Thailand Data Center Market Size and Share
Thailand Data Center Market Analysis by Mordor Intelligence
The Thailand data center market size was valued at USD 2.22 billion in 2026 and estimated to grow from USD 2.6 billion in 2027 to reach USD 5.84 billion by 2032, at a CAGR of 17.58% during the forecast period (2027-2032).
In Thailand, cloud migration and AI workloads favor facility services combining power, cooling, and international connectivity. Investment incentives support that expansion, while inner-city land costs limit central Bangkok facility scale. Thailand’s data-center policy committee decided in September 2026 to temporarily pause ongoing construction and permissions for pending applications until minimum environmental and social standards were clear. Operators can differentiate colocation through workload-specific configurations and locally hosted services. Near-term competition therefore centers on deliverable capacity with clear operating and data-location commitments.
Key Report Takeaways
- By data center size, large facilities held a 26.26% Thailand data center market share in 2026, while medium facilities are forecast to grow fastest at a CAGR of 18.3% during 2027-2032.
- Tier classification was led by Tier 3, with an 86.05% share in 2026 and the fastest forecast CAGR of 19.2% during 2027-2032.
- Across data center types, colocation accounted for 44.02% of annual spending on data center capacity and facility services in 2026, while hyperscale/self-built facilities are forecast to grow fastest at a CAGR of 18.2% during 2027-2032.
- Among end users, IT and ITES held a 29.05% share of the Thailand data center market size in 2026, while BFSI is forecast to grow fastest at a CAGR of 18.3% during 2027-2032.
- By hotspot, Bangkok led with a 70.62% share in 2026 and is forecast to be the fastest-growing segment, with an 18.3% CAGR during 2027-2032.
- Geographically, Bangkok held a 70.62% share in 2026 and is forecast to grow fastest at a CAGR of 18.3% during 2027-2032.
Note: Market numbers in this report are based on Mordor Intelligence's proprietary estimation framework, which combines nine months of actuals with Q4 projections for base year 2026.
Market Trends and Insights
Drivers Impact Analysis of Thailand Data Center Market*
| Driver | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rising cloud-first digital transformation mandates among Thai enterprises | +5% | Nationwide | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Aggressive submarine cable investments enhancing international connectivity | +4% | Rayong and southern Thailand | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Government incentives under Thailand 4.0 driving data localization | +4.5% | Nationwide | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
| Surge in AI and high-density computing workloads requiring hyperscale capacity | +8% | Bangkok, including Hua Mak | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
| Edge deployments for Industry 4.0 corridors in Eastern Economic Corridor | +0.8% | Eastern Economic Corridor | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
| Green-energy tariffs encouraging sustainable data center builds | +1.5% | Nationwide | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Source: Mordor Intelligence | |||
Rising cloud-first digital transformation mandates among Thai enterprises
Cloud transformation can bring operationally central enterprise systems into the demand base for hosted infrastructure. By August 2025, CardX, a credit-card and personal-loan provider under SCBX Group, had migrated its core banking system to cloud, encompassing more than 3 million customer accounts.[1] The scope of that transition shows how one enterprise migration can carry a substantial customer-account population into cloud infrastructure. For Thai facility operators, a migration of this size turns the enterprise’s or its cloud provider’s choice of domestic hosting into the deciding variable for capacity demand.
Aggressive submarine cable investments enhancing international connectivity
International transport capacity can determine whether a Thai facility can serve workloads extending beyond domestic users. In 2026, Symphony Communication upgraded its MCT submarine cable system in Thailand, deploying Nokia technology supporting more than 30 Tbps per fiber pair.[2] For facility operators, added transport headroom broadens the international workloads that an otherwise suitable site can accommodate. In September 2026, Gulf Development and Singtel Group announced a partnership to invest in subsea assets and participate in the Vietnam-Thailand-Singapore Cable System, expected to operate by 2030. The different delivery stages distinguish usable transport improvements from future route development. Operators can therefore phase internationally oriented facility expansion around delivered connectivity, reducing dependence on a cable project’s eventual commissioning.
Government incentives under Thailand 4.0 driving data localization
Thailand’s investment incentives make facility design part of the financial case for expanding domestic hosting capacity. On May 19, 2025, the Board of Investment (BOI) revised promotion terms covering data centers, data hosting, and cloud services. Projects meeting power usage effectiveness standards and providing advanced-computing hosting could receive up to 8 years of corporate income tax exemption, while other projects faced a 5-year cap. In 2025, the agency received 36 data-center project applications for promotion. In January 2026, BOI identified stronger data sovereignty and cybersecurity as reasons for expanding domestic capacity. The incentive structure therefore ties the longest tax exemption to power efficiency and advanced-computing hosting, so operators earn the full benefit by building those capabilities rather than by adding capacity alone.
Surge in AI and high-density computing workloads requiring hyperscale capacity
AI facility capacity depends on the power and cooling envelope available for demanding processing workloads. Arise IDC (formerly True IDC), under Charoen Pokphand Group, launched Thailand’s first AI hyperscale data center in Bangkok on May 22, 2025, with more than 20 MW of power capacity for AI and GPU workloads.[3] On April 24, 2025, STT GDC said its direct-to-chip liquid-cooling system operating at STT Bangkok 1 could support rack densities of at least 150 kW per rack. That capability connects facility differentiation to rack-level thermal management as well as total power capacity. The commercial opening is therefore capacity that can accommodate dense GPU configurations with matching cooling infrastructure, rather than additional floor area alone.
Restraints Impact Analysis of Thailand Data Center Market*
| Restraint | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land scarcity and soaring Bangkok real-estate costs | -2% | Bangkok’s inner city | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
| Chronic grid stability issues outside primary metro areas | -1.7% | Nationwide outside primary metros | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
| Lengthy permitting and environmental approval cycles | -1.5% | Nationwide | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
| Intensifying competition compressing colocation pricing margins | -0.8% | Nationwide | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Source: Mordor Intelligence | |||
Land scarcity and soaring Bangkok real-estate costs
High land costs can turn a central Bangkok development into a constraint on facility scale. Operators tend to develop small to medium-sized facilities in Bangkok’s inner city because of land costs and cost-efficiency concerns. That pattern puts the commercial burden on capacity per site, because the location cost must be supported by the services a facility can sell. A larger footprint would expose the developer to more land expense before the additional capacity generates operating revenue. Limiting project scale can contain that upfront exposure, but it also leaves a smaller service base through which to recover the central-location cost.
Chronic grid stability issues outside primary metro areas
Outside Thailand’s primary metros, operators selling continuous service must finance the continuity systems that turn a provincial site’s electrical connection into dependable computing capacity. A manufacturing buyer placing processing near its production site needs usable power throughout its service requirement, so a provincial location does not remove the facility’s resilience burden. Backup power and associated maintenance add costs that must be supported by the local workload base. Resilience provision protects continuity, but it does not create additional revenue-producing processing capacity by itself. Costs not covered by facility charges remain with the nonmetro operator, reducing the return from choosing a provincial Thai site.
*Our forecasts treat driver/restraint impacts as directional, not additive. The impact forecasts reflect baseline growth, mix effects, and variable interactions.
Thailand Data Center Market Segment Analysis
By Data Center Size:
Contract Coverage Shapes Facility EconomicsLarge facilities accounted for a 26.26% share of the Thailand data center market size in 2026, making them the largest segment. Serving Bangkok enterprises from a large shared facility offers an alternative to placing every expansion requirement in an EEC mega campus. That choice matters when metropolitan access must be combined with the power and cooling required by denser AI equipment. The operator must divide the Bangkok site between customer equipment and the infrastructure sustaining it, making usable service capacity more relevant than gross floor area. The format’s commercial case is accommodating that combination without requiring a corridor-scale development for each enterprise expansion.
Medium facilities are forecast to be the fastest-growing segment, at a CAGR of 18.3% during 2027-2032. For industrial buyers in the Eastern Economic Corridor, the format offers a way to place computing around individual production sites rather than a single metropolitan hub. A site-level deployment separates the capacity decision for manufacturing applications from the larger commitment associated with a national cloud platform. Power and cooling can be commissioned around the local workload, keeping successive Thai industrial-estate deployments divisible. The growth mechanism is replication across those local requirements, making distributed delivery more relevant than maximizing the size of any one estate’s facility.
By Tier Type:
Maintainability Defines the Core Service PropositionTier 3 facilities represented an 86.05% Thailand data center market share in 2026 and are forecast to be the fastest-growing segment, at a CAGR of 19.2% during 2027-2032. Uptime Institute defines Tier III as concurrently maintainable, with redundant components and distribution paths allowing planned maintenance without shutting down IT operations. For buyers, a Tier III specification means routine infrastructure work and continued application operation can be addressed within the same availability specification. In February 2026, Gulf Development described GSA01, a 25.6 MW joint venture between GULF, AIS, and Singtel in Samut Prakan, as designed to Tier 3+ standards.
Tier 4 adds fault tolerance so an individual equipment failure or distribution-path interruption does not affect IT operations. That protection concerns an unplanned interruption, extending the operating distinction beyond scheduled maintenance. Uptime Institute separates standards defining performance requirements from certification verifying their application to facility design, construction, and operation. For a buyer, these are different tests of the offering, one specifying the event that operations must withstand and the other assessing implementation. A continuity requirement becomes commercially meaningful when it identifies both the interruption scenario and how the underlying design will be verified.
By Data Center Type:
Colocation and Hyperscale Follow Different Growth ChannelsColocation was the largest segment by data center type, with 44.02% of annual spending on data center capacity and facility services in 2026. STT Bangkok 1 is a carrier-neutral facility with 23 MW of IT load. Combining an operating facility of that scale with carrier-neutral positioning can accommodate customers with different connectivity requirements within a shared physical platform. The facility service therefore remains the core offering while buyers organize how their workloads connect, giving the campus a proposition based on both physical scale and network choice.
Hyperscale/self-built facilities are forecast to be the fastest-growing segment, at a CAGR of 18.2% during 2027-2032. Google Cloud launched its Bangkok cloud region on January 21, 2026, with interconnected compute capacity in Thailand and 3 zones for cloud services. AWS had made its Asia Pacific (Thailand) cloud region generally available with 3 Availability Zones on January 7, 2025. Country-specific availability creates a platform through which additional workloads can be placed using each provider’s Thai infrastructure offering. The growth channel is aggregation of customer computing requirements within those national platforms, with further workload deployment potentially creating additional requirements for the physical capacity supporting them.
By End User:
Software Delivery and Banking Infrastructure Shape DemandIT and ITES was the largest end-user segment, accounting for 29.05% of annual spending on data center capacity and facility services in 2026. By February 2025, Thai software company Codium had partnered with Alibaba Cloud to use scalable infrastructure for digital workplace solutions serving Thai businesses. A software provider’s infrastructure can support delivery to multiple customer businesses, so the commercial user base behind one infrastructure relationship can extend beyond its own employees. For facility operators able to host comparable workloads domestically, this creates a channel for serving business-application demand through IT-service companies.
BFSI is forecast to be the fastest-growing end-user segment, at a CAGR of 18.3% during 2027-2032. In January 2026, Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri) reported investment in its Jupiter core-banking upgrade to support higher transaction volumes and prepare for future digital services. Financial institutions operated several smaller data centers in Thailand in September 2026. Krungsri’s upgrade addresses transaction-processing needs, while bank-operated facilities give institutions an in-house alternative to outsourced capacity. Growth for outside operators therefore depends on persuading banks to place incremental processing outside facilities they already run.
By Hotspot:
Bangkok Projects and Provincial Utilities Define DeliveryBangkok was the largest hotspot, with a 70.62% share of annual spending on data center capacity and facility services in 2026, and is forecast to be the fastest-growing segment, at a CAGR of 18.3% during 2027-2032. On January 15, 2026, BOI approved Stellar DC’s planned Bangkok data center with 25 MW of IT load. The project was co-developed by STECON Group and SC Zeus Data Centers, with Stellar DC as the project company. The October 19, 2026 project record still listed the land-and-permitting stage, so its 25 MW of planned IT load represents pipeline capacity rather than operating capacity.
Outside Bangkok, Chonburi shows how a data center can anchor a separate industrial-service supplier relationship. By May 15, 2026, East Water Stecon Utilities had begun supplying water in Chonburi to support Bridge Data Centres III (Thailand)’s data-center operations. Under that relationship, the data center operator is a utility customer as well as a provider of facility services. Provincial capacity development such as this can support linked revenue streams, with local utility provision earning from the operating input and the data center earning from the facility service.
Geography Analysis
Bangkok Data Center Market
Bangkok accounted for a 70.62% Thailand data center market share in 2026 and is forecast to be the fastest-growing geography, at a CAGR of 18.3% during 2027-2032. Bangkok had 134 MW of operational data center capacity and 859 MW under construction in H1 2026. The construction pool was substantially larger than the operating base, making the pace at which new facilities become usable central to the city’s incremental service capacity. For customers requiring near-term space, this creates a sharp distinction between existing operating infrastructure and capacity whose delivery depends on project completion.
In Chonburi, B.Grimm Power and Digital Edge reported groundbreaking for a hyperscale data center project within the EEC on September 3, 2025. The Eastern Economic Corridor also featured Arise IDC’s March 31, 2026 announcement of a planned mega data center by the Charoen Pokphand Group company. Groundbreaking establishes a construction milestone, while the March announcement establishes a planned project. These separate milestones make the EEC pipeline a mix of development stages rather than a single block of deliverable capacity.
Rayong’s GEDC01 project was reported under construction by Gulf Development on May 8, 2026, with planned maximum service capacity of 100 MW and commercial operations scheduled for Q4 2027. In Chachoengsao, BOI approved Skyline Data Center and Cloud Services’ project, part of DAMAC Group, in May 2026 with a planned 200 MW IT load. In Greater Bangkok, ETIX announced accelerated BKK#2 development in October 2026 at its Samut Prakan campus. The campus had secured deployments from major cloud service providers. Among the Rayong and Chachoengsao projects, GEDC01 was reported under construction in May 2026, while Skyline’s planned 200 MW project was at the land-and-permitting stage on October 19, 2026.
Regulatory Framework and Outlook
The comparison covers selected jurisdictions, Thailand’s national promotion regime and Bangkok’s local building-permit administration. It assesses policy attractiveness from the perspective of an operator seeking promotion for a new facility and permission to construct it. Tax eligibility and construction clearance affect different parts of that investment decision.
Regulatory Table of Thailand Data Center Market
| Decision factor | Thailand | Bangkok |
|---|---|---|
| Primary authority | Board of Investment for investment promotion | Bangkok Metropolitan Administration for local permits |
| Key instruments or direction | High-efficiency promotion requires PUE not exceeding 1.3 before exercising corporate income tax exemption | Local data-center construction and alteration permitting |
| Commercial effect | Tax exemption depends on meeting the promotion condition | Consideration of new permit applications temporarily suspended on September 14, 2026 |
| Current policy attractiveness | Medium | Low |
| Future direction of policy attractiveness | Hardening | Hardening |
| Source: Mordor Intelligence | ||
Thailand’s Medium rating balances efficiency-linked tax promotion against the national committee’s September 4, 2026 resolution to pause ongoing construction and pending permissions until minimum environmental and social standards were clear. Bangkok’s Low rating reflects its September 14, 2026 suspension of new construction or alteration permit consideration pending national operating guidance. On October 1, 2026, the committee approved a separate data-center building definition, and on October 6 the Department of Public Works and Town Planning and the secretariat were tasked with preparing definitions and right-of-way proposals for further consideration. Thailand’s Hardening direction reflects the September standards-related approval barrier, while Bangkok’s reflects a separate facility-specific building framework whose implementation was still being prepared.
Value Chain Stages
The value chain compares how construction, utility, connectivity, and facility-service suppliers capture revenue at successive delivery stages. Infraset’s combined Data Center and Information Technology Infrastructure segment generated 67.15% of its 2025 operating revenue. The resulting division of work creates separate earning opportunities around delivering infrastructure and providing the services needed to use it.
Value Chain Analysis Table of Thailand Data Center Market
| Primary activity | Key participants | Value capture | Bottleneck | Resilience response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design and construction | Turnkey construction contractors such as Infraset | Project construction and integration revenue | Integration of facility systems at handover | Test integrated systems against acceptance milestones |
| Utility activation | Industrial water suppliers such as East Water Stecon Utilities | Water-supply service payments | Supply availability when the facility starts | Coordinate utility activation with facility handover |
| Data center interconnection | Network-service providers such as AIS | Connectivity service contracts | Circuit activation matching usable facility capacity | Stage connections alongside commissioned capacity |
| Colocation operations | Facility-service operators such as STT GDC Thailand and Telehouse (Thailand) Co., Ltd. | Colocation capacity and facility-service charges | Utilization of commissioned service capacity | Release capacity in stages against customer commitments |
| Source: Mordor Intelligence | ||||
AIS offers private network connections between data centers, with flexible service contracts starting from one month. That flexibility can align network-service commitments with the point at which new facility capacity becomes usable. Coordinating infrastructure acceptance and service activation therefore gives operators a way to limit network commitments while construction or utility handovers are incomplete.
Competitive Landscape
Market Concentration
Competition is moderately fragmented across telecom-linked groups, specialist operators, and cloud-platform providers, including Advanced Info Service PLC (CS LoxInfo) and STT GDC Pte Ltd. The field also includes Arise IDC Company Limited, United Information Highway Co., Ltd., and Huawei Cloud Computing Technologies Co., Ltd. On June 26, 2025, AIS launched AIS Cloud powered by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, using local data centers and a Thai operating team, with the service governed by Thai law. This gives integrated providers a route to enterprise hosting decisions through the cloud service itself, alongside competition over the underlying facility offering.
STT GDC Thailand announced construction of STT Bangkok 2 on March 3, 2025, with 24 MW of IT power development potential, and its October 2025 fact sheet specified a Q1 2027 ready-for-service target. The announcement specified dual feeds for enhanced reliability. That configuration makes power-delivery architecture a distinct part of the proposed offering alongside its capacity headline. For customers considering future space, commissioning would bring both the additional IT power and its stated supply configuration into commercial use. A challenger pursuing the same requirements would therefore have to address the power architecture as well as the amount of capacity offered.
Arise IDC announced groundbreaking for its seventh data center in Northern Bangkok on June 19, 2026, with a planned Q3 2027 launch. Its announced design combined modular construction with the ability to customize air or liquid cooling. Huawei Cloud offers an AP-Bangkok service region and says it will not move customer cloud data across regions without express authorization. The Arise IDC and STT Bangkok 2 delivery plans preceded the committee’s September 4, 2026 resolution to pause ongoing construction and pending permissions until minimum environmental and social standards were clear. The approval barrier makes environmental and social readiness consequential to expansion delivery, alongside Arise IDC’s cooling choices and STT’s power architecture.
Thailand Data Center Industry Leaders
-
Advanced Info Service PLC (CS LoxInfo)
-
STT GDC Pte Ltd.
-
True Internet Data Center Co., Ltd.
-
United Information Highway Co., Ltd.
-
Huawei Cloud Computing Technologies Co., Ltd.
- *Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order
Thailand Data Center Market Companies Covered in this Report
- Huawei Cloud Computing Technologies Co., Ltd.
- True Internet Data Center Co., Ltd.
- China Mobile Limited (SUPERNAP Thailand)
- Advanced Info Service PLC (CS LoxInfo)
- STT GDC Pte Ltd.
- Alibaba Cloud
- OneAsia Network Ltd.
- Internet Thailand Public Company Ltd.
- National Telecom Public Company Ltd.
- Telehouse (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
- United Information Highway Co., Ltd.
- TCC Technology Co., Ltd.
- Bridge Data Centres (Chindata Group)
- KT Corporation with Jasmine Group
- Etix Everywhere
- NTT Global Data Centers (Thailand) Ltd.
- Equinix Inc.
- Digital Realty Trust Inc.
- EdgeConneX Inc.
- Global Switch Holdings Ltd.
Recent Industry Developments in Thailand Data Center Market
- Oct 2026: ETIX announced accelerated development of BKK#2 at its Samut Prakan campus to serve cloud and AI demand.
- Sep 2026: Thailand’s data center policy committee resolved to temporarily pause construction on ongoing projects and permissions for pending applications until minimum environmental and social standards were clear.
- Jun 2026: Arise IDC, part of Charoen Pokphand Group, broke ground on its seventh data center in Northern Bangkok.
Scope and Methodology
Segmentation Overview
| Large |
| Massive |
| Medium |
| Mega |
| Small |
| Tier 1 and 2 |
| Tier 3 |
| Tier 4 |
| Hyperscale/Self-built | ||
| Enterprise/Edge | ||
| Colocation | Non-Utilized | |
| Utilized | Retail Colocation | |
| Wholesale Colocation | ||
| BFSI |
| IT and ITES |
| E-Commerce |
| Government |
| Manufacturing |
| Media and Entertainment |
| Telecom |
| Other End Users |
| Bangkok |
| Rest of Thailand |
| By Data Center Size | Large | ||
| Massive | |||
| Medium | |||
| Mega | |||
| Small | |||
| By Tier Type | Tier 1 and 2 | ||
| Tier 3 | |||
| Tier 4 | |||
| By Data Center Type | Hyperscale/Self-built | ||
| Enterprise/Edge | |||
| Colocation | Non-Utilized | ||
| Utilized | Retail Colocation | ||
| Wholesale Colocation | |||
| By End User | BFSI | ||
| IT and ITES | |||
| E-Commerce | |||
| Government | |||
| Manufacturing | |||
| Media and Entertainment | |||
| Telecom | |||
| Other End Users | |||
| By Hotspot | Bangkok | ||
| Rest of Thailand | |||
Market Definition
- IT LOAD CAPACITY - The IT load capacity or installed capacity, refers to the amount of energy consumed by servers and network equipments placed in a rack installed. It is measured in megawatt (MW).
- ABSORPTION RATE - It denotes the extend to which the data center capacity has been leased out. For instance, a 100 MW DC has leased out 75 MW, then absorption rate would be 75%. It is also referred as utilization rate and leased-out capacity.
- RAISED FLOOR SPACE - It is an elevated space build over the floor. This gap between the original floor and the elevated floor is used to accommodate wiring, cooling, and other data center equipment. This arrangement assist in having proper wiring and cooling infrastructure. It is measured in square feet (ft^2).
- DATA CENTER SIZE - Data Center Size is segmented based on the raised floor space allocated to the data center facilities. Mega DC - # of Racks must be more than 9000 or RFS (raised floor space) must be more than 225001 Sq. ft; Massive DC - # of Racks must be in between 9000 and 3001 or RFS must be in between 225000 Sq. ft and 75001 Sq. ft; Large DC - # of Racks must be in between 3000 and 801 or RFS must be in between 75000 Sq. ft and 20001 Sq. ft; Medium DC # of Racks must be in between 800 and 201 or RFS must be in between 20000 Sq. ft and 5001 Sq. ft; Small DC - # of Racks must be less than 200 or RFS must be less than 5000 Sq. ft.
- TIER TYPE - According to Uptime Institute the data centers are classified into four tiers based on the proficiencies of redundant equipment of the data center infrastructure. In this segment the data center are segmented as Tier 1,Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4.
- COLOCATION TYPE - The segment is segregated into 3 categories namely Retail, Wholesale and Hyperscale Colocation service. The categorization is done based on the amount of IT load leased out to potential customers. Retail colocation service has leased capacity less than 250 kW; Wholesale colocation services has leased capacity between 251 kW and 4 MW and Hyperscale colocation services has leased capacity more than 4 MW.
- END CONSUMERS - The Data Center Market operates on a B2B basis. BFSI, Government, Cloud Operators, Media and Entertainment, E-Commerce, Telecom and Manufacturing are the major end-consumers in the market studied. The scope only includes colocation service operators catering to the increasing digitalization of the end-user industries.
| Keyword | Definition |
|---|---|
| Rack Unit | Generally referred as U or RU, it is the unit of measurement for the server unit housed in the racks in the data center. 1U is equal to 1.75 inches. |
| Rack Density | It defines the amount of power consumed by the equipment and server housed in a rack. It is measured in kilowatt (kW). This factor plays a critical role in data center design and, cooling and power planning. |
| IT Load Capacity | The IT load capacity or installed capacity, refers to the amount of energy consumed by servers and network equipment placed in a rack installed. It is measured in megawatt (MW). |
| Absorption Rate | It denotes how much of the data center capacity has been leased out. For instance, if a 100 MW DC has leased out 75 MW, then the absorption rate would be 75%. It is also referred to as utilization rate and leased-out capacity. |
| Raised Floor Space | It is an elevated space built over the floor. This gap between the original floor and the elevated floor is used to accommodate wiring, cooling, and other data center equipment. This arrangement assists in having proper wiring and cooling infrastructure. It is measured in square feet/meter. |
| Computer Room Air Conditioner (CRAC) | It is a device used to monitor and maintain the temperature, air circulation, and humidity inside the server room in the data center. |
| Aisle | It is the open space between the rows of racks. This open space is critical for maintaining the optimal temperature (20-25 °C) in the server room. There are primarily two aisles inside the server room, a hot aisle and a cold aisle. |
| Cold Aisle | It is the aisle wherein the front of the rack faces the aisle. Here, chilled air is directed into the aisle so that it can enter the front of the racks and maintain the temperature. |
| Hot Aisle | It is the aisle where the back of the racks faces the aisle. Here, the heat dissipated from the equipment’s in the rack is directed to the outlet vent of the CRAC. |
| Critical Load | It includes the servers and other computer equipment whose uptime is critical for data center operation. |
| Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) | It is a metric which defines the efficiency of a data center. It is calculated by: (𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝐶𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)/(𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐼𝑇 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛). Further, a data center with a PUE of 1.2-1.5 is considered highly efficient, whereas, a data center with a PUE >2 is considered highly inefficient. |
| Redundancy | It is defined as a system design wherein additional component (UPS, generators, CRAC) is added so that in case of power outage, equipment failure, the IT equipment should not be affected. |
| Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) | It is a device that is connected in series with the utility power supply, storing energy in batteries such that the supply from UPS is continuous to IT equipment even during utility power is snapped. The UPS primarily supports the IT equipment only. |
| Generators | Just like UPS, generators are placed in the data center to ensure an uninterrupted power supply, avoiding downtime. Data center facilities have diesel generators and commonly, 48-hour diesel is stored in the facility to prevent disruption. |
| N | It denotes the tools and equipment required for a data center to function at full load. Only "N" indicates that there is no backup to the equipment in the event of any failure. |
| N+1 | Referred to as 'Need plus one', it denotes the additional equipment setup available to avoid downtime in case of failure. A data center is considered N+1 when there is one additional unit for every 4 components. For instance, if a data center has 4 UPS systems, then for to achieve N+1, an additional UPS system would be required. |
| 2N | It refers to fully redundant design wherein two independent power distribution system is deployed. Therefore, in the event of a complete failure of one distribution system, the other system will still supply power to the data center. |
| In-Row Cooling | It is the cooling design system installed between racks in a row where it draws warm air from the hot aisle and supplies cool air to the cold aisle, thereby maintaining the temperature. |
| Tier 1 | Tier classification determines the preparedness of a data center facility to sustain data center operation. A data center is classified as Tier 1 data center when it has a non-redundant (N) power component (UPS, generators), cooling components, and power distribution system (from utility power grids). The Tier 1 data center has an uptime of 99.67% and an annual downtime of <28.8 hours. |
| Tier 2 | A data center is classified as Tier 2 data center when it has a redundant power and cooling components (N+1) and a single non-redundant distribution system. Redundant components include extra generators, UPS, chillers, heat rejection equipment, and fuel tanks. The Tier 2 data center has an uptime of 99.74% and an annual downtime of <22 hours. |
| Tier 3 | A data center having redundant power and cooling components and multiple power distribution systems is referred to as a Tier 3 data center. The facility is resistant to planned (facility maintenance) and unplanned (power outage, cooling failure) disruption. The Tier 3 data center has an uptime of 99.98% and an annual downtime of <1.6 hours. |
| Tier 4 | It is the most tolerant type of data center. A Tier 4 data center has multiple, independent redundant power and cooling components and multiple power distribution paths. All IT equipment are dual powered, making them fault tolerant in case of any disruption, thereby ensuring interrupted operation. The Tier 4 data center has an uptime of 99.74% and an annual downtime of <26.3 minutes. |
| Small Data Center | Data center that has floor space area of ≤ 5,000 Sq. ft or the number of racks that can be installed is ≤ 200 is classified as a small data center. |
| Medium Data Center | Data center which has floor space area between 5,001-20,000 Sq. ft, or the number of racks that can be installed is between 201-800, is classified as a medium data center. |
| Large Data Center | Data center which has floor space area between 20,001-75,000 Sq. ft, or the number of racks that can be installed is between 801-3,000, is classified as a large data center. |
| Massive Data Center | Data center which has floor space area between 75,001-225,000 Sq. ft, or the number of racks that can be installed is between 3001-9,000, is classified as a massive data center. |
| Mega Data Center | Data center that has a floor space area of ≥ 225,001 Sq. ft or the number of racks that can be installed is ≥ 9001 is classified as a mega data center. |
| Retail Colocation | It refers to those customers who have a capacity requirement of 250 kW or less. These services are majorly opted by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). |
| Wholesale Colocation | It refers to those customers who have a capacity requirement between 250 kW to 4 MW. These services are majorly opted by medium to large enterprises. |
| Hyperscale Colocation | It refers to those customers who have a capacity requirement greater than 4 MW. The hyperscale demand primarily originates from large-scale cloud players, IT companies, BFSI, and OTT players (like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO+). |
| Mobile Data Speed | It is the mobile internet speed a user experiences via their smartphones. This speed is primarily dependent on the carrier technology being used in the smartphone. The carrier technologies available in the market are 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G, where 2G provides the slowest speed while 5G is the fastest. |
| Fiber Connectivity Network | It is a network of optical fiber cables deployed across the country, connecting rural and urban regions with high-speed internet connection. It is measured in kilometer (km). |
| Data Traffic per Smartphone | It is a measure of average data consumption by a smartphone user in a month. It is measured in gigabyte (GB). |
| Broadband Data Speed | It is the internet speed that is supplied over the fixed cable connection. Commonly, copper cable and optic fiber cable are used in both residential and commercial use. Here, optic cable fiber provides faster internet speed than copper cable. |
| Submarine Cable | A submarine cable is a fiber optic cable laid down at two or more landing points. Through this cable, communication and internet connectivity between countries across the globe is established. These cables can transmit 100-200 terabits per second (Tbps) from one point to another. |
| Carbon Footprint | It is the measure of carbon dioxide generated during the regular operation of a data center. Since, coal, and oil & gas are the primary source of power generation, consumption of this power contributes to carbon emissions. Data center operators are incorporating renewable energy sources to curb the carbon footprint emerging in their facilities. |
Research Methodology
Mordor Intelligence follows a four-step methodology in all our reports.
- Step-1: Identify Key Variables: In order to build a robust forecasting methodology, the variables and factors identified in Step-1 are tested against available historical market numbers. Through an iterative process, the variables required for market forecast are set and the model is built on the basis of these variables.
- Step-2: Build a Market Model: Market-size estimations for the forecast years are in nominal terms. Inflation is not a part of the pricing, and the average selling price (ASP) is kept constant throughout the forecast period for each country.
- Step-3: Validate and Finalize: In this important step, all market numbers, variables and analyst calls are validated through an extensive network of primary research experts from the market studied. The respondents are selected across levels and functions to generate a holistic picture of the market studied.
- Step-4: Research Outputs: Syndicated Reports, Custom Consulting Assignments, Databases & Subscription Platforms
