As is my usual practice for the annual predictions column, I queried the official Hot Aisle Insight virtual crystal ball for guidance on trends and developments that dominate in the coming year, especially since 2020 begins a new decade.

Just as we need backup power for our sump pump systems to ensure our basements do not flood during a power outage, data servers need backup power to ensure they do not lose data during any loss of power.

High throughput, low latency, network availability, reliability, and security have always been top priorities in data centers, but the recent wave of technological advances — autonomous cars, augmented reality, 5G, and all other connected objects of the Internet of Things (IoT) — are taking those priorities to a new level and bringing new challenges to IT systems administrators and data centers managers.