Demand for ‘hyperscale’ data centers continues to grow; U.S. leads the way

The number of so-called “hyperscale” data centers worldwide surpassed 390 at the end of 2017, including openings in Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Malaysia, the U.K., and the U.S., according to new data from Synergy Research Group. 

These mega, Web-scale facilities have a minimum of 5,000 servers and are at least 10,000 sf, as defined by the International Data Corporation. The world’s largest data centers are operated by tech giants: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Chinese companies Tencent and Baidu are also active in this space. 

“Hyperscale growth goes on unabated, and we already have visibility of at least 69 more hyperscale data centers that are at various stages of planning or building,” says John Dinsdale, a Chief Analyst and Research Director at Synergy Research. “We will pass the 500 milestone before the end of 2019.”

According to the Synergy Research Group report:
• The U.S. accounts for 44% of major cloud and Internet data center sites 
• The next most prominent locations are China, Japan, and the U.K., which collectively account for another 20% of the total
• The four leading countries are then followed by Australia, Germany, Singapore, Canada, India, and Brazil, each of which accounts for 3-5% of the total. 
• The research is based on an analysis of the data center footprint of 24 of the world’s major cloud and Internet service firms, including the largest operators in SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, search, social networking and e-commerce. On average each of the 24 firms had 16 data center sites.

Read the full report.