blockchain, although quite advanced, is also not perfect. As more users use the technology, bad players will become better at finding and exploiting holes in blockchains. For the time being, however, it provides much better data security than internal and cloud storage.
Finally, cost is a major factor that determines whether organizations can choose to use blockchain. Although blockchain is becoming more popular every day, it is still not widely distributed by organizations – at least not at the same level as cloud storage, which is cheap and available in many forms today.
How data centers can be at the forefront
For data center teams seeking a blockchain approach, start by re-evaluating the data center infrastructure. Consider how you can pivot resources, and start implementing and moving towards a decentralized architecture. Start thinking about how to set up a peer-to-peer network that can handle a blockchain workflow.
The emergence of blockchain also requires more reliable power, high-performance equipment that can process blocks of data quickly, and more intensive cooling to prevent the equipment from overheating during intense calculations. The faster users can write and validate blocks, the better. So be sure to consider these requirements and invest accordingly.
The traditional data center architecture must be fundamentally transformed to meet blockchain’s demands for higher traffic and availability, including having employees available with specialized blockchain skills. This constitutes a large enterprise; But by planning for it now, organizations can keep pace with growing computing needs and adapt to customer needs as they adopt new business strategies to integrate the blockchain.
