The Top 10 Data Center Stories for May 2022

The deals keep coming in the data center industry, and readers of Data Center Frontier are paying close attention. Coverage of DigitalBridge’s $11 billion deal to take Switch private was the most popular story on DCF in May, a month which featured hot chips, cool technology and updates on Quantum Loophole, Aligned, NTT Global Data Centers Americas and Cologix.

Here are the 10 most popular stories on Data Center Frontier in May 2022, in order of article views:

• DigitalBridge to Buy Switch for $11 Billion as Data Center M&A Binge Continues Data center developer Switch will be acquired by DigitalBridge and infrastructure investors IFM and taken private in an all cash deal valued at about $11 billion. The deal continues a trend in which public data center REITs have been bought by large investors and taken private.
• NVIDIA Unveils Liquid-Cooled GPUs, With Equinix as Early Adopter: In a move to enable wider use of liquid cooling, NVIDIA is introducing its first data center GPU with direct chip liquid cooling. One of the early adopters is Equinix, which is test-driving the servers and hopes to implement liquid cooling in a sustainable AI platform.
• The Largest Data Center Deals of All Time: The list of the largest data center deals of all time has been remade with a flurry of M&A, including the acquisition of Switch by DigitalBridge and IFM. Here’s a look at the billion-dollar deals and the trends behind them.
• As Supply Chain Concerns Grow, Cloud Players Scoop Up Data Center Space: Data center leasing has kicked into warp speed, as cloud players and social networks race to procure cloud capacity for long-term growth. The record leasing is driven by concerns about project delays from supply chain disruptions.
• Quantum Loophole’s ‘Data Center City’ Secures Aligned as First Tenant: Aligned Data Centers has signed an agreement to acquire land, power, and water at Quantum Loophole’s massive new data center campus in Maryland, a big step toward extending the Northern Virginia cloud cluster across the Potomac into Frederick County.
• Hillsboro Data Center Market Boosted by Significant Pre-Leasing: The Hillsboro data center market is poised for substantial growth over the next several years, and data center developers clearly see Hillsboro and the larger Portland, Ore., market as a hot spot for hyperscale and enterprise facilities.
• Land and Expand: NTT Global Data Centers Builds Out its New Campuses: NTT Global Data Centers Americas has spent the past two years entering new markets in Hillsboro, Chicago, Santa Clara and Phoenix. The company’s expansion is now shifting to adding capacity by building more data centers on its campuses.
• The Exascale Era Begins, as Frontier Breaks Supercomputing Barrier: The U.S. has its first exascale computing system, as the Frontier system at Oak Ridge becomes the first supercomputer to officially exceed one quintillion calculations per second on the Top500 list. Details on Frontier, the path to exascale, and why it matters.
• Metaverse Building Boom: Meta Adds 3 Data Centers at Illinois Cloud Campus: Meta continues to prepare its digital infrastructure for the metaverse, adding three more data centers to its $1 billion cloud campus in Illinois. We look at Meta’s accelerating building boom and what it tells us about the future of data infrastructure.
• Cologix Recapitalization Powers Scalelogix Hyperscale Strategy: Cologix provides an example of how investment and M&A can alter the trajectory of a data center provider’s journey. A $3 billion recapitalization has set the stage for Scalelogix, an initiative to deploy 200 megawatts of capacity in key hyperscale markets.

Education is part of our mission at Data Center Frontier. In our Voices of the Industry feature, we share the experience of data center executives on the front lines of innovation. Here’s a look at the most popular Voices columns for DCF readers last month:

• Understanding the Differences Between 5 Common Types of Data Centers (Belden): No two are data centers are alike when it comes to design or the applications and data they support with their networking, compute and storage infrastructure. Shad Secrist of Belden outlines the differences between 5 of the most common types of data centers including edge, colocation and hyperscale.
• DAC Cables Shine in the Cloud (The Siemon Company): Data centers with the fastest throughput and processing times have a digital advantage. Ryan Harris, Sales Engineer and Market Manager for The Siemon Company, explains why direct attach copper (DAC) cables are here to stay.
• Maintaining Low-Latency and Sustainability at the Network Edge (Schneider Electric): Schneider Electric’s Steven Carlini and Andres Vasquez discuss building data centers at the network edge while also meeting sustainability goals.

Be sure to check out all of our Voices columns, including insights from Future Facilities, DartPoints, Service Express, and Flexential.

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