Biggest Data Center in the World
While the world is interconnected and in touch 24/7, data centers have grown to become important establishments, housing loads of data from various organizations and seeing rapid growth in their operations all over the world. Here is a list of the top 5 data centers in the world, going from big to biggest.
Also known as the Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative Data Center, it has a campus of around 1.5 million square feet. It was completed and established in 2015 near Bluffdale. It stores data for the USA’s Intelligence Community. While it was established with the ability to store more than 10 exabytes, but in the future, this number will grow to 5 zettabytes. With the mammoth task of storing intelligence data, the Utah Center employs several people and is only growing its capacities today.
Located in Ashburn, Virginia, this data center is owned by DuPont Fabros Technology. In 2017, this was acquired by Digital Realty. It spans over 1.6 million square feet. It is one of the 247 data centers owned by Digital Realty. The entire complex comprises seven buildings. The company specializes in accessibility, transparency, and security functions. There is also stress of green energy and minimizing environmental harm in the functioning of the center.
Located in Las Vegas, the Switch data covers a tremendous 3.5 million square feet. While at the third position right now, it is expected to take over to the first place by 2050. Power is generated completely through solar projects. Currently, it is a Tier 4 exascale center. Highly cost-effective, driven by the best engineers, and boasting of superior technology, this is indeed the best of the best.
Range International Information Group
With a whopping expanse of 6.5 million square feet, Range International, located in Hubei, China stands as the second-largest data center in the world. If you can’t imagine just how big this is, it’s almost as big as the Pentagon. It mainly houses information for the Chinese government and some private enterprises. China houses several of the world’s largest data centers, Range International being one of them. It has a top-class infrastructure and several cloud computing centers and aims to serve China’s economy in the long run.
The Citadel
Like SuperNAP in Vegas, the Citadel is also owned by Switch. Also located in Nevada, it expands over 7.2 million square feet. Its largest building is called Tahoe Reno 1. The Citadel is currently the biggest data center in the world. It is the most advanced data center as well, investing in futuristic endeavors. It is powered exclusively by green energy and solar power. The two Switch data centers are connected via a fiber network called the Switch SUPER LOOP. A switch is all set to expand the campus, adding a further 5 million square feet, starting this year.
Conclusion
While China’s huge Range International data center stays at number 2, Switch’s The Citadel is now the biggest data center in the world. It is all set to expand even further, and it will be hard for other centers to surpass it any time soon.
As cloud computing is becoming the norm, data centers are set to become the pioneers of industry and technology in the future. We are sure to see more developments in the industry.
