Data centers are important hubs in the internet-connected world of today. These storage centers are used in cloud computing, and they store amounts of data that would have been unheard of just a few years ago. They’re made up of racks of servers, each containing massive amounts of data storage capacity.
A small business may have a data center in a closet, or nestled within the IT department, and it may contain one or more racks of data storage taking up less than 100 square feet or so. The top data centers in the world, however, are comprised of hundreds of thousands of square feet. Here’s a look at the top data centers in the world, as well as the world’s largest data center.
Top data centers
Here’s a look at the top data centers in the world in terms of size:
- The Citadel (7.2 million square feet): This data center is run by Switch, and it is powered by 100 percent renewable energy. It’s located near the Tesla Gigafactory in northern Nevada.
- Range International Information Group (6.3 million square feet): This data center in Langfang, China was constructed to meet the needs of the fast-growing Chinese economy. It was finished about a year ago, and for a time was the largest data center in the world.
- SuperNAP (3.5 million square feet): This data center, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, is another Switch production. It was the world’s largest data center before the Range International Information Group was built. It might regain that title, as massive expansions are currently planned to be completed in this decade.
- DFT Data Center (1.6 million square feet): This data center in Ashburn, Virginia is owned by DuPont. It’s an unusual configuration for a data center, as it is made up of six buildings that previously had other uses, unlike other massive data centers which are usually built to spec.
- Utah Data Center (1.5 million square feet): The official name of this Bluffdale, Utah hub is the Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative Data Center, (ICCNCIDC just didn’t quite roll off the tongue, hence the Utah Data Center moniker). It’s led by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), and its official mission is classified, though it is designated to support the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. It was completed in May 2014.
- Microsoft Data Center (1.2 million square feet): This space in West Des Moines, Iowa is the largest data center of Microsoft’s 6.3 million total square feet of data center space around the world.
- Lakeside Technology Center (1.1 million): This data center, owned by Digital Realty Trust, is located in Chicago, Illinois. It has 53 backup generators to minimize the effects of local power outages, and is used by companies like Facebook, IBM and others.
You may not need one of the largest data centers in the world for your business, but as the world becomes more connected through the internet, odds are you will need some type of data storage solution in the near future. For professional data center setup and management, reach out to the experts at Box Electric Company today.