AI, self-builds, hyperscale, product development, GPUs, webscale, appointments
Another busy week saw more developments from the AI segment, self-build activity and product innovations from the cloud infrastructure side of the game.
AI is taking off and already having an impact on how data centres are architected and built. There is chatter that Microsoft is now looking to build dedicated facilities that only house GPU-based infrastructure. This is inevitable over the long-term, but perhaps going to start happening sooner than later. Webscale providers are not at the level of scale where dedicated data centres for GPUs are going to be needed, but they are also building GPU offerings quickly. OVHcloud was the latest.
Hyperscalers also continue to self-build for their data centre requirements. AWS self-built its entire region in Spain in a place called Zaragoza and it looks like Microsoft will be following its blueprint. Location and proximity to connectivity and population hubs were key drivers.
There were also some interesting developments around product innovation. Cloudflare released a new database caching service called Hyperdrive that is designed to enhance performance and enable edge scenarios, while CoreWeave partnered with VAST Data to enable the data component of AI workloads.
Finally, there were some appointments of note at STACK and Switch, data centre expansion activity in Japan (AirTrunk) and Malaysia (Princeton Digital Group), while Vantage Data Centers raised capital for further expansion activity.
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