Hosting or Colocation Data Centers

The data center industry is young and in the process of an extended growth phase. This chapter first discusses hosting and colocation (wholesale data centers). Within the past 5 years, wholesale providers have found that it is more cost‐efficient and energy‐efficient to build out these facilities in an incremental fashion. As a result, many providers have developed what they refer to as “modular” data centers. At the present time, there are five categories of data centers that are generally considered to be “modular” within the marketplace: traditional modular data centers; monolithic modular data centers; containerized data halls; prefabricated data hall; and stand‐alone data centers. Scaling, or adding new data centers, is possible using either a hosting or wholesale approach. Build versus buy is an age‐old business question. It can be driven by a variety of factors such as the philosophy of the organization itself or a company's financial considerations.