Smaller, so-called edge data centres are driving another record year of investment in the sector, according to a new paper from JLL.
The agency said assets on the edge of networks and with smaller capacity – 500kW to 2MW, versus more than 80MW for a hyperscale centre – are now “the fastest-growing segment of the sector”.
Tom Glover, JLL’s head of EMEA data centre transactions, added: “These assets are increasingly important to the architecture of computing networks, thanks to the continued adoption of internet of things devices and now the rise of generative AI applications and machine learning.”
Less than 10% of business data is currently created and processed at the edge of the network, but technology consultancy Gartner predicts that figure will rise to 75% by 2025. JLL estimates that industry will soon need 10 times more edge data centre sites than other types.
The manufacturing and energy sectors have some of the largest demand for edge computing, JLL said, with much of the data being machine-to-machine generated owing to increasing levels of digitisation and automation.
“The digital world never sleeps, making data centres of all sizes critical to the global economy,” said Glover.
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