Given what we’ve experienced over the last few years, it would take someone very brave to second guess how 2025 will play out for the enterprise and data centre network infrastructure sector! That said, as we embark on the next stage of artificial intelligence (AI), there’s a lot to be positive about but also some concerns that need to be addressed.

Perhaps the biggest issue is how the data centre sector is going to balance the increase in AI related energy consumption with legislative demands to become more sustainable. This appears, on the surface, to represent an invidious position that will no doubt be heavily scrutinised as demands increase to support the progress of AI technologies. In this issue’s Question Time we’ve asked a specially selected panel of industry representatives to offer their thoughts on this particular conundrum.

A few years ago, some people were proclaiming that ‘colocation is dead’, but this demise clearly never happened. In fact, the opposite has transpired and analysts across the industry are predicting continued growth for the sector. In this month’s special feature on colocation data centres Adriaan Oosthoek of Portus Data Centers looks at the demand drivers for regional facilities, while Paul Finch of Kao Data looks at how cooling systems are being developed to ensure efficiency and sustainability demands in the age of high-powered chips are met.

While we are on the subject of once predicted demises that never happened (and are unlikely to!) this issue also contains a focus on copper cabling, with two excellent articles on the subject. In the first, Alberto Zucchinali of Siemon explains why the development of ever more intelligent buildings means that copper isn’t going anywhere. He’s followed by Panduit’s Hans Obermillacher, who charts the evolution of copper cabling and examines its role in today’s enterprises and data centres.

With lots more besides, I hope you enjoy this issue of Inside_Networks and if you’d like to comment on any of these subjects, or anything else, I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Rob Shepherd
Editor