Definition

hyperscale computing

Part of the Data centers glossary:

Hyperscale computing is a distributed computing environment in which the volume of data and the demand for certain types of workloads can increase exponentially yet still be accommodated quickly in a cost-effective manner.

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Hyperscale data centers, which are often built with stripped down commercial off the shelf (COTS) computing equipment, can have millions of virtual servers and accommodate increased computing demands without requiring existing physical space, cooling or electrical power. The savings in hardware can pay for custom software to meet business needs. In such a scenario, the total cost of ownership (TCO) is typically measured in terms of high availability (HA) and the unit price for delivering an application and/or data.

Hyperscale computing is often associated with cloud computing and the very large data centers owned by Facebook, Google and Amazon. There is a lot of interest in hyperscale computing right now because the open source software that such organizations have developed to run their data centers is expected to  trickle down to smaller organizations, helping them to become more efficient, use less power and respond quickly to their own user’s needs.

This was last updated in January 2013
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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