Uptime Institute Global Data Center Survey 2024

The Uptime Institute Global Data Center Survey 2024 reveals a confident, expanding industry but one that is also planning for major technological, economic and operational changes. Demand for digital services continues to grow — not just in volume but in compute intensity, challenging the power and cooling capabilities of much of the existing infrastructure. To meet rising demand, data center operators and their IT clients are investing and innovating more in their IT and facilities, as well as employing external services. The effectiveness of these investments will shape the industry in the years ahead.

KEY FINDINGS

• Average PUE levels remain mostly flat for the fifth consecutive year, but this obscures advances in newer, larger facilities.
• Average server rack densities are increasing but remain below 8 kW. The majority of facilities do not have racks above 30 kW, and those that do have only a few. This is expected to change in coming years.
• Fewer than half of data center owners and operators are tracking the metrics needed to assess their sustainability and, in some cases, to meet pending regulatory requirements.
• Most operators recognize the benefits of AI and its potential. Despite many operators planning to host the technology, trust in AI for use in data center operations has declined for the third year in a row.
• The frequency and severity of data center outages remain mostly unchanged from 2023 or show small improvements. Operators are countering increases in complexity, density and extreme weather with investment and good management.
• Enterprises continue to meet their IT needs with hybrid architectures. More than half of workloads (55%) are now off-premises, continuing the gradual trend of recent years. Many continue to maintain their own data centers.
• Staffing challenges have neither improved nor worsened from 2023. More effort is needed to expand labor pools and skillsets to match the pace of capacity growth.