United Kingdom Data Center Market Analysis by Mordor Intelligence
The United Kingdom data center market size was valued at 3.71 thousand megawatt in 2026 and estimated to grow from 5.8 thousand megawatt in 2027 to reach 53.12 thousand megawatt by 2032, at a CAGR of 55.73% during the forecast period (2027-2032).
AI computing and cloud expansion increase demand for power-intensive facilities, while hybrid deployment sustains external and internal capacity requirements. Across the United Kingdom, colocation customers use provider-operated facilities while retaining control of their computing equipment. Operators respond with capacity agreements and phased development that align additions with customers' deployment needs. Grid connection delays in West London and construction capital exposure favor suppliers that secure power and stage investment around committed tenants, limiting the cost of unused capacity.
Key Report Takeaways
- By data center size, massive facilities led with a 55.14% United Kingdom data center market share in 2026, while mega facilities are forecast to grow fastest at a CAGR of 71.2% during 2027-2032.
- By tier type, Tier 3 led with a 76.84% share of the United Kingdom data center market size in 2026, with Tier 4 projected to grow fastest at a CAGR of 124.6% during 2027-2032.
- Across data center types, colocation led with 73.18% of installed IT-load capacity in 2026, and hyperscale and self-built facilities have the fastest forecast CAGR of 64% during 2027-2032.
- Among end users, IT and ITES led with 17.45% of installed IT-load capacity in 2026, whereas BFSI is forecast to expand fastest at a CAGR of 50.3% during 2027-2032.
- For hotspots, Greater London held the largest share at 60.97% of installed IT-load capacity in 2026, with the rest of the United Kingdom forecast to grow fastest at a CAGR of 83% during 2027-2032.
- Geographically, the rest of the United Kingdom is forecast to grow fastest at a CAGR of 83% during 2027-2032, while Greater London held the largest share at 60.97% of installed IT-load capacity in 2026.
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.
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Market Trends and Insights
Drivers Impact Analysis of United Kingdom Data Center Market*
| Driver | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surge in hyperscale cloud and AI compute demand | +36% | Bristol and Newport campuses | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Growth of 5G and edge computing across the United Kingdom | +12% | Thames Estuary industrial corridor | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Rising adoption of hybrid IT among BFSI and enterprise segments | +10% | Nationwide | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
| Government incentives for digital infrastructure and the National Planning Policy Framework | +9% | Local planning areas across England | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Proliferation of new submarine-cable landings on the United Kingdom east coast | +5% | Margate coastal landing area | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
| Repurposing of legacy industrial estates into AI-ready campuses in northern England | +4% | Cambois former power-station site | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
| Source: Mordor Intelligence | |||
Surge in hyperscale cloud and AI compute demand
AI demand creates facility requirements through both shared public systems and commercial cloud-capacity commitments. In June 2026, the University of Bristol reported 5,448 Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper superchips in Isambard-AI, its public AI-compute facility.[1] The university operates the system through the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing within the government-funded AI Research Resource, providing access for academia and industry. On August 13, 2026, Vantage Data Centers and Nebius agreed that Nebius would lease high-density, Nvidia-powered AI capacity at Vantage's operating CWL1 campus in Newport, Wales. The lease was intended to support training, inference, and enterprise AI workloads. Nebius's agreement to lease high-density campus capacity gives facility operators a commercial demand signal, while Isambard-AI shows AI compute at public-sector scale.
Growth of 5G and edge computing across the United Kingdom
Industrial network deployment connects the 5G driver to specific locations and compute applications. Ofcom reported that UK monthly 5G traffic increased approximately 53% to 348 PB in 2025 compared with 2024.[2] In June 2025, Verizon Business, Thames Freeport, and Nokia announced a private-5G partnership for logistics, manufacturing, and innovation sites along the Thames Estuary. Verizon was to deploy the networks with Nokia as sole hardware and software supplier, including its MX Industrial Edge platform. The partners identified edge-compute infrastructure as a planned use of the network buildout, which would also enable process automation, safety monitoring, and real-time logistics orchestration. Edge capacity tied to these Thames Estuary sites would serve individual port and manufacturing applications, favoring suppliers able to place processing close to each site's operations.
Rising adoption of hybrid IT among BFSI and enterprise segments
Database placement gives hybrid infrastructure a concrete route into banking demand while retaining a role for enterprise-operated facilities. In 2025 to 2026, 7% of 2,050 surveyed UK businesses handling digitized data used both external and enterprise data centers to store and process data. In March 2025, Lloyds Banking Group agreed to a multi-year Oracle collaboration pairing migration into Microsoft Azure data centers with planned use of Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer in its own data centers. The arrangement concerned Oracle databases supporting business functions and banking services, with Oracle supplying the technology. Under Lloyds' agreed model, the migrating databases create an opening for Azure-hosted capacity while the planned internal deployment preserves a role for the bank's own facilities.
Government incentives for digital infrastructure and the National Planning Policy Framework
Recognition of future computing needs gives developers a planning argument before a facility begins operating. England's National Planning Policy Framework directs development plans to provide for data centers supporting data-driven industries where need exists or is anticipated.[3] That provision also covers associated generating capacity and electricity network infrastructure for grid connections. Anticipated demand can therefore form part of a development-plan case for reserving land for both compute and supporting power infrastructure. For developers facing connection delays, the provision supports reserving land for power assets alongside computing buildings, making the electricity connection part of the campus delivery case for serving anticipated demand.
Restraints Impact Analysis of United Kingdom Data Center Market*
| Restraint | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power-grid connection delays in London availability zones | -9% | West London development areas | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Escalating construction and energy costs | -6% | London data-center development sites | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
| Stringent sustainability and carbon-reduction regulations | -3% | South Gyle, Edinburgh | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Skilled-labor shortage for liquid-cooling and high-density operations outside London | -2% | Construction areas across Wales | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
| Source: Mordor Intelligence | |||
Power-grid connection delays in London availability zones
Power access can separate a completed building from capacity that an operator can put to commercial use. NESO's Greater London transitional energy plan, published in January 2026, described West London transmission and distribution constraints as limiting growth and causing significant connection delays. The plan concerned the price-control period from 2028 to 2033. For a developer exposed to those constraints, construction progress alone cannot establish when customer equipment can be energized. A connection delay can therefore postpone the conversion of development spending into service income even when demand supports the site. For a buyer with a fixed deployment date, a firm energization window can consequently outweigh a faster building schedule.
Escalating construction and energy costs
Savills reported that London data-center construction costs averaged USD 12.02 per watt in 2025, up from USD 11.2 per watt in 2024, an annual increase of approximately 7.3%. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero reported a longer-term rise in UK non-domestic electricity prices, although prices excluding the Climate Change Levy fell 7% between Q2 2024 and Q2 2025. Turner & Townsend's 2026 London construction outlook also identified prolonged energy-price inflation as a risk of further cost increases. Per-watt construction spending makes the initial build phase important because development spending precedes income from occupancy. Phasing work around committed requirements can limit how much investment waits for customers. Each delivered phase must nevertheless attract enough occupied capacity to recover its construction cost, leaving capital intensity as a constraint on expansion.
*Our forecasts treat driver/restraint impacts as directional, not additive. The impact forecasts reflect baseline growth, mix effects, and variable interactions.
United Kingdom Data Center Market Segment Analysis
By Data Center Size:
Capacity Concentration Shapes Operating ChoicesMassive facilities accounted for a 55.14% share of the United Kingdom data center market size in 2026. Colt DCS plans 3 hyperscale data centers at its London Hayes campus, adding 98 MW of IT power and taking total campus capacity to 160 MW, with first-phase delivery planned for 2028. Colt states that delivery of the buildings can be altered to meet customer requirements. For a buyer concentrating a large load, the sequence in which campus buildings are delivered shapes when capacity becomes usable.
Mega facilities are the fastest-growing segment, with a forecast CAGR of 71.2% during 2027-2032. Their smaller starting base means this expansion begins with less capacity than the established massive estate. Buyers seeking additional mega-scale blocks therefore depend on new campus deliveries, with 2027-2032 the forecast window for expanding that supply.
By Tier Type:
Maintenance and Fault Protection Shape Facility DesignTier 3 represented a 76.84% United Kingdom data center market share in 2026. Apollo and Stantec's October 2025 study reported that most UK data-center facilities fell into Uptime Institute Tier III. Uptime Institute defines Tier III as concurrently maintainable, using redundant components and distribution paths so components can be shut down for maintenance or replacement without affecting IT operation.
Tier 4 is the fastest-growing segment, with a forecast CAGR of 124.6% during 2027-2032. Uptime Institute lists IONOS Cloud Ltd.'s Worcester facility in the United Kingdom with Tier IV design-document and constructed-facility certifications. Tier IV adds physically isolated redundant systems, fault-tolerant power for all IT equipment and continuous cooling to protect operations from equipment or distribution-path failures, although redundant-system maintenance shutdowns may increase risk during another failure. Apollo and Stantec's October 2025 study reported growing demand for Tier IV facilities to support cloud computing, AI, and mission-critical applications requiring ultra-reliable, fault-tolerant infrastructure. Worcester's certification gives buyers a UK example of constructed fault-tolerant infrastructure, making protection against equipment failure a concrete facility specification beyond component redundancy.
By Data Center Type:
Control and Proximity Define Deployment ModelsColocation was the largest segment, accounting for 73.18% of installed IT-load capacity in 2026. Equinix reported 14 data centers in the United Kingdom in October 2025. For a customer considering externally operated capacity, an established facility base provides a different route from commissioning and running its own project, shifting the facility delivery role to the provider.
Hyperscale and self-built facilities form the fastest-growing segment, with a forecast CAGR of 64% during 2027-2032. Google opened its Waltham Cross data center in Hertfordshire on September 16, 2025, to help meet growing demand for AI services including Google Cloud, Search, and Maps. The opening links facility development to the services consuming compute, bringing infrastructure expansion and the service platform into the same operator's strategy. The enterprise and edge segment includes on-premises enterprise facilities built, owned, and operated by users, plus smaller distributed edge sites near end customers for low latency that may use colocation or managed hosting. An edge deployment can preserve proximity while assigning facility operations to a host, separating the ownership decision from the location needed for low latency.
By End User:
Cloud Infrastructure and Banking Programs Shape DemandIT and ITES formed the largest segment, representing 17.45% of installed IT-load capacity in 2026. Nebius launched its first UK deployment of Nvidia Blackwell Ultra infrastructure in November 2025. The AI cloud company uses the computing infrastructure to operate its services, which places an IT-services business on the user side of the facility relationship. A deployment by an AI-cloud provider can serve downstream users through one infrastructure customer, giving facility suppliers a different commercial channel from individual enterprise hosting.
BFSI is the fastest-growing segment, with a forecast CAGR of 50.3% during 2027-2032. NatWest Group announced a 5-year collaboration with Amazon Web Services, Inc. and Accenture on July 23, 2025, to modernize digital, data and analytics, and AI capabilities. In July 2025, NatWest also reported that its Private Bank's core banking platform was being rehosted from a Swiss third-party provider to the Group Data Centre in the UK. Government demand has a direct purchasing route, illustrated by HM Revenue & Customs' March 6, 2026 transaction with Crown Hosting Data Centres Ltd for physical hosting and infrastructure. NatWest's announced cloud collaboration and reported internal rehosting connect banking modernization to both external service platforms and the bank's own facility operations.
By Hotspot:
Urban Fit-Out and Regional Rack Power Define SupplyGreater London was the largest segment, accounting for 60.97% of installed IT-load capacity in 2026. In January 2026, Glencar completed Vantage's 6-story LHR21 building in Park Royal, described as providing 20 MW of IT capacity with partial technical fit-out for phased occupation. Partial technical fit-out lets the London operator phase installation spending within a completed building, aligning investment with the planned sequence of occupation.
The rest of the United Kingdom is the fastest-growing segment, with a forecast CAGR of 83% during 2027-2032. Datum opened MCR2, its second Manchester data center, on June 26, 2025, with capacity for up to 1,200 racks, each capable of up to 30 kW power delivery on dual circuits. A Manchester customer can compare its equipment requirements with Datum's stated dual-circuit power limit before committing a high-density deployment.
Geography Analysis
Greater London Data Center Market
Greater London accounted for 60.97% of the United Kingdom data center market size in 2026. Telehouse International Corporation of Europe Ltd reported 7.4 MW of existing IT capacity at Telehouse South in its 2025 fact sheet, with an 18 MW maximum on full build-out. Telehouse's July 2026 update reported levels 4 and 5 in testing and commissioning. A London tenant's deployment on the additional floors consequently depends on completed commissioning and build-out, making those milestones the relevant basis for an expansion commitment.
Rest of United Kingdom Data Center Market
The rest of the United Kingdom is forecast to be the fastest-growing geography, with a CAGR of 83% during 2027-2032. On May 5, 2026, Stellanor completed its acquisition of 8 existing Redcentric plc data centers serving approximately 450 enterprise customers, bringing its operating UK portfolio to 11 facilities including West Yorkshire. In June 2026, Ark announced a Longcross Park expansion in Surrey supporting Nebius, including an additional facility with 36 MW of future capacity. The planned Surrey addition links regional expansion to an AI-cloud provider's deployment, while Stellanor's consolidation changes the supplier responsible for existing enterprise facilities.
Supplier-led projects span Northern England, where QTS began Cambois campus enabling works in October 2025, and Wales, where 2 of the 3 planned data centers at Vantage's CWL1 campus in Newport operate. In Scotland, DataVita secured August 2026 financing for DV1 expansion and new DV3 in North Lanarkshire, with both facilities' capacity contracted to AI infrastructure provider CoreWeave under a 15-year lease. Lincolnshire's Police and Crime Commissioner awarded Fujitsu Services Limited a colocation-services contract for July 1 through December 31, 2026. In Norfolk, John Innes Centre signed an April 7, 2026 clerk-of-works contract with John Burke Associates for on-site data and energy center construction for Norwich Bioscience Institutes through May 11, 2027. The long AI lease supports developer expansion, while the public contracts pay for time-limited hosting or construction oversight, requiring different supplier capabilities.
Regulatory Framework and Outlook
The comparison covers selected jurisdictions from the perspective of onshore data-center developers and operators evaluating assessment obligations and planning certainty. UK-wide ESOS duties apply to qualifying organizations, with the regulator assigned by registered-office jurisdiction. Scotland's data-center direction instead uses the proposed development's power capacity and planning class. Wales combines its operative development framework with consultation and sector-policy work, placing investment decisions within a defined revision process.
Regulatory Table of United Kingdom Data Center Market
| Decision factor | United Kingdom | Scotland | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary authority | Registered-office regulators: Environment Agency in England; Natural Resources Wales; Northern Ireland Environment Agency; Scottish Environment Protection Agency | Scottish Ministers and planning authorities | Welsh Government |
| Key instruments or direction | ESOS phase 4 for qualifying organizations; assessments every 4 years | EIA Direction effective September 17, 2026, for specified industrial-estate or urban-development data centers exceeding 50 MW total proposed electrical power | Operative Future Wales framework; revision consultation through November 20, 2026; data-center policy development |
| Commercial effect | Assess energy use, report action-plan progress and explain unmet commitments | Mandatory EIA above the threshold; projects at or below 50 MW retain case-by-case screening | Project planning continues under Future Wales during its staged revision |
| Current policy attractiveness | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Future direction of policy attractiveness | Hardening | Hardening | No change |
| Source: Mordor Intelligence | |||
The national Hardening direction reflects added phase-4 reporting for qualifying organizations, with a December 5, 2027 compliance-notification deadline. Scotland's Hardening direction follows the September 17, 2026 shift from significant-effects screening of qualifying Schedule 2 projects to mandatory EIA for the specified data-center classes above 50 MW of total proposed electrical power. Wales's No change direction reflects Future Wales remaining operative during revision, with replacement publication estimated for winter 2029/30 and sector-specific policy in development. Current attractiveness is Medium because ESOS duties are limited to qualifying organizations, Scotland retains case-by-case screening at or below 50 MW for the specified development classes, and Wales supplies an operative planning framework during revision.
Value Chain Stages
The value-chain comparison follows grid connection engineering, fiber connectivity, and colocation operations according to supplier earnings and execution constraints. Engineering and network services make the facility usable, while operation creates the recurring commercial relationship with its occupants. Equinix's global infrastructure offerings typically bill for consumed space and power under fixed-duration contracts generating monthly recurring revenue. Once a facility enters service, connection and network contractors support an asset whose operator earns through continued space-and-power consumption, giving these stages different revenue horizons.
Value Chain Analysis Table of United Kingdom Data Center Market
| Primary activity | Key participants | Value capture | Bottleneck | Resilience response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grid connection engineering | Connection contractors such as NG Bailey; network operators such as UK Power Networks | Engineering and connection-service fees | A suitable dual-circuit connection can be distant | Engineer staged connection options |
| Fiber connectivity | Fiber network operators such as EXA Infrastructure | Fiber-capacity sales and managed-network service fees | Difficult seabed conditions on subsea routes | Use specialized wet-segment installation |
| Colocation operations | Colocation operators such as Equinix, Inc. and Digital Realty Trust Inc. | Equinix typically earns monthly recurring space and power charges | Customer deployment depends on energized, usable capacity | Phase commissioning around capacity available for occupancy |
| Source: Mordor Intelligence | ||||
EXA's 2025 London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Brussels route deployment required specialized installation techniques for North Sea seabed conditions. The EXA route shows fiber providers carrying physical installation risk outside a colocation operator's own build, making site connectivity dependent on execution by network suppliers. An operator's recurring contracts consequently depend on maintaining the power connection and network paths that make its occupied capacity useful.
Competitive Landscape
Market Concentration
A moderately concentrated group of facility platforms competes alongside cloud-service specialists, supporting several ways to serve enterprise workloads. Digital Realty Trust Inc. reports 13 data centers and more than 435 customers across its wider London metro footprint, including Crawley, Slough, and Woking. Equinix, Inc. pursues campus development, while Rackspace Technology Inc. provides hybrid-cloud expertise for customers such as Domino's Pizza UK & Ireland. NTT Corporation participates through NTT DATA's data-center business, and VIRTUS Data Centres Ltd (ST Telemedia Global Data Centres) develops and operates UK facilities. This range of roles makes service breadth a source of differentiation alongside the scale of facilities available to host workloads.
Expansion strategies pair large prospective campuses with smaller additions to established locations, creating different delivery horizons for buyers. In October 2025, Equinix announced a planned Hertfordshire campus exceeding 250 MW of compute capacity, with construction expected in 2027 and operation in 2031. VIRTUS announced planned LONDON19 at Slough Trading Estate on June 30, 2026, specifying 32.5 MW of IT load. Equinix's expected 2031 opening falls within the last 2 years of the 2027-2032 forecast window, placing the campus's operating contribution late in that period.
NTT DATA reported in May 2025 that it secured 26.3 acres for planned London site LON2 and acquired underlying freehold at existing London facilities. Equinix has submitted Hertfordshire applications covering site infrastructure and enabling works, with detailed data-center building proposals assigned to later submissions. These actions place control of land and preparatory infrastructure ahead of completed computing buildings in the development sequence. Property tenure and planning scope create different competitive positions, with NTT DATA securing freehold control at existing London facilities while Equinix's path to occupiable Hertfordshire space requires later building submissions.
United Kingdom Data Center Industry Leaders
-
Digital Realty Trust Inc.
-
Equinix, Inc.
-
Rackspace Technology Inc.
-
NTT Corporation
-
VIRTUS Data Centres Ltd (ST Telemedia Global Data Centres)
- *Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order
United Kingdom Data Center Market Companies Covered in this Report
- Digital Realty Trust Inc.
- Equinix, Inc.
- VIRTUS Data Centres Ltd (ST Telemedia Global Data Centres)
- IBM Corporation
- Ark Data Centres
- Vantage Data Centers Management Company, LLC
- NTT Corporation
- CyrusOne LLC
- Redcentric Data Centres
- Rackspace Technology Inc.
- Green Mountain AS
- Global Switch Holdings Limited
- Amazon Web Services, Inc.
- Telehouse International Corporation of Europe Ltd
- Oracle Corporation
Recent Industry Developments in United Kingdom Data Center Market
- Sep 2026: Civo announced the first site in a planned 40-site UK edge data-center rollout, with fit-out underway in Hertfordshire for an initial 8 MW and planned expansion to 38 MW.
- Jul 2026: Yondr agreed to sell GLIL Infrastructure LLP a majority interest in its Slough campus of 2 operating hyperscale buildings. The deal later completed. Yondr planned to retain minority ownership and operational management.
- May 2026: Stellanor Datacenters completed its acquisition of 8 UK data centers from Redcentric plc, with the acquired facilities serving approximately 450 enterprise customers.
Scope and Methodology
Segmentation Overview
By Data Center Size
| Small |
| Medium |
| Large |
| Mega |
| Massive |
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
| Greater London |
| Rest of United Kingdom |
| By Data Center Size | Small | ||
| Medium | |||
| Large | |||
| Mega | |||
| Massive | |||
| 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 | Greater London | ||
| Rest of United Kingdom | |||
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
