Equinix: Wiring the World's Data Deluge
- By Lachlan Colquhoun
- February 26, 2024
The world is hungry for data storage, and it is a hunger that won't be easily satisfied.
AI applications, the Internet of Things, advances in robot manufacturing, and satellite-based connectivity are just some factors driving data and data storage demand.
Fortune Business Insights estimates that the global data storage market was valued at USD217 billion in 2022 and will reach USD777 billion by 2030, growing at a compound rate of nearly 18%.
This growth is good news for data storage providers but also throws down a challenge.
Meeting the market demands requires more than installing an exponential number of servers and building hectares of floor space.
Forward-thinking enterprises across Asia are adopting a digital-first approach and investing in cutting-edge AI, IoT analytics, and 5G capabilities to achieve competitive dominance and market share expansion. However, unlocking these potential demands seamless connectivity, expert navigation of complex tech landscapes, and robust data security.
Large training clusters and edge inference servers will require higher rack power densities as data storage serves AI applications, which require significant increases in hardware computing to drive processing workloads.
Then, there is the green IT movement, where the carbon footprint of technology services is factored into the supply chain and net zero goals. The data center of the future will need to be cooler and will be subject to rigorous energy auditing.
As the market changes, organizations will likely move to the Infrastructure-as-a-Service model, which can support their expansion while reducing exposure to unnecessary capex and labor costs. They will need their data storage providers to be more collaborative and able to adapt to new business and technology configurations.
Fast moving environment
Equinix is a company that has matured and grown with the data storage market and is also responding to the new fast-moving environment with a brace of initiatives across the Asia Pacific.
The company has more than 250 data centers across 71 metro centers worldwide. In the Asia Pacific, it has facilities in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and now Malaysia, India and Indonesia.
In Australia, Equinix has launched a Bare Metal hub in Melbourne to complement an existing node in Sydney.
"This is expected to bring Equinix to 100% renewable coverage across all our operations globally.”
The initiative is designed to support the increasing demand for fully automated as-a-service infrastructure, with the company's research showing that 72% of Australian businesses plan on expanding into new markets in the first half of the decade.
Further, almost half of the respondents (49%) said Melbourne is the most common market in Australia to have a presence in or plan to expand to within the next 12 months.
With the addition of Melbourne and Osaka in the Asia-Pacific, Equinix Metal is now available in 25 global metros areas.
Across the region, Mumbai is also a focus with Equinix. In August 2023, the company announced a USD42 million investment to establish its fourth International Business Exchange data center in the city.
The facility, MB4, is set to address the demand for data centers and interconnection services from local and international customers.
In Malaysia, Equinix has announced plans for its first data in the capital of Kuala Lumpur, following plans for a center in Johor.
The expansion aligns with Malaysia’s MyDIGITAL blueprint, a roadmap for the country’s digital infrastructure.
According to Synergy Research, Malaysia currently ranks as the third-largest data center colocation market in the APAC region. It is projected to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 11% from 2022 to 2027.
Climate-neutral
As well as adding to its capability with new centers, Equinix is also a leader in green IT and is increasingly sourcing renewable energy to power its facilities.
Equinix was the first in the data center industry to commit to becoming climate neutral, aligned to an approved near-term science-based target, for emissions reduction across its global operations and supply chain by 2030.
The company began its Power Purchase Agreement Equinix program in 2015, signing two wind PPAs in Texas and Oklahoma for 225 MW. In late 2021 and early 2022, Equinix signed three PPAs in Finland for a total of 144 MW of new-build wind capacity projects, and in 2023, added 15 new wind and solar PPAs in Europe, including in Sweden, Spain, Portugal and France in excess of 500 MW.
In February this year, Equinix executed a new PPA in Australia with TagEnergy, including the purchase of 151 MW of renewable energy that is expected to come online at the provider's Golden Plains Wind Farm – East project in 2029. The agreement is Equinix's first long-term renewable energy agreement in Asia-Pacific.
"To date, Equinix has executed 21 PPAs globally, resulting in 3,000,000 MWh of renewable energy, and as we expand our global data center footprint, we will continue to assess opportunities for greening the grids that we move into,” said Christopher Wellise, Equinix’s vice president for sustainability.
“Once this expansion of the Golden Plains Wind Farm – East project is completed in 2029, our impact through all 21 PPAs is expected to amount to more than one gigawatt of renewable energy added to local grids,” he adds.
“In combination with other sustainability efforts, this is expected to bring Equinix to 100% renewable coverage across all of our operations globally.”
Image credit: iStockphoto/tiero
Lachlan Colquhoun
Lachlan Colquhoun is the Australia and New Zealand correspondent for CDOTrends and the NextGenConnectivity editor. He remains fascinated with how businesses reinvent themselves through digital technology to solve existing issues and change their business models.