Regional IT execs anticipate APAC data centre expansion

Consolidation of IT infrastructure may be allowing data centre tenants to get by with less floor space, but growing overall demand for data centre floor space will continue to drive Australian companies' data centre investments across the Asia-Pacific region, a new survey has found.

Fully 83% of respondents to Digital Realty’s latest Asia Pacific Data Centre Demand Survey said they would expand their data centres this year or in 2014, with increased security most commonly named as the reason for the expansion.

The need for greater security outpaced disaster recovery, which was the second most-frequently named reason for data centre expansion.

Accessibility was also seen as important, with two-thirds of respondents preferring a data centre located in the country where they work. Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney were the most commonly named cities for data-centre location, which reflects the broad makeup of the survey – conducted for Digital Realty in January by Campos Research & Analysis, and including 401 IT decision makers across the four countries.

Respondents suggested that while their power needs remained constant – an average of 5.0 kW per rack compared with 5.1 kW per rack a year ago – they were requiring approximately 10% less floor space on average: 13,300 ft2 (1235 m2) on average this year, compared with 14800 ft2 (1375 m2) last year.

These figures confirm a trend towards higher-density computing power, with more-efficient systems able to support increased computing loads at similar power draws.

The Australian results of the survey suggested a local market that in which consolidation was ahead of the average, with 68% of companies having built a new data centre in the past 24 months, 78% planning to expand their facilities in 2013 and 29% planning to expand in 2014. Of those, 58% will expand in more than one location.

Average raised floor space in Australia was 12,300 square feet, with 68% of respondents reporting average raised floor space greater than 10,000 ft2 and an average target of 12,900 ft2 among those wanting to expand their data centres.

Average power capacity in Australia was 5.0 kW per rack, with 19% of sites using more than 6.0 kW per rack.

By contrast, the average data centre in Singapore was 14,100 ft2 and average power capacity was 5.5 kW per rack, with 33% of sites using more than 6.0 kW per rack. Japanese facilities averaged 11,000 ft2, with average power capacity of 5.0 kW per rack and 21% using more than 6.0 kW per rack.

Average PUE (power usage effectiveness) rating for Australian data centres was 2.25, although 13% did not know their PUE and 5% did not know what it is. Singaporean facilities were less power-efficient, with a reported PUE of 2.61, whereas Japanese facilities reported an average PUE of 2.22.

Seven out of eight expanding Australian companies extremely or very confident that they can comply with future energy (88%) and carbon (89%) regulations. By contrast, just 51% of Japanese companies were confident they can comply with future energy regulations, and 50% with future carbon regulations.

Australian organisations named security and connectivity as the two most important reasons for selection of data centre locations, with Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore the three most popular destinations. Only 59% of respondents said they were more likely to locate their new data centres in Australia.

“These results confirm the continued demand for data centre space in our markets,” Digital Realty’s Asia Pacific regional head Kris Kumar said in a statement. “Customer demand is being fuelled by similar trends we are seeing in other parts of the world. Our customers need improved security, especially in light of the trend towards cloud, virtualization, and an increased reliance on critical IT systems.”  – David Braue