FEATURE: AI INFRASTRUCTURE
LEGACY NETWORKS TRAP DATA IN SILOS, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO MOVE TO WHERE COMPUTING POWER IS AVAILABLE. worked well in the pre-AI world – but they are no longer sufficient.
One core problem is rigidity. In traditional networks, every component is tied to another in a web of dependencies. This design makes change risky and complex. AI workloads, by contrast, demand rapid scaling, real-time data processing, and Edge Computing capabilities. Rigid networks become chokepoints, slowing down operations and inflating costs. report their current network infrastructure actively limits their ability to run large-scale data and AI projects. This“ velocity trap” has become a barrier preventing organizations from fully realizing AI’ s potential. Simply adding bandwidth or upgrading existing connections is no longer enough. CIOs must take a different approach: conscious network decoupling, a deliberate architectural shift that reimagines how infrastructure supports AI workloads both now and in the future.
Why monolithic networks fail AI workloads
Traditional networks were designed in an era when applications were predictable, data flows were stable, and processing occurred in centralized data centers. These monolithic, tightly coupled architectures
Another major issue is data gravity. AI requires moving and processing massive volumes of data – often measured in terabytes or petabytes – in real time. Legacy networks trap data in silos, making it difficult to move to where computing power is available. This leads to unacceptable latency, particularly in edge AI applications like autonomous vehicles, predictive maintenance, and smart manufacturing, where milliseconds matter.
Equally concerning, monolithic networks lack agility. AI models must be continuously retrained, updated, and redeployed. With new AI applications emerging every quarter, each with unique requirements, traditional architectures cannot keep pace. Organizations are often forced to choose between speed of innovation and network stability – a tradeoff that limits growth.
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