Earlier in the year, 2023 predictions highlighted the increasing modularity and distributed nature of new data center builds. As an industry, we may have begun our data center journey with a concentrated number of massive hyperscale data centers in key population centers, like London, Chicago, Tokyo, Northern Virginia, or Singapore, but increasingly smaller, modular, less power-consuming data centers are being built either as individual entities or as part of multitenant, multi-building campus environments. Instead of consuming 50-150 MW, modular, distributed data centers may occupy a fraction of what hyperscale data centers so in terms of space and power, which makes them easier and faster to build by utilizing smaller parcels of land and distributing their impact on local power grids. Modular, distributed data centers may also deliver increased diversity and reduced latency when located closer to the end users.
As I bike around the Chicago suburbs near my home or travel throughout Southeast Asia as I did in July, I can see firsthand the evolving data center landscape. In Aurora, Illinois, on the western edge of Chicagoland, a 65-acre site is being developed to host a campus with three data centers — right across the highway from a massive CyrusOne site that is expanding for the second time. In Singapore, with over 70 existing data centers consuming more than 7% of the country’s electricity, the government placed a three-year pause on new data center construction in 2019. Although the moratorium is now lifting, concerns about sustainability and environmental impact are driving the entire data center sector toward increased energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions. The main beneficiary of this moratorium has been the adjacent Malaysian state of Johor, where new data centers are being built.