New data and forecasts from Synergy Research Group show that the average capacity of hyperscale data centers to be opened over the next six years will soon be more than double that of current operational hyperscale data centers. While the trend has always been for the critical IT load of hyperscale data centers to grow in size over time, the impact of generative AI technology and services has provided an added impetus to the need for substantially more powerful facilities. Meanwhile, as the average IT load of individual data centers ramps up, the number of operational hyperscale data centers will continue to steadily grow. There will also be some degree of retrofitting existing data centers to boost their capacity. The overall result is that the total capacity of all operational hyperscale data centers will grow almost threefold in the next six years.
The hyperscale research is based on an analysis of the data center footprint and operations of 19 of the world’s major cloud and internet service firms, who meet Synergy's criteria for being considered hyperscale operators. This includes the largest operators in SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, search, social networking, e-commerce and gaming. By mid-2023, those companies had 926 major data centers in operation around the world. Synergy's known pipeline of future data centers includes a further 427 facilities, which is one of the main inputs to Synergy's forecast model.