Connect with us

E-Business

Coker, Rack Centre Boss Seeks End to Overseas Data Hosting

Published

on

Rack centre logo.jpg
Kindly share this post

Aside from driving local content in the Nigerian ICT sector; hosting data locally will help drive gross domestic product (GDP) contribution goal of the industry; and boost the foreign exchange reserve, according to Mr. Ayotunde Coker, managing director, Rack Centre.

Coker who made the remark at the First Annual Summit on Data Localisation in Nigeria 2016 organised by ONC/NITDA in Abuja recently, added that even data security is no longer valid reason to host data outside shores of Nigeria.

The Rack Centre MD said, “In Nigeria we have significant capabilities. With respect to data centres, we have three Tier III data centres in the country, which not many countries in Africa can boast of that. Despite that, we have a lot of companies that are hosting their data abroad. Of course, they pass through some hassles to do that. Do you know that Rack Centre was the Africa’s only winner in the Data Centre Dynamics for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Region for 2015 in London; the only African (company) to have done that. It shows a recognition of the quality we have been able to deliver in Nigeria.

“Secondly, this is an interesting time because of the state of the oil sector. So, it is a great growth opportunity to make sure we leverage the capacity we have: one, to satisfy local content. Thus, as we grow in the market, the pricing will improve. Three, it means that people don’t have worry about efficiency. If you data is hosted locally, there are many advantages,” he said.

According to Coker, “Few years ago when we did not have this kind of infrastructure, people had cogent reasons why they had to host data outside the shores of the country. Rack Centre has been live for the last 28months, but not even a second of downtime has been recorded. So, it is time for people to know we can provide these facilities and bring their data back to domicile in Nigeria. It is actually not efficient to host outside.

“Secondly, trust is a concern. I can assure everybody that we have attained a level of security that can boast of protection of your data. There is no danger with regards to your software security. We have a framework that helps organisations attain a level of security that cannot be offered them anywhere else. In addition, don’t you think you are more secured by your data been domicile in the country you are in rather than elsewhere that people can easily abuse it. Where we are now, those concerns are no longer valid reasons to host your data outside Nigeria. It is significantly beneficial to companies to host their data locally.

“And why would you want to build your own data center considering the significant amount of expenditure, time consuming and need high quality or specialized skill sets to run. For us, that is like bread and butter, because it is our daily routine. So, you can host with us and be rest assured to focus on your core business and save significant amount of you budget”.

On affordability, he said, to a great scale isn’t a problem, rather the society should focus on the value derivable from local data hosting.

“We are talking about IT delivering two million (2million) jobs in Nigeria, this is one of the components to grow the data and content consuming capability in the country. We create high quality employment which filters down the IT value chain creating even more employments. Data centre is the heart of a reliable IT ecosystem and value system in the country,” the Rack Centre MD added.  

  


Kindly share this post

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Comments

E-Business

Huawei Unveils AI Computing System to Challenge Nvidia’s Flagship Product

Published

on

Kindly share this post

China’s Huawei Technologies unveiled an AI computing system on Saturday that an industry expert said rivals Nvidia’s most advanced product, as the company aims to expand its footprint in the country’s booming AI sector.

Huawei Unveils AI Computing System to Challenge Nvidia’s Flagship Product

The CloudMatrix 384 system made its public debut at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), a three-day event in Shanghai, attracting a large crowd to Huawei’s booth with its showcase of cutting-edge AI innovations.

The system has attracted significant interest from the global AI community since Huawei (HWT.UL) first introduced it in April. Industry analysts see it as a direct challenger to Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72, the most advanced system-level offering currently available from the U.S. chipmaker.

In an April article, Dylan Patel, founder of semiconductor research firm SemiAnalysis, stated that Huawei now possesses AI system capabilities that could surpass those of Nvidia.

Huawei staff at its WAIC booth declined to comment when asked to introduce the CloudMatrix 384 system.

A spokesperson for Huawei did not respond to questions.

Huawei has become widely regarded as China’s most promising domestic supplier of chips essential for AI development, even though the company faces U.S. export restrictions.

Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang told Bloomberg in May that Huawei had been “moving quite fast” and named the CloudMatrix as an example.

The CloudMatrix 384 system features 384 of Huawei’s latest 910C chips and, according to SemiAnalysis, surpasses Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72 in certain performance metrics, despite the latter using 72 B200 chips.

SemiAnalysis attributes this performance advantage to Huawei’s strong system design, which offsets the lower power of individual chips by leveraging a greater number of them and incorporating system-level innovations.

Huawei describes the system as utilizing a “supernode” architecture that enables ultra-high-speed interconnectivity between chips.

In June, Zhang Pingan, CEO, Huawei Cloud confirmed that the CloudMatrix 384 was already operational on Huawei’s cloud platform.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

Transcorp Hotels Delivers Stellar H1 Results, Declares Over ₦1Bn Dividend

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Transcorp Hotels Plc has delivered a stellar performance in the first half of 2025, recording a 60% year-on-year surge in revenue to ₦47.57 billion, up from ₦29.72 billion in H1 2024. Gross profit climbed 71% to ₦36.21 billion, maintaining a strong 76% margin despite inflation and operational headwinds.

The hospitality giant, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc, also announced an interim dividend payout of ₦1.024 billion — offering ₦0.10 per 50 kobo ordinary share to shareholders.

In a bold move, the company unveiled Nigeria’s largest corporate venue — the 5,000-seat Transcorp Centre — staking its claim as the new leader in event hospitality. Chairman Emmanuel Nnorom described the results as proof of Transcorp Hotels’ transformative strategies and unwavering investor commitment. MD/CEO Uzo Oshogwe attributed the success to relentless execution and a resilient business model.

Transcorp Hotels, renowned for iconic assets like Transcorp Hilton Abuja and its digital platform Aura, says it isn’t just leading Nigeria’s hospitality sector — it’s redefining excellence across Africa.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

 

China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.

The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.

“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.

It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.

Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.

Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.

Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.

A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.

“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.

Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.

Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.

It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.

Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.

 

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending