The COVID-19 outbreak has sparked a server supply shortage due to the shuttering of major hardware manufacturers in China.
Internet infrastructure provider Heficed has warned that the demand cannot be served by the current stock supply has left firms without the resources to build and maintain their network infrastructure.
Inability to staff the production lines and during the lockdown has resulted in a “significant server supply shortage” in the market, Heficed said, and although many businesses have now restarted their work, they still have a long road ahead to mitigate long-term industry damage.
Heficed CEO Vincentas Grinius said the sudden stop of operations in China had a drastic effect on the industry, immensely limiting the available hardware supply.
“We usually stock up for at least a few months in advance, which proved to be a vital decision, which allows us to maintain our operations on a pre-virus capacity. Other hosting providers aren’t so lucky, as most of the storage facilities have been emptied clean, so you can’t simply stock up on required resources.”
Tech businesses began to look at other major markets such as the US for their resources but that area is likely to have delivery problems with some delivery companies either doubling their prices or stopping shipments entirely.
“Delivery is no longer a rational choice. Prices for shipping rose from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars: if you would compare it to our previous delivery expenses, costs jumped by at least a 150 percent.”
Additionally, the sudden increase of remote workers will place a “tremendous strain” on the internet, with heightened demand for conference calling, secure VPNs and remote desktops. However, the provider says this pressure can be reduced through the IP address market and encourages companies with unused IPv4 assets to consider IP address leasing to provide more resources for ISPs in need of network infrastructure.
