The Top 10 Data Center Stories for May 2021

Google. Facebook. Equinix. Switch. Northern Virginia. The industry’s largest players and markets topped the news on Data Center Frontier during May 2021. Although the companies and geography were familiar, the range of topics spanned design, M&A, sustainability, satellite broadband, network expansion, and even network pruning.

Here are the 10 most popular stories on Data Center Frontier in May 2021, in order of article views:

• Equinix is Exiting Some Leased Data Centers in Major Markets: Equinix is exiting leased data center space in four major markets across the U.S., and plans to migrate customers to newer Equinix facilities in the same markets, the company confirmed this week.
• Stacking Server Halls: Facebook Boosts Capacity With New Data Center Design: As it continues a massive global expansion of its infrastructure, Facebook is rolling out a multi-story data center design featuring two floors of server rooms at its campus in Prineville, Oregon.
• Switch Acquires Data Foundry for $420 Million, Enters Texas Market: Switch is acquiring data center provider Data Foundry for $420 million, expanding into the Texas market. The deal provides Switch with its fifth “prime” data center region, which will include Data Foundry facilities in Austin and Houston.
• The Greening of Cryptocurrency: Early Players in Sustainable Blockchain: There are promising initiatives underway to create a sustainable blockchain sector. Here’s an overview of these initiatives, which include renewable power, energy-efficient protocols, carbon offsets, demand response and greener mining pools.
• The Space Cloud: Satellite Strategies for AWS, Google and Microsoft: Cloud providers Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are building relationships with satellite companies. Here’s a closer look at the distinctive strategies these cloud players are adopting as they seek to built two-way business connections between the cloud and space.
• Yondr Plans $2 Billion Data Center Buildout in North America: The Yondr Group, which has focused primarily on building data centers in Europe, is expanding into the Americas, with plans to add $2 billion of new data center projects in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.
• Google Moving Workloads Between Data Centers to Use Greener Energy:Google is moving IT workloads between its data centers to boost its use of renewable energy, shifting the data processing for YouTube videos to locations where green power is plentiful. This approach creates powerful new opportunities to build climate-aware cloud applications.
• Leesburg Data Center Cluster Expands With New 1.4 Million SF Campus: Another major data center cluster is emerging in Northern Virginia near Leesburg, about 10 miles west of Ashburn’s Data Center Alley, where TA Realty has unveiled plans for a 1.5 million square foot data center campus.
• Google Cloud Connects to SpaceX Starlink, Will Host Ground Stations at Data Centers : Google Cloud will connect to the SpaceX Starlink satellite broadband network, and host Starlink ground stations at Google data center locations, the companies said today. It’s the latest example of how cloud platforms are integrating satellite technology.
• Data Center Boom Pushes Prince Williams Land to Nearly $1M an Acre: The economic value of data centers is boosting land values in Prince William County in Northern Virginia, with one transaction valuing a future data center property at more than $900,000 per acre.

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:

• Taking Edge Computing Everywhere It Needs to Be (EdgeConneX): Phillip Marangella, CMO of EdgeConnex, explores how the edge can support anything from hyperlocal to hyperscale data centers.
• A Look at the Edge From the Perspective of Hyperscale Cloud Providers (DataBank): Raul Martynek, CEO at DataBank, refines the definition of edge computing. This is the first of a series looking at the edge from the multiple perspectives of enterprises using and driving edge development: hyperscalers, SaaS application/ content developers, and network providers. In this article, we examine how hyperscale cloud providers see the edge and the role they are playing in its development..
• Outlook on the Growing Indian Data Center Market (Iron Mountain): India is a land of opportunity for global data center providers, but it has its own unique challenges. In this edition of Voices of the Industry, Michael Goh, Senior Director and General Manager of Iron Mountain’s Data Centers for APAC, discusses the state of the data center market in India.

Be sure to check out all of our Voices columns, including insights from Stream Data Centers, Flexential, ProLift Rigging, and Service Express,

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