Data Center News Roundup: Hyperscalers Take the Spotlight, CERN Opens New Data Facility

With data center news moving faster than ever, we want to make it easy for industry professionals to cut through the noise and find the most important stories of the week.

The Data Center Knowledge News Roundup brings you the latest news and developments across the data center industry – from investments and mergers to security threats and industry trends.

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Hyperscalers Aim High 

Trending in the news headlines this week was our in-depth look into the hyperscale market and where’s next for the world’s biggest data center operators. 

Amid surging demand for AI services, hyperscale data center operators are targeting rapid, sustainable growth in 2024.

Synergy Research Group has forecast that over the next six years, the average capacity of hyperscale data centers will be more than double that of current operational hyperscale facilities. Announcements in early 2024 are already showing a strong growth trend. 

Among the big players, Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon as well as Oracle and Akamai have been active in the early months of 2024, with big development plans for the months and years ahead. 

“Hyperscalers in 2024 are becoming increasingly selective about new data center locations, as new factors rise in importance,” Gartner analyst David Wright told Data Center Knowledge. 

Explore the full article to discover the anticipated growth areas and the numerous challenges confronting the hyperscale market in 2024.

New Data Center at CERN 

A new data center has been inaugurated on CERN’s Prévessin site in France, marking the completion of a major project for the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s computing strategy. 

Spanning more than 6,000 sq.m and featuring six rooms for IT equipment with a cooling capacity of 2 MW each, the center will host CPU servers for physics data processing as well as other hardware for business continuity and disaster recovery. 

CERN’s center on the Meyrin site in Switzerland will continue to house the majority of the organization’s data storage capacity. 

“The rate of data production of the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider continues to grow, already reaching some 45 petabytes per week, and this is expected to double in the era of the High-Luminosity LHC, the major upgrade of CERN’s current flagship accelerator, the LHC,” the organization said in a press release. 

EU Space Constraints 

A prominent data center industry expert says the shortage of space in Europe’s data centers is worsening amid the growing demand for AI. 

In an interview with Reuters this week, Kevin Restivo, who heads European data center research at CBRE said: “There is no relief in sight … There is less space than ever for the enterprises, for the businesses of Europe.”

Restivo’s comments came as new insight from CBRE revealed that demand for colocation data center space outstripped supply in 2023. 

According to the real estate services giant, take-up in the leading markets of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin led to the imbalance across Europe in 2023. 

“In Q4 2023 alone, take-up soared to 252 MW, a 41% increase when compared to the previous quarter (179 MW),” CBRE said. 

Over in North America, secondary markets are gaining ground as demand for data centers soars in North America, according to JLL’s latest state-of-the-industry report. 

According to the real estate and investment management company, this demand is being fueled by the rise of AI and continued growth in the cloud and hyperscale markets. 

Renewable Reading 

And finally, as news emerged that African data center firm Teraco has raised more than $100 million for the construction of a 120 MW solar plant and an 80 MW wind farm to support its operations, we took a closer look at the pros and cons of wind power for data center sustainability.

Wind may seem like a great energy source for data centers – and it is, in many respects. But wind power also has some downsides, including but not limited to the fact that wind tends to be intermittent. 

“So, before turning to wind to power your data center renewable energy strategy, it's important to understand the pros and cons of this power source,” said Data Center Knowledge writer Christopher Tozzi. 

Check out the full article to learn more about when it does and doesn't make sense to rely on wind for data center energy. 

Other Great Reads on DCK This Week 

US Data Center Operator Equinix Plans $390m Africa Build. The California-based operator will spend the next five years expanding its operations in South Africa and beyond. 

Alibaba Spurs Price War in Cloud Computing With Steep Cuts. This comprehensive guide provides steps for successfully migrating from VMware to an alternative platform for running virtual machines. 

NTT Data and Schneider Electric Join Forces to Empower Edge Data Centers. The partnership is expected to enable edge connectivity "anywhere" – even in the most remote locations. 

AT&T Outage Shines a Spotlight on Network Dependability. Forrester estimates the recent AT&T outage cost the US economy millions of dollars. Here are some lessons for IT leaders in the wake of the event. 

Suspected Middle East Sabotage Brings Undersea Cable Vulnerabilities into Focus. Middle East fighting is cause for concern as enterprises are dependent on undersea cables to carry the bulk of their intercontinental internet traffic.